How much do you talk to your infant?

[ErinYay]

LO is 6 weeks old now, and awake and alert a LOT. I try to keep a running dialog and read what I'm reading aloud, etc, but sometimes just feel like being quiet, ykwim?

It's just us during the day; when daddy's home there's a lot more talking.

How much should one ideally talk to an awake tiny one? How much do you, in practice, talk?

Thanks!

[4Blessings]

My LO is 5 weeks old and I have three other kids at home. All day long. There never seems to be a moment of silence!

I talk specifically to the little one while changing her diaper and during tummy time, etc. The rest of the time she's in the mix with the other kids homeschooling and playing so she hears lots of what we are doing even if it isn't specifically directed to her.

It sounds like you are doing just fine. Soon enough your LO will be interacting with you and it will seem more natural to talk to each other

[sunshynbaby]

I figure that babies are human too, so they need some quiet time just like we do. I keep a running dialogue a lot of the time, but if I feel like being quiet, I am.

[lifeguard]

I talk constantly to ds - drives dh crazy 'cause he always thinks I'm talking to him from the other room.

[ErinYay]

Originally Posted by lifeguard

I talk constantly to ds - drives dh crazy 'cause he always thinks I'm talking to him from the other room.

LOL, we found this to be one of the more striking changes in going from 2 to 3.

Me: "Yadda, yadda, I'm gonna eat your feet!"
DH: (engrossed in something else) "Wait, what?"
Me: "The baby."
DH: "The baby what?"
Me: "I'm talking to the baby is what."
DH: "Oh. You should tell me when you're talking to her."
Me: "Yeah, I'll get right on that."

[LionessMom]

i would go with what feels natural. i usually talk just to DD2 when I am changing her or when she is fussing for my attention. with all the other kids in the house it is only quiet in the afternoon when the older 2 are at school. that is usually the time i talk to her. when the other kids get home i carry her with me while i do stuff with them.

when it was just DS i would talk to him when he seemed receptive. and i would narrate what we were doing. but when he seemed like he wasnt really paying attention to me i let it drift off into silence.

[sparklebean]

I have wondered about this before as well. I never realized how quiet we are! I try to do a little extra narration when I think of it, but I stopped stressing. It just feels really unnatural to force it.

[ErinYay]

I'm so glad I made this thread! Thanks, mommas.

It makes a lot of sense that as they become more mobile and active, and less adorably lumplike, that the natural inclination will be to talk more.

[Carhootel]

You know, I think I started a thread about this when my ds was about that age and you know, I didn't talk to my ds all that much. I felt like I interacted with him a lot and it's not like I was ignoring him, we were constantly making eye contact/nursing or cuddling/babywearing so I didn't feel like connection was missing but I have to say that as he's gotten older and is more into toys and playing we talk a lot more. I think it's something you grow into and I wouldn't worry about it - I really didn't talk to ds a lot until 5-6months

[treegardner]

I talked to DS a lot, but I was usually talking out loud at home anyway. Either to the cat, dog, or just thinking out loud.

[CageFreeFamily]

Originally Posted by ErinYay

DH: "Oh. You should tell me when you're talking to her."
Me: "Yeah, I'll get right on that."

Like other posters, I have two other children and a WAH partner, so there is already a lot of dialogue going on.
I talk directly to her when she asks to talk and whenever I am doing something with her like changing her diaper, putting her in/out of the sling, etc.
I have found that she is very clear about wanting direct interaction when she does.
She is colicky and Dh and I take turns on the night shift. When he has had her in the morning for an hour or two she begins to get fussy and he brings her to me. She is very clear that she has things to say about it before we nurse.
She looks directly at me and makes a lot of noise. She did it quite a few times before I began to realize that she was really expressing a whole range of emotions and what she wanted was for me to respond to what she had to "say." So I paid closer attention to her patterns, eye contact, etc and began to understand her more and was able to find the appropriate cues for response.
I winds up sounding like a conversation in another language. Dh got it on video so that I could see and it's really amazing. I never noticed this tendency/ability with my first two, but she definitely has it. My two older kids have picked up on it and will talk with her too.

We basically just include her in the day as assumption that she understands some of what we're talking about in terms of tone of voice, etc.

I think they are just like the rest of us... some are more talkative, but we don't tend to run a constant dialogue.

[Icehockey18]

I would narrate some, and read whatever I was reading out loud, but not too often. I talked a lot to ds when I was changing his diaper or changing his clothes. I did, for some reason, however, sing to him a lot (I'm a terrible singer, not sure why I subjected him to that...). I only 'knew' a few kids songs/ lullybies and pretty much sang the same thing over and over. Now, when ever ds is fussy or unhappy all I have to do is sing one of those songs and he's all smiles! It has particularly been a life saver in the car! He hates the car seat. All I need to do is sing, hope I hit all green lights, and he falls asleep! So, if you feel awkward talking but ypur lo seems to be looking to you for some verbal communication- sing a song!

eta: ds also now 'sings' with me (more like a long ahhhhh while I sing). And if he's really tired and I'm wearing him he will 'sing' himself to sleep. Very funny

[4myfinn]

I talk/sing to DS quite a bit. I have a tendency to make up weird songs which I'll sing to him throughout the day. Sometimes I give him a running narrative of what I'm doing. Other times when he wants to really talk I'll just have an imaginary conversation with him, responding to his coos and babbles like he's asking me questions. However, I think- I know- he likes his quiet time too. Sometimes he'll even turn away from me if he's had too much and wants me to be quiet. DH is a quiet guy and I think DS will be just like him.

[annekh23]

Constantly, if I'm doing something, I'm sure I got some wierd looks in Target today, the running commentary on my shopping was probably a bit too much, I nearly said outloud, oh mummy you're talking too much, stop talking to yourself, but caught it before it spewed out, it might have been the final nail in the coffin that had someone come and lock me away for complete insanity!

[starling&diesel]

I didn't talk out loud much to DD until she was more like 8 or 9 months. It didn't feel right to me, as I'm a pretty quiet person and like silence. We played, nursed, cuddled, and interacted tonnes, just not a lot verbally. I did -- and do -- read to her a lot. And we often were out, where I'd talk to other people and who would also interact with her. She's just about a year old, and can say a lot of words, so I don't think it did any harm being on the quiet side for the first little while.

[YayJennie]

I've always talked to my son a lot, but I'm a talker and talk a lot in general. Before my son was born, I'd talk to the dog I give running commentary on what we're doing, or sing little songs that I make up as we do activities or point of the cats or dog and talk to them and encourage my 10 month old to talk to them too! He's very vocal as well, and has been from a young age, so it helps that we have "conversations"