Are you guilty of slapping on a smile when speaking to a baby and letting loose on nauseatingly annoying phrases like: “Coochie, coochie coo you cutesy wootsey cutie patootie! Does my little poopsie woopsie need a fresh diapey wipey?”
Baby talk.
For some parents it’s their best friend, while other moms and dads view the high-pitched, jibber jabber as their worst enemy.
If you do a lot of baby-talking in public places, you might end up with more enemies than friends, but that’s no reason to tone down your shrill sentences, at least according to some pediatric speech and language specialists.
Several language experts have been speaking out a lot in the days since How I Met Your Mother actor Neil Patrick Harris revealed to People magazine that he and his partner David Burtka have banned baby talk from their home.
Harris is dad to 15-month-old twins Gideon and Harper, and in true Doogie Howser fashion, the actor says he is adamant about talking to his toddlers like adults.
“My parents always talked to my brother and myself like we were regular people and not babies,” Harris told People. “So I don’t talk down to them in baby talk. I try to talk to them even though they can’t speak the language yet.”
While Burtka likely appreciates not having to listen to Harris prattle on in front of their kids, experts say a little baby talk can actually enhance an infant’s language abilities.
According to experts, babies pay special attention to high pitches. What’s more, because baby-talking adults typically use a very predictable and pronounced rhythm, very young children are more apt to tune in, especially if all that goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ing is accompanied by direct eye contact and exaggerated facial expressions. The whole baby talk package is welcome stimulus to very young children, according to experts, which is why parents are encouraged to squeak out a few ooey-gooey prepubescent phrases and high pitched, sing-song sentences from time to time.
If you are concerned that speaking baby talk to your infant is going to result in him learning a bunch of silly made-up words you’ll have to correct later, experts say you have nothing to worry about. Language specialists maintain that babies who are entertained by baby talk are not ready to learn words yet. They are simply learning basic speech sounds and different phonemes.
Are you a baby talker or a baby talk basher?
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