Post by Nicole Fabian-Weber
For a long time now, researchers have been trying to figure out why babies who come from poorer families have already fallen behind their wealthier counterparts in terms of their ability to talk, understand, and learn by the time they're 1 year old. Factors such as lead paint exposure; stress hormones; and lack of reading have all been brought into the discussion, but now researchers are exploring something new: How much babies are spoken to. Talking to your baby is an innate thing for many parents. In fact, mini-sentences like Look at the trees outside; You see that doggie?; Can you say 'mama'? probably abound in your home. And that's great! You may feel like a crazy person, but there has never been any research that shows talking to your baby a lot is a bad thing. In fact, studies, evidently, show just the opposite. But is there a "best" way to talk to your little one?![]()
For a long time now, researchers have been trying to figure out why babies who come from poorer families have already fallen behind their wealthier counterparts in terms of their ability to talk, understand, and learn by the time they're 1 year old. Factors such as lead paint exposure; stress hormones; and lack of reading have all been brought into the discussion, but now researchers are exploring something new: How much babies are spoken to. Talking to your baby is an innate thing for many parents. In fact, mini-sentences like Look at the trees outside; You see that doggie?; Can you say 'mama'? probably abound in your home. And that's great! You may feel like a crazy person, but there has never been any research that shows talking to your baby a lot is a bad thing. In fact, studies, evidently, show just the opposite. But is there a "best" way to talk to your little one?