Baby Talk
Baby talk, motherese, parentese, child-directed speech. Call it whatever you want! It is THE BEST way to talk to your baby.
Don’t listen to all the media saying child-directed speech will delay your child’s speech and language development.
The opposite is true. It will help your child develop speech and language more quickly.
Definition of Baby Talk
It is the voice and words people naturally want to use when they interact with a baby.
Characteristics:
- Sing-song tone
- Short phrases
- Cooing noises
- High pitch voice
- “Cute words” - i.e., mommy instead of mom
- Long vowels
Benefits
- Babies hear and attend to high intonation and soft tones more than regular, adult-like speech. If your baby doesn't listen or pay attention to your sounds and words, how can she learn?
- By keeping your babies attention, you have more emotional bonding time.
- Parents tend to exaggerate their facial expressions (i.e., lips and tongue) when using baby talk. This gives your baby more clues on how to move his lips and tongue to make certain sounds.
Others ways to talk to your baby:
Below are 2 more ways you can talk to your baby and develop speech and language skills. These 2 strategies aren't work at all and it doesn't cost a thing. A
All you have to do is remember to talk to your baby and vary how you do it. That's it!
1. Self-Talk
Self-talk means while hanging out with your baby, narrate your day. Talk about what you are doing.
Some parents do this naturally and others don't. It can seem silly to talk to your baby since he/she can't talk back to you, but your baby IS listening. I promise!
To start, tell your baby what you are doing during diaper changes. Work up for there. The more you talk, the more sound patterns and vocabulary he/she is learning!
2. Parallel Talk
Parallel talk is very similar to self-talk. However, instead of talking about what you are doing, talk about what your baby is doing. Talk about how your baby is crawling, eating, etc...
This distinction is important for babies and young toddlers. When we talk about ourselves, we use the same pronouns and grammar structures such as verbs. When you talk about others, such as "you are rolling on the ground," you vary pronouns and verbs. It is important that children are exposed to both!
What Else Can I do?
You can actually do quite a bit! A child's language abilities start from birth and there is a lot you can do to start your child off on the right foot. We have a step-by-step guide for you right here!
You will learn:
- Tips on how to talk to your child
- Playtime tips
- Games
- And more!
I hope we helped clarify some things! Come back again!