Baby Talk Helps Your Baby Talk

Even before your baby is born, she responds to the sound of your voice. It’s one of the really precious things that bonds parents with their unborn child. In fact, researchers have

observed that a baby in the womb can respond to the sound of a mother’s voice as early as 5 months along in the pregnancy.

Later, when your little one is born, you’ll naturally talk to her in a sing-song language called “motherese” or “parentese” – also known as "baby talk." Research shows that these are the first sounds that your baby will try to imitate with cooing and babbling – babbling being the first vital step towards saying words.

A recent study funded by The National Science Foundation Science of Learning Program further emphasizes "…that what spurs early language development isn’t so much the quantity of words as the style of speech and social context in which speech occurs." Here are some tips from that study to help get your little one happily babbling back and forth with you:

  • Talk in an animated "baby talk" style. Elongated vowels and a higher pitched voice really stimulate the babbling.
  • Keep the conversation private. Your baby will be more inclined to babble without others around, and you’ll probably be less reserved about your baby talk too!
  • Let it happen naturally. Talk through everyday activities like changing diapers or getting dressed.
  • Emphasize the important words. Speak slowly and with a happy tone of voice.
  • Focus on the interaction. It’s the back-and-forth verbal engagement that’s most important, more so than one-sided conversation.

Dad and baby babbling and bonding in KindermusikIn Kindermusik, we give you lots of opportunities to babble, bond, and build connections that prompt early communication and enhance language development through songs, rhymes, vocal play, bounces, and more. We help you mix up your language-building parentese with singing, talking, and rhyming, to expose your baby to a variety of sounds that will aid her singing and language development. Language AND music AND learning – just one of the many benefits of early music learning you’ll enjoy in Kindermusik.

Find inspiration for your baby talk in a free Kindermusik preview class. Go online to schedule your free visit today!

 

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