Talking to your baby
When moms talk to their babies
they naturally fall into a speech rhythm that’s been referred to as
‘motherese’: speaking with a higher pitch, exaggerating their range of pitches
(different ‘voices’ for different farmyard animals for instance), using
shorter phrases and pronouncing everything more clearly. You probably won’t
realize you’re doing it!
As your baby gets older you’ll
notice yourself changing what you say – so for a newborn or young baby you’ll
probably say lots of emotional phrases like, “I love you”, “mommy’s here now,
it’s OK”. But with a one-year-old baby, you’ll change to more information-laden
phrases, including directions, labels, questions and descriptions; or you may
use all of them: “look, see the bird flying above us, can you point to it?”
Here are gurgle’s tips for talking to your baby:
Give everything a name
Name everything in your baby's
world – so if you’re bathing her, name the rubber duckie, the faucet, duck, the
water, the bubbles… even her wet fingers, toes and nose. When you’re in the
park, name the trees, swings, birds, flowers, other people around you, so that
everything in your baby's world has a label. Use your baby’s name as much as
you can, so she’s aware of her own identity: “it’s time for Ella’s bath now”.
Read to your child
Reading to you baby at a young age helps her to hear and understand
the intonations and pitch of speech. It can also help to keep up the labeling –
point to a picture and say the word, ‘fire truck’ to help her recognize what
objects are called. If you’re telling a story, use different voices for each
character and even different accents if you can manage them!.
Listen to what your baby is saying
When you ask your baby a
question wait to see what her response is – she might smile, glance towards a
toy or babble, but it is a response. Try to answer her babbles as if you were
having a proper conversation – so say, “really, how interesting, what a lovely
day you’ve had” to her. If your baby is trying to tell you something, help her
by pointing to what it might be – for instance, “do you want milk? Your book?
Your shoes?” And wait for her to respond to what you’re pointing at.
If you have any unanswered
questions, use our answers page to gain wisdom from other parents or our resident
experts for all those baby-related niggles.
The information in this feature is intended for
educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the
health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a
doctor or other healthcare professional.