That would drive me batty. Blame the pediatrician and ask her to stop. Or if you're lucky your son will start correcting her himself!

I don't know if I would prefer baby talk or made up words like "ocky." As in "Oh honey, don't touch that. It's ocky." I f'n hate that word.

Just let her enjoy her grandson and relax.

Anonymous wrote:The sing song tone actually helps babies learn.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4556687

That said my MIL is supremely annoying. She is constantly talking about my baby in the third person, to adults, in baby talk with her own made up bad grammar. Every sentence starts with "Oh! Him want..."

Definitely helps babies learn, but this child is TWO. My MIL does singsongy, exaggerated enthusiasm with my 2 yo DD and it drives me crazy. I don't say anything, though, and DH supports my need to go on lots of walks when she visits.

Anonymous wrote:Any chance you could just have a glass of wine and relax? Hope your son cuts you some slack when you get older.

Oh, she doesn't need to worry about that.

She is going to have a daughter in law someday. It all balances out

Anonymous wrote:She sees him like four times a year for a few days at a time. It's not worth bringing up in the long term, but when I'm in the middle of a visit, it drives me crazy.

Then just let it go. Annoying yes, but if this is the worst problem you have, time to move on. My ILs speak their native language with our toddler, whom they see every day. It was only recently that we learned they actually speak a babytalk version with her. Since they're his parents, DH took the lead and gently explained how awesome it is that our kid will know their language, especially the proper words and grammar. So I've been in this boat--but for just a few times a year, it's not worth it. It won't be too long before she'll just stop on her own, once he's outgrown it in her view.

Anonymous wrote:The sing song tone actually helps babies learn.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4556687

That said my MIL is supremely annoying. She is constantly talking about my baby in the third person, to adults, in baby talk with her own made up bad grammar. Every sentence starts with "Oh! Him want..."

This. Being over dramatic, and using intense voice pitches is good. Using poor grammar is NOT.

"Mom, .... please" should be enough unless she's senile

It's your mom, not your mil, so I think you can say something. As long as you are not always criticizing everything she does. If it was my mom, I would let her now that it bothers me and that I'm worried that it will cause my child to speak incorrectly. Then we'd laugh about how I'm neurotic, but she would do her best stop.

Ugh, my inlaws do this too. The one that drives me batty is that they replace the word sleep with seep. So we have "go seepy now" "it's seepytime" etc.

Anonymous wrote:

If she doesn't seem to listen, then you can always try this: "Gwammy, me no like you talking to the baby. Makes me vehwee sad. No like baby talk. You stop."

OP again. I cross posted with you. This made me LOL.

Glad to brighten your day.

slp here. As annoying as the baby talk is, it really won't affect your child's typically developing language skills.

Your only hope is that your child one day says "Grandma, why are you talking like Cookie Monster?". The passive-aggressive in me might even coach my toddler to say that...but that's me.

My MIL who is not even a native English speaker did the same until one of my kids said "whaaaat?" when she said "Oma get dink?", instead of saying "Would you like me to get you a drink?".

If she doesn't seem to listen, then you can always try this: "Gwammy, me no like you talking to the baby. Makes me vehwee sad. No like baby talk. You stop."

OP again. I cross posted with you. This made me LOL.

She sees him like four times a year for a few days at a time. It's not worth bringing up in the long term, but when I'm in the middle of a visit, it drives me crazy.

Definitely say something. This is like nails on a chalkboard. The singsong voice is fine, but the "baby grammar" has to go. Use the pediatrician/expert excuse: "Hey mom, it's so great to watch you and Little Elvis get along so way. One of the things we're working on with him is developing his language skills. I notice that you do some baby talk with him, and I need you to stop. It's important that we all use correct grammar around him, even if that's not what he's using. He needs to hear it in order to have a good model. I know you can do that for him."

If she doesn't seem to listen, then you can always try this: "Gwammy, me no like you talking to the baby. Makes me vehwee sad. No like baby talk. You stop."