Baby talk?????????????

Question

Why do so many people speak to babys and young children as though they are stupid? Do you do it? I have always spoken to my daughter as a equal and from the moment she started talking she has had great language skills and is now ahead of many of the other 5 yr olds in her kinder class. I will be doing the same with the bub that i am expecting to

Answer 1

While speaking like an adult works for some kids many cannot learn language in this way. Motherese/parentese (the technical term for baby talk) helps to scaffold language to help children learn. I'm not talking about things like "aw... wook at the da widdl bibby bunny wabbit...he's so cutee wootey isn't he" lol

The 2 most prominent charactistics of real motherese used properly are using short sentences that your child can understand and therefore helps them to learn the words needed (e.g. rather than saying to an 18month old.... "let's go and put both of your shoes on and get in the car it is time to go to the supermarket"...you would say "time to go....get your shoes...good girl...shoes on.... in the car....hop in.....good girl....let's go etc " and raising the pitch of your voice which helps get bubs attention...both of which have been proven to help language development.

Just google motherese and there's heaps more info.  

Answer 2

while baby talk is plesant and lovely for babies it is definitely not recommended in heavy doses for babies older than 6 months.the baby imitates everything he hears and sees.the more baby talk he hears like the kind in which words are morphed to make foolish sounds and bearing only little resemblence with the original word is sp bad as the baby wil imitate it instead of correct word.

i have a 4 month old and i have also planned to quit baby talk as soon as he is 6 months old.speaking clear and correctly pronounced words is utmost important for infant language development.

Answer 3

I agree with you. My boyfriend and I are constantly telling our mothers to quit it with the baby talk. And on a negative note- I have a friend (we're both 22) whose mother must have done it so much when she was little, that she still talks in a baby voice back to her mother. Certain sentences she does, she'll say "Im Tummin" instead of "Im Coming" in this little baby voice. She'll even do it with us, her friends. While I believe in making sure my baby is happy and has fun just being a child....I will put in plenty of effort in teaching him how to pronounce words.