Speaking To Your Baby May Be As Important As What You Feed Them

Two recent studies that caught my attention have to do with how we speak to our babies and what that does for their future language development. 

The first study comes to us from psychologists at Stanford University.  They looked at what you might consider word or language quality and found that infants who were spoken to in complex language and grammar had significantly improved language processing and learned words more quickly as toddlers.  An example used by the authors is as follows: instead of saying "here is an orange", you might say "Let's put this orange in a bowl with the apples and grapes and bananas." 

The second study comes to us from researchers at Brown University.  They looked at how talking to premature babies in the NICU affected their later language development.  In this study, babies were either spoken to by their mother, stroked by their mother, or only had interactions with the NICU staff.  The researchers found that for every increase in 100 words that adults spoke to the babies, there was a 2 point increase in their language scores at 18 months!

In looking at these studies, it's important to note that the human brain forms 1,000 trillion connections in the first year of life, so it's easy to see why speaking to your baby can be so influential.

Some tips for speaking to your baby courtesy of Stanford University:

-The sooner you start talking with babies, the better. Their brains are absorbing vital information well before they're able to respond.

-The high-pitched, sing-song tone that many people take with babies does get their attention. But don't dumb it down: Use rich, varied language and longer sentences, said Erika Hoff of Florida Atlantic University.

-Don't just label things, make connections. "The dog is wagging his tail" isn't as effective as, "Look how fluffy that dog's tail is. It's much fatter than the cat's skinny tail."

-What matters most is speech directed to babies and toddlers, not what they overhear, said Anne Fernald of Stanford University.

-Turn off the TV. "Television does not help the brain learn language," said Noble. Babies and toddlers especially require personal interaction to learn.

-Reading a book for 10 minutes a day adds up fast, Fernald noted. If Mom or Dad isn't a good reader, just talk about the pictures.

-Fit conversation into everyday activities. Instead of turning on music while fixing lunch, talk about the bowl of fruit on the table.