5 myths about baby talk | BabyCenter

5 myths about baby talk "Parents hear a lot of advice about their babies’ language development. Which tips are bogus? Here’s what research suggests about several popular beliefs about babies and the development of speech.

Myth #1: It doesn’t matter if you don’t talk to your baby–at least not when he’s very young.

Reality: Experiments demonstrate that newborn babies recognize their mothers’ voices. More than that, they already recognize the distinctive sounds of their mothers’ native language. And they prefer to a certain type of speech, which brings me to myth number #2…

Myth #2: “Baby talk,” that high-pitched, sing-song intonation that many people use when addressing babies, is bad.

Reality: This style of speaking is called “infant-directed speech” and it features many characteristics that seemed designed to help babies learn language. Not to be confused with speaking nonsense words (“coochie-coo!”) or trying to imitate a baby’s speech (“baby want wawa!”), infant-directed speech is about communicating more clearly. When people switch to “baby talk mode,” they speak more slowly, exaggerate their pronunciation,.

Learn more about how to teach baby to talk

When do babies start talking?

Many parents wonder when their baby will say their first words.

The age that babies start to say recognisable words differs hugely from one baby to another and depends on many factors. In the normal pattern of baby speech development, first words can generally be expected any time between ten and fifteen months. The important thing for parents to note is that most of the sounds babies make before a real word is produced have a purpose or meaning.

A baby's first cooing sounds - ah, oh and then later, with consonants added mah, gah, boh are the most skilful sounds a baby can make with the level of muscle development the baby has. But the baby is trying to communicate with you. When you repeat these sounds back to baby and smile, you are signalling that talking is important and that you enjoy and appreciate the sounds baby makes. After a time, you can find that baby will 'reply' by repeating the sound or making a different sound and then you find yourself having a 'conversation' with baby. What a great realisation for a baby - that a conversation means taking turns

Around six months, when baby starts to babble in a way that sounds like a foreign language, this is an exploring and practicing phase that lasts several months. The baby is happily discovering how to make different sounds and practicing stringing sounds together and there is no special meaning in those sounds.

If you have ever done an exercise program to get fit, you understand that the actions you do have only one purpose - to increase the strength of the muscles. So baby babbling is your baby's personal fitness program for strengthening the muscles in the mouth that will be used for talking. At this stage baby is not attaching any meaning to the sounds, but generally she or he will be delighted and entertained by the sound of his or her own voice!

If your baby is making sounds or is at the babbling stage, then please tell us about it by posting a comment below.
Click the blue "comment" word below to leave a comment, thanks.

Ella

You can read more about when babies start to talk at http://www.teachbabytotalk.com