The Importance of Talking To Babies
Talking with your baby may not really be top of mind in the beginning. And that makes sense! You’re going through a big period of adjustment in those early months. And It’s also probably not on your mind because your baby may not be close to a typical “talking age” yet (first words are typically said around 12 months). We want you to know that there are a lot of little steps that come before your child will ever start talking, and by talking to your baby early on, and you play a huge role supporting and encouraging them all!
Keep reading to learn the research-based benefits of talking to your baby, and to get our tips on how to actually do it each day in a way that feels natural.
Talking To Babies Supports Their Language Development
Your baby’s brain will grow faster in the first three years of life than it ever will again. They go from being so dependent on us to being relatively independent little people by age three, and it’s pretty cool to watch unfold! During this critical developmental period, the things you do matter so much—especially when it comes to your child’s language development.
We love teaching parents like you how to understand, support, and capitalize on this major window of development right from the start! By talking to your baby, you’re laying the foundation for communication during what has been proven to be a very important time in development. (We know this might sound like a lot of pressure, but trust us, giving your child a solid language foundation is actually simpler than you might think.)
Talking Tip: Research has shown that in the first year of life, the quantity of words matters the most. In the second year, it’s more the quality and variety of words. (Rowe, 2019) So with baby, the best thing you can do is talk, talk, talk—as long as it’s authentic.
Encourage Pre-Talking Skills During Everyday Life
There are lots of pre-talking skills that our babies have to master on the path to first words—which you’ll typically hear around 12 months. And it’s important to understand and encourage them as they work to meet these critical pre-talking skills. But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean setting aside time in your day to specifically work on language. Rather, it can be sprinkled throughout your day, during the activities you’re already doing, like during bath times, bedtimes, and diaper changes.
The Power Of Daily Routines
There are so many things you do repeatedly with your baby each day. Things like diaper changes, feeding time, and getting them dressed. These are your baby’s daily routines, and they’re wonderful language learning opportunities for them!
Now that you know a bit more about why talking is so important, we want to give you some doable tips you can incorporate into your day as soon as you’re done reading this blog post. The following ideas are things we share with the families we see in speech therapy. They’re also things we do with our own children during daily routines to help lay this solid foundation for communication! We hope this sparks some easy and fun ideas for you.
Talking to Babies During Bath Time
There are so many excellent opportunities for communication during bath times. One of the most effective strategies we teach families is called serve and return, because it gets your baby involved in early back-and-forth of communication, which makes them feel a part of the interaction. The more you respond to their communication attempts, the more likely they are to keep communicating!
In order to nail the serve and return, you’ll need to start thinking of communication with your baby like a tennis match:
Watch for your baby’s nonverbal communication cues (the serve)
Respond back to them appropriately (the return)
So, if…
Your baby coos and kicks their legs while you pour water over them, you might say, “You like the water! Splash splash splash!” They served with their expression of excitement, and you responded.
Your baby starts to cry when you pour the water over their head. You might say, “Aw, you didn’t like that! I’m done now.” They served with their expression of discomfort, and you responded.
Bathtime Songs & Rhymes
Bathtime is also a great time to incorporate simple songs and rhymes with your baby. Songs and rhymes are important when it comes to language learning because they:
Use repetition
Follow predictable patterns so baby knows what’s coming next
Slooooow language down
Exposes baby to a lot of vocabulary and language models
Offer a super fun way to connect
All of these elements of songs and rhymes help babies learn to pick up on language over time!
If you’re not sure which songs and rhymes to sing with your little one, we have a free baby song video for you to download as part of our Baby Bundle! The bundle includes baby talking milestones, info on first words, and the song video—which incorporates body parts and is perfect for bath time!
Talking to Babies During Diaper & Clothing Changes
If your baby hasn’t hit the “wrestling an alligator” stage yet when you change their diaper, try slowing down and talking to them about what you’re doing. (And if they have, full permission to just focus on getting that diaper on!)
Talking to your baby about what you’re doing is a strategy speech therapists refer to as self talk, and it’s the perfect tool to use during diaper and clothing changes. If you feel like you don’t know what to say, think of their five senses to help give you ideas. So for example, if you’re putting their pajamas on, you might say…
“Let’s put your jammies on. Your right leg goes in first, your toes go down all the way to the end. These are so soft and cozy. There are bumble bees, buzzz. Let’s zip you up, ziiiiip! All done!”
Talking To Babies At Bedtime
When it comes to language development, another great thing to focus on during your baby’s first year is helping them understand words. Because understanding words is the foundation to being able to say words!
There are so many ways to go about this, but one super simple tip is: Before bed, walk around your child’s room, saying goodnight to objects and pictures in the room—and add sound effects as you go! For example, you could say…
“Goodnight dog, woof woof! Goodnight train, choo choo. Goodnight lion, roar! Goodnight clock, tick tock tick tock!”
By turning this into a nightly routine, you’ll give your baby tons of repetition (so important for language development), build their vocabulary, and expose them to good language models. This helps your baby make connections in their brain, and learn to label what they’re experiencing, which is how they learn words.
How To Make Talking To Baby Feel Natural
By talking to our babies, we incorporate so many communication opportunities, and give our children the boost and strong foundation that they need to be strong communicators down the road. But, we know it doesn’t come naturally to every parent!
Our best advice if you’re a little hesitant is to start where you’re comfortable. Pick one idea that feels really doable for you, whether that’s self talk, a song, or any other tip we’ve included here. Then practice it for a while. When you start to feel a bit braver, add in another tip. We promise it pays off and is SO beneficial.
Keep It Sweet, Simple & Connection-Driven
Remember, talking to your baby doesn’t have to feel super extra. We’re all about making it doable–not adding more to your plate. Sing the songs, talk about what you’re doing, respond to their communication attempts (their eye gaze, their coos, and babbles). And know that in doing so, you’re helping lay such a great foundation for language development.
Download Our Free Baby Language Resource Bundle
Before you head back to your babe, click the button below and download The Baby Bundle: Everything you need to know, do, and watch for during baby’s first year. It’s full of first-year language resources like milestones, info on first words, and a free baby song video to get you started.