Do you talk to your newborn?

[hakeber]

I know I should be bathing her in speech and chatter, but after saying hello, gorgeous 500 times, I'm sort of out of small talk. What in the world is there to say, and do you ever feel a little crazy?

I try reading aloud, and singing sometimes, but I'm not all that chatty with the best of conversationalists, and with nothing but drool smiles in return? I just don't know what to say...Which could be why ds was over a year before his first word left his lips and well over two before he started using sentences. ETA: I just don't do baby talk well, and I don't think she's all that interested in waxing lyrical about tax reform and educational policy writing.

If you talk to your baby, what do you talk about and how do you keep from going nuts?

[staceychev]

I'm not a fan of baby talk, personally. I talked to DD when she was a newborn/infant by pretty much narrating what I was doing and what I was seeing. It feels weird at first, but you do get used to it.

[beebalmmama]

Originally Posted by staceychev

I'm not a fan of baby talk, personally. I talked to DD when she was a newborn/infant by pretty much narrating what I was doing and what I was seeing. It feels weird at first, but you do get used to it.

This is what I do too. Now I'm often narrating to him how is big brother is being silly, funny, etc and trying to hold a "conversation" with ds 1 (4.5 yrs) at the same time.

[zinemama]

I did the narrating thing, too. "Now I'm going to chop up the parsley. Mm, parsley. Couldn't stand it when I was pregnant but now it's just as yummy as ever. Now, where is the big knife. Oh, here it is. Chop, chop!"

That kind of thing. Yeah, you feel a little silly at first.

[sapphire_chan]

You can also read books out loud

honestly though talking to her a lot was pretty difficult until she started talking. Now it's easy to chatter away at her, but those first 14 months or so were pretty hard in that regard.

I'd end up totally silent trying to figure out how to describe things

[Addie]

Originally Posted by zinemama

I did the narrating thing, too. "Now I'm going to chop up the parsley. Mm, parsley. Couldn't stand it when I was pregnant but now it's just as yummy as ever. Now, where is the big knife. Oh, here it is. Chop, chop!"

That kind of thing. Yeah, you feel a little silly at first.

I'm home alone with DS for most of the day, so I try to make a point of talking to him. This is often what it sounds like.

[Jaesun's Dad]

I'm shy but I don't feel at all awkward talking to my six week old baby. I don't do "baby talk" although I sometimes may exaggerate my normal speaking tone variations. I sing a lot but I talk to him too. When he is alert and really looking at me I try to slow down and really focus on what I say to him. Importantly I also try to let him see how I move my mouth to make the sounds I make. If I see he's moving his mouth or trying to get out some sounds I might repeat a syllable over and over and even at this very early age I can see him trying to copy me, and sometimes even with a little bit of success. Last night I said "Hello, Jaesun!" and he was really staring at me attentively so I focused on "Hello" and I could see the wheels clicking in his little head and so I just worked with him on the first syllable, which happens to be "Hell" (don't tell your priest!) saying it slowly and letting him see the way I form the word and he was trying and almost got it out! I've done similar with other words too. I also like to repeat "important" words often: Mommy, Daddy, Jaesun being of course three of the most important of all: "Mommy has to use the bathroom but she'll be right back. Jaesun can cuddle with Daddy while she's gone." ... then when she re-enters, excitedly "Look ... there's Mommy! Mommy is back! Say hi to Mommy, Jaesun: Hi Mommy! (animate waving motion)" etc. Sometimes I hear him utter a sound too and repeat what I heard. He's made a "bah" sound several times out of the blue so I echo him and again let him watch my mouth. I think he's learning how to control his mouth to make sounds and trying to learn from watching me and listening. I don't have any delusions of him becoming an early talker or anything but importantly: he genuinely seems to enjoy this interactive interaction in short stretches of course. Once the attention span wanes I'm oft inclined to put him in the body sling and wear/dance/rock him while I go about cooking or tidying my apartment and sing him to sleep ... which is amazingly effective (so far at least).

[Icehockey18]

Originally Posted by staceychev

I'm not a fan of baby talk, personally. I talked to DD when she was a newborn/infant by pretty much narrating what I was doing and what I was seeing. It feels weird at first, but you do get used to it.

, and I sing a lot too. When I run out of songs, I make up my own . Thank goodness my house isn't bugged!!

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I've become the queen of quirky little madeup songs about ordinary things including but not limited to: heiny butts, lights & shadows, that furry person who keeps licking you, etc, etc.

In addition to narrating, you could just try having a one sided conversation. I do this with ds2 all the time. They'll respond, even with just gurlgles & drools & smiles.

"Then what happened?"
drool gurgle gurgle
"really! I don't beleive it!"
burgle nurgle goo goo
"oh no he didn't !"
gurgle
"what did you say?"
etc, etc, etc...

[marsupial-mom]

Try reading your regular reading aloud.
Read the newspaper? Do aloud to baby.
Reading a novel? Read it out loud to baby.
Read magazines, blogs, love letters, textbooks? Do it so baby can see and hear you.

[pumpkinhead]

I like to describe their toes to them :. But like everyone else, I wasn't a fan of baby talk and just kept a running narration going. I also played music for them, sang to them and read books aloud to them.

[possum]

Originally Posted by staceychev

I'm not a fan of baby talk, personally. I talked to DD when she was a newborn/infant by pretty much narrating what I was doing and what I was seeing. It feels weird at first, but you do get used to it.

I pretty much just talked about whatever was going on in our day.

Melinda

[elmh23]

I just talk about whatever is going on. Like today, ds2 got a rundown about how silly ds1 was being. I also discussed Indiana Jones with him (which ones were good, which ones were not, etc.) We found with one of our older kids (can't remember which one) that they LOVED dh talking to them about computers (he's a programmer.) They'd hang out with him the longest as long as it was talk about computers, nothing else worked

Originally Posted by MissMommyNiceNice

In addition to narrating, you could just try having a one sided conversation. I do this with ds2 all the time. They'll respond, even with just gurlgles & drools & smiles.

"Then what happened?"
drool gurgle gurgle
"really! I don't beleive it!"
burgle nurgle goo goo
"oh no he didn't !"
gurgle
"what did you say?"
etc, etc, etc...

I do this too! My older kids find it funny that the 12 day old and I are having conversations.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Originally Posted by elmh23

I do this too! My older kids find it funny that the 12 day old and I are having conversations.

Glad I'm not the only one! I get some odd looks at market when I'm blabbering to him, especially if he's down under the stand & they can't see him...

[hakeber]

So basically I have to throw in the towel on appearing sane, is that the consensus?

I do make up silly songs, and occassionally gossip to her about her brother, but it takes a conscientious effort not to just smile back and sit with her just looking at the flowers and trees in sweet silence. She's so darned peaceful, and ds and dh are both such chatterboxes, it's nice to have some quiet. I've always been the quiet listener in our family and circle of friends. I'm usually one of those teachers that throws out the odd provocative question and just sits back, interjecting only to keep things rolling or productive. hmmmm, I'll try it more

So do you do this during all their waking hours?

[sunshynbaby]

Originally Posted by zinemama

I did the narrating thing, too. "Now I'm going to chop up the parsley. Mm, parsley. Couldn't stand it when I was pregnant but now it's just as yummy as ever. Now, where is the big knife. Oh, here it is. Chop, chop!"

That kind of thing. Yeah, you feel a little silly at first.

This... although I do have periods when I am quiet. I think babies need quiet time just like anyone else.

[Carlyle]

Originally Posted by hakeber

smile back and sit with her just looking at the flowers and trees in sweet silence.

To be honest, I think there's a LOT of value in this too. I wish I had kept quiet a bit more with dd to get her comfortable with the quiet.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by staceychev

I'm not a fan of baby talk, personally. I talked to DD when she was a newborn/infant by pretty much narrating what I was doing and what I was seeing. It feels weird at first, but you do get used to it.

IMO it's not that important to directly talk to a newborn. They are hearing adults talk around them, the radio, etc, which is plenty. If you're not comfortable with it, don't feel like you have to. Kids are going to start talking when they're ready, it has very little to do with how much you directly talk to your infant. My son was talked to plenty (and there were plenty of people talking around him) and he didn't say his first word until he was 2. It's okay to do what feels right to you.

[j_p_i]

I talk all the time to DD. In the beginning it was a little harder, and I would just basically narrate what I was doing (as others have said). "Now mommy is folding daddy's white shirt! Yep, white shirt." Or I would sing whatever I was doing, or nursery rhymes. Now that she is a little older (9 months) I ask her questions about what she is doing "Are those your blocks Olivia? Are you picking up a red block? Yep, that's a red triangle!" or I talk about what she's seeing, what the dog is doing, etc. I guess I talk to her quite a bit throughout the day, try to get her to mimic certain words, or I mimic the sounds that she makes, etc.

I don't really consider how silly it would sound to someone else

[MeepyCat]

Originally Posted by hakeber

So basically I have to throw in the towel on appearing sane, is that the consensus?

You're a mother. You might be sane again later.

I'm with zinemama on this one - sometimes we narrate, sometimes we don't, sometimes DD lies on the floor playing with her stuffed monster while I read to myself. Or surf the net, silently. I read so much faster than I talk that I simply could not stand to read the newspaper out loud to her. I talk to her when it feels natural to me to talk to her. I certainly don't do it all day, and the whole "bathing her in speech and chatter" thing just doesn't work for me.