Why Baby Talk Is Good for Babies

You may have heard that using baby talk is bad for children’s language development, but research seems to show the exact opposite.

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Hosted by: Brit Garner
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[PaleGhost]

Who's a good little commenter? Who's a good little commenter!?

[KathrynsRavens]

Just don't use baby talk on adults with disabilities! (Yes, this happens way too often)

[TMWriting]

It kind of blows my mind that our instinctive response to seeing a baby is to talk in a way that will best develop their language skills, adapting as they get older so as to constantly be meeting their needs. AND WE HAVE NO IDEA WE’RE DOING IT!

[Naiadryade]

What about when I use baby talk with my dog?

[madi]

I remember I was baby-talking to a baby and some jerk told me I was “dumbing the baby down”
It’s a baby.

[thatguymork]

I can confirm this research. I grasped what Brit was saying much better when she was addressing me as an infant.

[raraavis]

LOL...baby talk is so natural...I didn’t care at all about babies, until my nephew was born. And then I was suddenly ‚one of those people‘, making weird noises and talking in baby language. It just happened. It’s like a switch in your brain clicks and suddenly, you’re in ‚baby-mode‘.
And I would have a hard time believing, that something so natural and instinctual is not good for the little ones. Although it never hurts, to have science on your side....

[just.donutssss]

My favorite part was Brit talking baby talk 😍😂

[lazyperfectionist]

I would say there's a good argument for keeping your grammar simple when it comes to baby talk. I mean it's utterly counterproductive to expect a baby who is not yet able to hold their head up under their own power to sit up. It's likewise counterproductive to expect a baby who is not yet able to sit up to crawl. It's counterproductive to expect a baby who is not yet able to crawl to find a way to walk. Progress happens in stages. _Simple_ grammar is the _foundation_ for more _advanced_ grammar.

[NewMessage]

I thought we did it to make the airplane feeding game seem less silly.

[ShadowDrakken]

From what I remember of the old studies, and what people call baby talk, it's not the prosody that people were calling baby talk or having issues with. It's the mutation of sounds "Where's da widdle doggy?" where "widdle" is what's considered damaging.

[bloodtopaz]

People also tend to smile when they do baby talk to infants, maybe that play a role also.

[nerdlingeeksly]

3:05 she would make a good baby show voice actor.

[BlondeEyes]

When parents say not to use “baby talk, ” it’s usually referring to “goochy goochy goo!” and “you’re just a little pudgie budgie little boo boo, yes you are!” Pretty much all parents use the high-pitched, varying tone and short sentences. It’s the senseless babbling that is frustrating as a parent.

[Confuzledish]

The thing that gets me is when this sort of behavior doesn't evolve as the child grows older. I'm a teacher, and I see some parents still baby-talk their kids, or talk to them as if they are too stupid to understand complex thought.

[GilWanderley]

Huh. Who would have thought the instinct developed by 100.000 years of genetic evolution was more accurate than an assumption?

[Naralux]

Good for babies.
Detrimental to the mental wellbeing of adults in close proximity.

[spinnis]

Basically, use the baby-talk tone, but I think it's still beneficial to use a wide vocabulary around babies.

[UshioKiss]

I remember hearing that other animals use "baby talk" as well which was really interesting! If it's something we are naturally inclined to do, sometimes it's for a reason!

[Trekki]

I never quite understood the whole "how is the child supposed to learn 'adult language' this way" argument.
After all, every little kids grammar is a mess and it takes years (often well into high school) to get all the complexities of language. And noone uses baby talk with someone older than say 3...