How much do you talk to your baby?

[Anonymous]

i'm one of the PPs who talks a lot to their baby. i should add that i don't usually do "baby talk" ... i just talk in a more-or-less normal, friendly tone (maybe with more enthusiasm than regular conversations though). and DC began "talking back" (lots of random syllables) between two and three months of age.

[Anonymous]

Though I have done the baby talk thing, I've always also talked to my daughter like she was a grownup or older kid. Before she started talking, I would chat to her about the weather, current events, the band who sang the song on the radio, or tell her about my day. Now that she's talking a bit, I use shorter words, enunciated more clearly with a bit more repetition so she has the chance to pick up stuff. (I didn't start that till at least 9 mos I think.) If she makes sounds, I'll wait till she's paused and I'll respond with similar sounds like we're having a conversation. I've heard that can be good for getting kids familiar with conversational patterns. (you want to make sure you don't talk so much you crowd out your kids' opportunity to talk.)

[Anonymous]

I narrated constantly, but I'm a talker by nature. It wasn't always baby talk, though. Often it was just me talking about what I was doing or seeing.

And a lot of it was repeating back any sounds she was making. Long before they're saying actual words, that kind of mirroring/acknowledgement of their sounds is a key to promote verbal development. If they coo (or say bah-bah-bah or duh-duh-duh) and you respond, they're more motivated to keep trying. I truly didn't think of my reponses as baby talk -- more like a conversation with my baby.

[Anonymous]

i sometimes narrated stuff to my infant, who is now a thriving 2 y.o. chatterbox using complex sentences. but mostly what i did was read a ton of books to him...lots of nursery rhymes, which he still loves, and simple books about animals. bless the people who stocked our library, and the DC public library branches in our neighborhood. DS loves books!

[Anonymous]

Forget baby talk. I always feel silly with that. I think the baby really appreciates it if you talk to him/her normally. Narrate what you're doing, make observations, pose questions, muse aloud, sing. When you don't feel like talking and don't want silence, put on some music. And don't sweat it!

[Anonymous]

I think there's a difference between "baby talk" and speaking to your child in a certain tone. The tone I use with DS is not the same I would use when speaking with DH. I'm not about the gibberish.

[Anonymous]

Im the OP. Sorry---by baby talk i meant talking to your baby. I agree with a lot of you that baby talk is not what i am going to do. I just have a hard time even narrating what i am doing. And then we are in silence and im doing my thing and then i feel very guilty. I am going to try harder to talk to her.

[Anonymous]

I remember thinking I was going to go stir crazy if I had to come up with anymore conversations to have with my baby when she was a couple months old. I used to sit and just tell her everything that was in the room (ie we have a clock on the wall and four chairs around the table).

So...I bought some children's sing along CD's and started singing to her rather than talking all day. I would still talk to her (non baby talk) and explain to her things I was doing (ie Mommy is going to change your diaper now) but after I stopped trying to force convesation and allow silence at times, I found that I was much more comfortable.

Remember that there is no "right" - do what feels best for you.

Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

So-called "baby talk" actually facilitates language learning in children; don't think that you or your child is too good for it.