Do not baby-talk

Discussion in 'Babies' started by Alexandoy, Dec 26, 2016.

  1. Alexandoy

    Alexandoy Well-Known Member

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    My father used to tell us that we should not baby-talk our children because it hinders the development of proper speech. I know of so many parents that do that to their children – deliberately mispronouncing words and using wrong grammar so the baby would easily understand. One pediatrician said that babies can understand whatever language we teach them and it is best to be consistent (with the language). When you talk to a child, be it a baby or toddler, it is not just a way of communicating but a way of teaching them speech.
     
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  2. TheKnight

    TheKnight Active Member

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    Man, that's exactly what we think. There are so many parents that told their babies that ''da-da'' meant dad, ''yum yum'' meant eat and other ridiculous things like that. When they grow up, they start using those exact same words and their speech sounds pretty strange. We've always talked to children normally and they actually have been able to speak a lot sooner. I know of a child that learned how to speak at 4 years old because their parents talked to them in that ridiculous manner.
     
  3. Binu

    Binu Member

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    Baby talking is very common in our culture/society. Interestingly, I have seen many adults who still uses some "baby words." Since baby are always learning new things, they will grab anything they are told. Whether you use baby words or adult words, they will memorize those words. Therefor, it is not necessary to use baby words while talking to babies. Interestingly,people use baby words not because the babies are unable to understand adult words, they use baby words out of love for their babies.
     
  4. Decentlady

    Decentlady Active Member

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    I don't see a big problem with the use of baby words with the kid as long as you use the adult/real word with other family members in the same language.

    You could call food mum-mum with the kid while you use the word "food" with adults in the same language and the kid knows the difference, trust me.
     
  5. Nocturnal Writer

    Nocturnal Writer Active Member

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    What the adults are doing the kids are always following them. Kids are great imitators. And when it regards to baby talk to a baby especially when he is beginning to talk, the correct manner of talking should be done. Once the baby is starting to talk, he imitates the sound he hears. The utterances, the pronunciation, and everything. And if it is not strengthened as early as possible, it would pose a big problem to the speech development of the child. To make it right, start right.
     
  6. kamai

    kamai Active Member

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    I do baby talk to my baby at times but now since I have been talking to her normally from the start she knows the difference. Sometimes I baby talk to her and treat her like a baby like playing around and she knows it. She even tells me, "I am a baby right now." I do think it's a bad idea to baby talk babies because that will stick to them and will take them longer to be able to talk.
     
  7. Mika

    Mika Active Member

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    I agree, babies do what you tell them to do and if you talk to them in a ridiculous way they think that's what is the right way of talking and copy that. One should talk with babies in clear accent which reaches to them loud and clear so they know what is expected of them. The funny speech should be limited to copy the sounds of birds and animals only which babies enjoy and learn in the process.
     
  8. faith

    faith Member

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    I really believe that this is mostly irrelevant, and based in rumors alone. Speculation does not have the final word here. Time does; my babies turned out all right......
     
  9. tony

    tony Active Member

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    I agree with you on this point, really babies learn fast whatever we do or speak to them. Their mind is a tabular rasa and we should carefully pass characters or speak things straight and normal to them. If we miss pronounce or misspell things while teaching them they'd assume it's the right one. Whatsoever we pass across to them as normal is what they take or copy whether actually right or wrong.
     
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  10. James McAllister

    James McAllister Kinacle Employee Staff Member

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    Yep, have to agree with Faith here - there is no conclusive evidence either way and I really don't think it matters as much as we may think. I do baby talk - it makes the baby noticeably happier when I talk in a higher pitched voice like that. I don't replace words though with baby alternatives (i.e. I wouldn't use 'yum yum' in place of food like mentioned earlier, although this doesn't seem to slow down development either other than having to re-learn the words.)

    We've published an article about this over on the blog a while back that can provide some further insight:

    Baby Talk – Does Your Tone of Voice Determine Baby’s Development?
     
  11. pwarbi

    pwarbi Active Member

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    Now I know that as more and more research gets done, the more we should take note of the findings but I'm sure my great-grandparents used baby talk to my grandparents, just as they used it to my parents and in turn they did with me, and it hasn't had any negative effects on me, as I'm sure it hasn't on most other people.

    These days I think that people are concerning themselves with the wrong issues when it comes to good parenting, and while a lot of parents these days will know all about the latest research and will be able to quote statistics on what the scientists have said is good and bad for their children, they can't do the basics right.
     
  12. to7update

    to7update Active Member

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    I don't think there is a strict rule about this, but we do know that babies copy what we say, so if we talk normally most likely they will replicate that too. I have baby talked to my kids for a while, but from a certain age on I stopped because it was no longer funny haha, they thought I was treating them like babies and not like the 9 year old adults they are. :D
     
  13. Holmes22

    Holmes22 Active Member

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    I like there being strict rules in place for this, especially when we are talking about in the public where other people are around. Sometimes it is hard not to do though, so I do understand that part of it.
     
  14. tony

    tony Active Member

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    We shouldn't forget that babies copy what we do and tell them. Even if this may not hold true in it's entirety, I do think we should be mindful of the characters and attitude shown or thought to the baby.
     
  15. to7update

    to7update Active Member

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    Exactly, babies and kids copy everything we do, everything, so we need to get out act straight when we have a baby or else they might replicate the bad things we do haha. We have some flexibility in what concerns talking though, as baby talking a little it's just our way of expressing our affection to them.
     
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  16. pwarbi

    pwarbi Active Member

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    Babies might very well replicate what we do, but I very much doubt that a 2 or 3 month old baby that's just learning to adapt to it's surroundings are going to be scarred for life if a person talks baby language to them while playing with a teddy bear. Or are we not allowed to let them play with teddy bears anymore because they might grow up thinking that bears aren't dangerous?

    Of course that example is a little silly, but you see what I'm saying I hope, and while as parents we are responsible for our children and how they are brought up, at the same time we have to use our own common sense no matter what the so called experts tell us what we should and shouldn't be doing.
     
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  17. to7update

    to7update Active Member

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    Well yeah, such small babies just need affection more than vocabulary, so it doesn't really matter how we speak to them. What does matter is that they feel the love in our voice, but some months later on they start picking up language, so speaking correctly is something important.
     
  18. Jester85

    Jester85 Member

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    Consistency is extremely important in child mental and emotional development. Also I don't believe in excessively "babying" your children in general. Oftentimes, I think kids are more responsive if you're just straightforward with them (within reason of course).
     
  19. LaCupcak3

    LaCupcak3 New Member

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    I totally agree with this. It is very important for babies to learn how to speak and understand what's being spoken from someone else. Talking to them like a regular person makes it clear for them to hear and respond back to what's being said. Babies love to repeat things and would often like to know what it means.
     
  20. tyche

    tyche Active Member

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    I agree. When I was young, my parents never spoke in a baby talk manner to us. They spoke to us normally. My cousins who now have kids seem to want their kids speaking in English rather than Tagalog, which is perfectly fine though. Their kid's English accent sounds natural too, unlike those who didn't speak English as their main language. Teaching a language is always the easiest on children rather than with adults.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2017
  21. iamawriter

    iamawriter Active Member

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    There is a time for everything and so there is a time for baby talk. I am in favour of talking that way. I know my mother did that to all of us but today I talk correctly, write correctly and in fact a successful freelancer.
     

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