How old is too old for baby talk? - Page 2

[azgirl]

Originally Posted by mamazee

I don't understand why people don't like baby talk. My understanding is that baby talk is an instinctive thing and that it helps children with language development rather than hinder it. Anyway, to the OP, I would just do what comes naturally. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer.

This. We had extensive "speech" therapy from birth and high-pitched, silly, funny, sweet talking is totally developmentally appropriate and it comes naturally for a reason. The more annoying it is to adults, the more baby likes it, it seems. For most parents you make the adjustment to more age-appropriate speaking quite naturally. Are you using all made-up, gibberish or are you referring to the high-pitched voice you are using to say normal words? Either way, I wouldn't sweat it. I wasn't comfortable using too many nonsense words, so I didn't.

I put "speech" in quotes because my son needed help eating for months because of 7 weeks on a ventilator and 4 months on an ng tube, just wanted to clarify for anyone who didn't realize that we weren't trying to get our kiddo to talk from birth He was expected to have severe issues with talking too, so we were being very proactive. The folks who helped our son learn to suck-swallow-breathe were speech therapists.

[azgirl]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

I think I personally just don't understand it... maybe I'm missing that 'instinct' lol!! It just would never occur to me to call water 'wawa' or little 'wittle' or use words like binkie (or is it blinkie???) and baba (I hear them all the time but have no idea what either means???)

I never used baby words, but I said normal words in a way I would NEVER use with an adult. Like in a sing-songy way, or repetitively etc. Now that I think about it, I guess I did change words to make them silly.

I think some of this comes if you are around new little talkers, those baby words are how kiddos say them when they are first talking...maybe if your one-year-old is saying them, you naturally use them with your baby?

[Magali]

We don't use baby talk. Not like we decided we wouldn't use it or anything...we just don't talk that way . My MIL was here recently and she was over the top using baby talk with our 3 year old. He talks well and she was using baby talk for words that he says perfectly. But I don't think it is too big a deal and just let it slide. In the big parenting picture, I don't think baby talk is all that huge, even though I find it really, really annoying . I make use of little funny faces when I post on MDC though ....hmmmm

[shanniesue2]

When DS was an infant, we used a sing sony tone of voice and raised our pitch a bit. I don't know when we stopped doing that... but I will say that it has always irked me when people use that tone of voice with young children/older toddlers. i.e. there was a teacher's assistant at a preschool I used to work at who would constantly say things like "oooh! that's so sweet!" in this really high pitched, cutesy voice when she talked to the kids. Everything she said to them was in that tone of voice... 3 and 4 year olds... I always thought it sounded really patronizing. Yes, you simplify what your saying, to make it age appropriate... but they're not babies.

With DS (2.5) we use a normal tone of voice with a simplified vocab and lots of explanation. But we also use some of his "toddler words" that we think are cute and have become part of our family vocabulary... my favorite one is bike-a-cycle instead of bicycle. We also refer to peanut butter sandwiches as "peanut butter round bread" because that's how ds asks for a peanut butter sandwich (he loves those sandwich rounds). I personally don't think that use of some "family vocabulary" like that is harmful. We do use the proper terms enough and he has other outside exposure to the proper terms, that I think he'll work it out.

[mambera]

Barring multilingual issues, a neurodevelopmentally normal child is going to learn to talk eventually no matter what. I can't imagine that 'baby talk' would have any kind of lasting negative impact on language acquisition.

It doesn't come naturally to me to use baby talk (although I do, like others on here, change my intonation and inflection somewhat) so I don't. But I can't imagine it's harmful.

Is it possible that your kid could have a more advanced vocabulary at, say 15 months if you regularly use a more adult vocabulary with him vs 'baby talk'? Sure. Is that going to matter 5 years down the road? I seriously doubt it.

[kblackstone444]

Originally Posted by mambera

It doesn't come naturally to me to use baby talk (although I do, like others on here, change my intonation and inflection somewhat) so I don't. But I can't imagine it's harmful.

Is it possible that your kid could have a more advanced vocabulary at, say 15 months if you regularly use a more adult vocabulary with him vs 'baby talk'? Sure. Is that going to matter 5 years down the road? I seriously doubt it.

I never used it- it just didn't come naturally to me. My first son was a very early and very articulate talker. I've often wondered if there was a connection, but no, I don't condemn other parents for using baby talk, it's just not for me. I don't plan on using baby talk for this little one, either. I just can't get into it.

[GoBecGo]

If you have to call his cell and leave a message because he's in a college class then he's too old for baby talk.

I used it with my very early talking, very articulate, huge vocabulary DD1, and i'm still doing it with DD2. I'm more worried about how to STOP my kids talking

[sunnygir1]

I hate baby talk. I use real words and my real vocabulary with babies and children. I do use a silly tone and make silly sounds and faces with them because it is playful and fun.

[slgt]

We've never done baby talk. We would slow down & repeat words or phrases when necessary, still do, and altered the pitch of our voices for babies, but talked normally.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

I think I personally just don't understand it... maybe I'm missing that 'instinct' lol!! It just would never occur to me to call water 'wawa' or little 'wittle' or use words like binkie (or is it blinkie???) and baba (I hear them all the time but have no idea what either means???)

( binkie=pacifier, baba=bottle)
I know what you mean. I'll use dd's words for stuff, but then also model the standard word.

E.g. "you're wearing your poke-its dress? Yes, it does have polka dots!"

The only time I'll use extensive baby talk is when talking to other adults about baby stuff. Like "izzn't dat the mostest pwecious widdle coatsey ever??"

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

( binkie=pacifier, baba=bottle)

Thanks! I would've never guessed that (and we don't use pacifiers or bottles so DS calls bottles are 'cups' lol... hmmm now I can tell him, no that's a baba -- and he'll probably think I'm referring to the sound sheep make!!!)

This thread makes me giggle when I see the examples of 'baby talk' -- OP, I tried talking like that to DS & I couldn't keep a straight face and DS thought I was nuts and walked away.

[ChetMC]

What I've Noticed

I've noticed that DH and I naturally speak a little ahead of where the baby is.

With a brand new baby, I will say Aah-goo to get a smile or make other speech sounds that don't necessarily mean anything. By the time baby is making all kinds of baby noises and speech sounds though, we're using lots of single words and short sentences.

[Annie Mac]

Originally Posted by laughymama

Well, lately with DD I've been realizing how dumb DH and I sound.

Sometimes it seems the only thing we can think of to say to her is, "Hi....Hi there...Hii..." in the sing-song, higher pitched voice. I think it's because when she smiles we kind of melt and our brains go dead.

.

Ha! Us too! In fact, I think our almost seven month old daughter will think her name is "hello, helloooo, hello cutie, hello!"

When I'm not just babbling emptily to her, as above, I do speak to her in full sentences, no baby talk. However, I also speak to the cat and the dog like that too, so take what you will from that

[texmati]

I guess I should tone it down! But watch out when the new baby comes!

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by laughymama

I think it's because when she smiles we kind of melt and our brains go dead.

http://xkcd.com/231/

And mouseover for more silly.

[nwatt]

I have never used baby talk, it just doesn't come naturally to me, but I do talk in a higher pitch voice when I am talking to DD sometimes. Baby talk does grate on my nerves a bit, which is probably why it doesn't come to me. I really don't think that it would hinder you child's development if you do it for the first year, but once he or she is trying to imitate your language I would think that more correct speech patterns would be more appropriate to model.

[colsxjack]

We didn't speak baby talk with our DD. But it doesn't come natural to us. We did/do change our tone to higher pitched and show lots of excitement and speak in somewhat easier sentences.

But when she was first learning to make sounds we did parrot back to her alot. If she said "ba ba ba baa ma" then we would do the sounds back. And sometimes a little different or with the tone of a statement or question. She loved it.