Discover the benefits of baby talk and its impact on your baby's development. Learn how Meri Sehat can guide you in nurturing your baby's language skills.

Is Baby Talk Good For My Baby?

Introduction

If your gut tells you to jam to &quot;baby shark doo doo&quot; and &quot;wheel on the bus&quot; with your kid, whether at home, in a car, or going up the lift at a mall, you go ahead and do it. Because, guess what? You ARE on the right track, mommy!&nbsp; &nbsp;

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When you speak in baby ways, you draw your infant&#39;s attention better than a monotone. Not only that, it elicits a more enthusiastic response and more high-pitched laughter from your baby.&nbsp; 
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Remember, for the growth of your little one, it is&nbsp; extremely vital for you to:

<ul>
	<li>Engage in &quot;peek-a-boo&quot; play</li>
	<li>Strike a conversation while changing their clothes or diaper</li>
	<li>Sing while cradling them to sleep 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

It&rsquo;s funny how something that appears &ldquo;gibberish&rdquo; at first could be so common around the world! Yes, according to a linguistic study, baby talk has similar properties across 36 languages<a href="#accordion">[4]</a>.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

This baby talk, infant-directed speech, motherese, call it whatever you may; the way adults adjust their way of speaking and use specific words like &ldquo;choo-choo&rdquo;, while addressing a baby means it&rsquo;s a type of pidgin<a href="#accordion">[5]</a>. That is, it&rsquo;s a common blended language that is relevant for both communicators in a child-adult conversation.&nbsp; 
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Understanding The Benefits Of Baby Talk With A Toddler

The term &quot;baby talk&quot; is actually misleading since it refers to adult communication with toddlers (aged 0 months to 3 years). It is a universal phenomenon and its features can be divided into 5 broad categories<a href="#accordion">[13]</a>: 
&nbsp;

1. Prosodic Factors

It involves a higher pitch, a more comprehensive frequency range, and more variety in intonation. 
&nbsp;

2. Lexical Attributes

Unique forms such as &ldquo;potty&rdquo; and &ldquo;nana&rdquo; provide a word&#39;s meaning. 
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3. Complex Characteristics

There are fewer verb auxiliaries, embedded clauses, and smaller utterances, such as &ldquo;oh no,&rdquo; &ldquo;all gone,&rdquo; &ldquo;my turn,&rdquo; and &ldquo;all done.&rdquo; 
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4. Redundant Elements

The exact words or phrases are repeated more frequently over time. 
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5. Content Features

It is restricted to subjects relevant to children&#39;s lives.&nbsp; 
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Nearly 80% of your baby&rsquo;s brain develops by the age of 3. That is, as your baby goes from being a newborn to becoming an infant and then a toddler, their brain grows to form the necessary connections or synapses for thought, learning, and information processing. During these years, their synapses grow at an incredibly high rate of 700 per second.

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Therefore, talking to your infant helps to activate crucial connections in their brain that are responsible for language. The more words they hear, the stronger these connections in their minds become. If you&rsquo;re talking, singing, even thinking out loud in their presence, you&rsquo;re improving your child&#39;s general learning capacity and future linguistic abilities. It&rsquo;s backed by science, too; according to research, if your baby&rsquo;s responding more and more to baby talk, chances are they&rsquo;ll be more literate than their class fellows by the time they start going to school at 2 years of age.&nbsp; 
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Here are a few suggestions according to your infant&rsquo;s age<a href="#accordion">[10][11]</a>: 
&nbsp;

0-6 Months Old&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Talk to your little one while holding them close. Your only focus should be your baby. Babies enjoy looking at faces, so they will listen to you talk and respond.</li>
	<li>Talk as you feed, clothe, and bathe them. This inculcates listening skills and teaches them about having turns in a conversation.</li>
	<li>Sing so they can become accustomed to the language&#39;s rhythm.</li>
	<li>Repeat the tones or words your baby makes back to them.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>A sing-along-style conversation will help you hold your baby&rsquo;s interest. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

6-12 Months Old

<ul>
	<li>Identify objects you can see and point to them. For example, &quot;Look, a cat.&quot; This is the way your infant picks up new words, and eventually, they&#39;ll start to imitate you. Add more descriptions as your child becomes older, like, &quot;Look, a black cat.&quot;</li>
	<li>Read to your child. You don&#39;t have to read entire books; just describe what you see in the pictures.</li>
	<li>Educate through play. Games like &quot;round and round the lawn&quot; and &quot;peek-a-boo&quot; teach about sharing, paying attention, and listening. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

12-18 Months Old&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Correct your youngster when they try to say a word but get it wrong. Use the correct term. For instance, you should answer &quot;Yes, it&#39;s a cat&quot; if they point to one and say &quot;Ca!&quot;. Do it frequently, but not always, so they can learn.</li>
	<li>Give them options, such as, &quot;Do you want an apple or a banana?&quot; to expand their vocabulary.</li>
	<li>Reading and musical toys improve your tot&rsquo;s listening abilities.</li>
	<li>As your child grows, take pleasure in singing nursery rhymes and songs together, particularly ones that include activities like &quot;Pat-a-cake,&quot; &quot;Row, row, row your boat,&quot; and &quot;Wind the bobbin up.&quot; They will remember the words better if they perform the actions. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

18-24 Months Old

<ul>
	<li>Repeat phrases like &quot;Let&#39;s put your jacket on&quot; and &quot;Are you wearing a blue jacket today?&quot; Your toddler will learn words more easily when they are repeated often.</li>
	<li>Use clear instructions. At this age, your child can grasp requests like &quot;Get your coat&quot; or &quot;Shut the door.&quot; Just ensure the instructions are brief and straightforward so they are easy to comprehend and follow.</li>
	<li>Ask them to point to their ear, nose, foot, etc. when you say, &quot;Where&#39;s your...&quot;</li>
	<li>If your toddler is under 24 months old, keep their daily TV time under 30 minutes. When infants are learning to talk, it&rsquo;s more beneficial for them to just play with and hear stories from people around them. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

2-3 Years Old&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Encourage your child to build complete sentences. Your child will start to put simple sentences together at around age 2. Try to reply using sentences that are a few words longer. For example, if they say, &quot;sock off&quot;, respond with &quot;yes, we&#39;re taking your socks off&quot;.</li>
	<li>Call your child&rsquo;s name before starting any sentence. Moreover, allow them time to think and compose their answer in their mind first.</li>
	<li>Teach them about words that go together. For example, you can show them a ball, teddy, and a rattle and then say the word &ldquo;toy.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>Use symbolic sounds. They will help your child understand the meaning behind the sentences. Like saying &quot;Hurrah&quot; when you are reacting to any achievements, or &quot;uh-oh&quot; when you drop something accidentally.</li>
	<li>Keep the radio and TV off especially when you are engaged in a conversation with your child to reduce background noise.</li>
	<li>Children at this age love to help. So, you can attend to household chores together, like cleaning, cooking, and shopping, and talk as you complete them. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Toddlers develop their speaking abilities at different ages. That said, some kids have developmental delays, which can affect their speech as well. Speak to your GP or pediatrician concerning your child&#39;s language development. They will assess your child and suggest if speech therapy is required. You might also ask the speech and language therapists in your area for suggestions. 
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<h5>Is Late Speech A Sign Of Autism?&nbsp;</h5>

Most autistic children will have speech difficulties, but not all kids with speech difficulties will be autistic<a href="#accordion">[8]</a>. Speech difficulties in autistic people typically coexist with other communication problems, such as lack of gestures, not responding to their names, and showing little interest in social interactions. However, speech delays can simply be a developmental delay or due to an underlying issue like hearing loss. 
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<h5>Is Your Baby Tongue Tied?</h5>

Let&#39;s define a tongue tie (also known as ankyloglossia) first. A tongue knot appears when the lingual frenulum or the tissue that connects part of the tongue to the floor of the mouth is shorter than usual.&nbsp;

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Some medical experts think that a tongue tie is a potential cause of speech delays since it limits the tongue&#39;s range of motion. This is why medical professionals perform a surgical treatment called frenotomy (also referred to as tongue tie clipping), claiming that this will help the child to overcome speech delay and/or speak clearly. 
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How do you know your baby is not irritated or frustrated with how you speak to them? Well, scientific data suggests that babies adore hearing adults speak. So, how can your baby not enjoy your speech? Especially when you&rsquo;re talking to them specifically and that, too in a kind, positive manner! They also love to imitate the voices and different noises they hear from surroundings. Therefore, the more you talk to them, the more quickly your baby will be able to pick up speech. 
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<ul>
	<li>Natural baby speech imitates the female voice, which infants around the world identify with comfort and feeding.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Using &quot;baby speak&quot; won&#39;t stop or postpone your baby from picking up adult speech in the future.</li>
	<li>Chatting with your infant frequently throughout the day, discussing your activities, and talking while feeding, dressing, or washing them are all part of baby speech. Your baby will start to connect these language sounds to regular items and activities.</li>
	<li>Simple words like &quot;mom&quot; and &quot;bottle&quot; should be repeated frequently to help your infant become accustomed to them and learn what they mean. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Did you know your baby can grasp the meaning of what you&#39;re saying even though they cannot talk effectively yet<a href="#accordion">[9]</a>? This is because they are attuned to emotional tones as well. Thus, give them your undivided attention and support their early attempts to communicate with you:

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Make sure to smile at them when your baby is gurgling, cooing, or otherwise vocalizing with baby talk.</li>
	<li>Pay attention to your infant as they squeal and giggle instead of averting your eyes, interrupting, or chatting to someone else.</li>
	<li>Be patient as you try to interpret your baby&#39;s nonverbal cues.</li>
	<li>Give your infant enough loving attention so they can communicate with you even while you&#39;re busy with other things. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Talking to a baby should always be a two-way street. If you&rsquo;re too tired to sing a song or engage in energetic storytelling, you can mimic your infant to keep them engaged. This action conveys a crucial message: you care about what they are trying to say and how they are feeling<a href="#accordion">[9]</a>.

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Use baby talk to show them how adult discussions work.</li>
	<li>Replicate the baby&#39;s cries, such as &quot;ba-ba&quot; or &quot;goo-goo,&quot; then listen for another sound before repeating it.</li>
	<li>Even if you don&#39;t grasp what your kid is trying to say, make an effort to react.</li>
	<li>Smiles and other facial expressions strengthen communication.</li>
	<li>Baby gestures are an attempt at communication, so try to mimic them as well. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h5>Speak Multiple Languages</h5>

It&#39;s crucial to communicate with your child in the language you feel most comfortable with. However, it&rsquo;s also extremely helpful if you&rsquo;re using multiple languages with them. While it won&rsquo;t change how quickly or late your child learns to speak, being bilingual or even multilingual at a young age has multifold benefits. For instance, they&rsquo;ll be proficient in all their languages. Also, at school or otherwise, it will improve their focus, creativity, problem-solving, and multitasking abilities<a href="#accordion">[7]</a>. 
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Baby babble or baby talk is helpful when the child is at the stage where they don&rsquo;t understand the meaning of words. However, when kids reach the stage of full language development around the age of 15 months, the significance of baby talk disappears. It is replaced by a connection of love and emotions expressed via language. According to experts, there is no &quot;appropriate time&quot; to quit using baby talk with your child, but it&#39;s crucial to modify your kid-speak as they get older, specifically when emotions and understanding is developing. 
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Conclusion

The first year of your baby&#39;s life will be full of change &ndash; and not just diaper changes. From the earliest grins, gurgles, and coos to learning to pronounce &quot;mama&quot; or &quot;dada,&quot; your baby will slowly learn to communicate with you. What&rsquo;s more, they will expect you to respond in the same manner, i.e., &quot;baby talk&quot; to them.

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You will need to take a lot of steps to support your baby&#39;s communication abilities, especially throughout their first year. However, these &ldquo;steps&rdquo; are quite simple. You only need to play, sing, converse, and smile at your child!&nbsp;

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You should prioritize talking to your infant because reading, writing, and interpersonal skills can be successfully inculcated during early childhood when speech and language abilities are vital.

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The only thing to remember is that every child develops communication skills at their own rate. Don&#39;t worry too much if your child isn&#39;t talking as rapidly as you had anticipated. However, don&rsquo;t hesitate talking to your doctor about any concern you have. 
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Key Points

<ul>
	<li>When an adult speaks to a child between the ages of 0 months and 3 years, it is called &quot;baby talk&quot;.</li>
	<li>Engaging in the baby talk can be fun, but it can also be frustrating at times; either way, it is essential for you to indulge in baby talk for your child&rsquo;s growth and development.</li>
	<li>Many infants pick up things rapidly through baby talk. Each infant, however, reacts at its own rate.</li>
	<li>If you think there&rsquo;s any developmental issue with your baby, consult with a doctor immediately.</li>
</ul>

[1] Culbertson GH, Caporael LR. Baby talk speech to the elderly: Complexity and content of messages. Personal Soc Psychol Bull. 1983;9(2):305–12.

[2] de Rosnay M, Hughes C. Conversation and theory of mind: Do children talk their way to socio-cognitive understanding? Br J Dev Psychol. 2006;24(1):7–37.

[3] Barbeau EB, Meilleur A-AS, Zeffiro TA, Mottron L. Comparing motor skills in autism spectrum individuals with and without speech delay. Autism Res. 2015;8(6):682–93.

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