Parenting in the First 3 Years Podcast
#1: Why Baby Talk is Good for Language Development
with Ann McKitrick
We all know that people use a different tone of voice when they talk to babies, like what we would typically call ‘baby talk’. Researchers have identified this sing-song, high pitched, slow speech with a name… “motherese,” “parentese,” or IDS (Infant Directed Speech).
These speech characteristics are observed in all languages as parents and caregivers engage with babies. And there’s a lot more to it than just the way it sounds.
In this episode, we explore the one thing that almost every person does, an instinctive way of interacting with a baby that is exactly what a child needs in the first year of life.
Here’s a glance at this episode…
- [01:47] A 3-day hike through the Grand Canyon
- [04:57] How you speak to your baby the moment they wake up
- [05:34] What is parentese?
- [06:43] What baby talk has to do with your baby’s development
- [10:50] Our vocal fingerprint
- [13:48] What can you do with this information?
Some haikus I wrote after our Grand Canyon adventure:
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You don’t even know
How totally strong you are
Essence of the hike
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Why are you so dumb?
Putting rocks in your backpack
Buy them at the store!
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(This last one needs a little context. One of the girls on the trip had 2 pets at home: a dog named Willingham and a goldfish named Dinner.)
The fish is Dinner
Willingham is quite hungry
The fish is dinner
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