Is a Widdle Bit of Baby Talk a No-No?

Is a Widdle Bit of Baby Talk a No-No?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Alzheimer's patients don't react well to baby talk -- then again, who does?

A recent report says Alzheimer's patients react badly to "elder speak" -- a form of baby talk consisting of a high-pitched sing-song voice and misused pronouns like "Are we ready for our bath?" According to the study, the approach, which is intended to be caring and easy to understand, has the opposite effect -- causing patients to be uncooperative and, well, pissed off. Alzheimer patients, despite their affliction, are adults and should be spoken to with respect. We'd be pissed off, too.

Baby talk is pretty irritating no matter who you're talking to -- so why do parents consistently use it to talk that way to their children? Research keeps telling us children understand what's being said to them earlier than ever imagined. If parents are reading and playing Mozart to babies in utero, why then ask if "baby make all gone with her num nums" when they're born? Dr. Gwenn, pediatrician and friend of momlogic, agrees. "Parents should talk to kids in an age-appropriate way that's not beneath them." In her pediatric practice, she's heard many a parent use baby talk during an examination: "Some parents come up with insane euphemisms for private parts. Sometimes it's actually okay to call a vagina a 'vagina.'"

So when is it time to nix the baby talk? "When babies are newborn I suppose it's OK, but after a couple of months -- once the babies are starting to mimic our language -- it's time to kill the baby talk," Dr. Gwenn adds. "For some parents, it's hard to give it up."

Listening to others talk to our kids might be just as difficult as hearing a caregiver talk baby talk to our own mother in any stage of Alzheimer's. One mom finds it extremely hard to tolerate: "When someone starts talking to my daughter in baby talk, I say, 'You can use real words, she speaks English.'"

Tell us the truth: When did you stop using baby speak?

6 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

Hallelujah! Spread the news far and wide! Every prospective parent should please read this. And pet owners, too…

- Anonymous

Posted 07/29/08 05:38 PM

Babies are much smarter than most adults realize. Speak to your child in short, simple phrases using real words. I’ve been a speech-language pathologist for more than 20 years.

- Joan

Posted 07/30/08 09:27 AM

I have 2 kids and never hae baby talked to them, and they both talked early. If you baby talk, that’s what they learn, they are copying you.

- Anonymous

Posted 07/30/08 02:01 PM

Maybe you should read up on developmental psychology, especially of the infant. Infants learn better from baby talk. I won’t go into it too much, but the research should be pretty easy to find.

- Pat

Posted 10/12/08 03:21 AM

I still use some baby words because they are cute, and my kid is 4 years old. I also use real words. We only use cute baby words occassionally and my kid knows they aren’t real words.

- me

Posted 10/12/08 06:18 PM

I am a speech-language pathologist and work adults and children. Baby-talk, or motherese, is degrading and demoralizing to Alzheimer’s or any adult patients and should never be used. They may need repetition and shorter sentences, but they do not need to be infantalized. With infants, however, motherese is perfectly appropriate. The high pitch and sing-song variations in pitch and volume help draw attention to speech sounds and a communication partner. It help build a foundation for more advanced communication skills. As children develop their speech and language skills, the general rule is to model language that is one step ahead (e.g., If you child is speaking in one word phrases, you could speak in two work phrases). If any parent ever has concerns about their child’s cognitive-linguistic (language) or speech development. They should speak with speech-language pathologist who is an expert in this area. Many children in my practice have come to me later than they should have, which has a significant negative impact on remediation, because of incorrect advice from related professionals.

- Dr. T.M. Signorelli, CCC-SLP

Posted 01/30/09 08:53 PM