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.

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Last Modified: 03/07/2007

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