Tips for Infant Parenting - helping your baby to talk

Learning to talk is one of the most complicated skills humans learn, and knowing how to get your baby off to a good start is one thing that worries people about infant parenting. Is there anything special I can do? Does television help? Should I ignore ‘baby talk’? These are all questions parents ask themselves when trying to find the best way to deal with this aspect of infant parenting. To help with this, here are a few tips:

Infant parenting can be a daunting prospect, but when it comes to helping your baby to talk it can be fun. Babies are listening before they are born. They will recognize your voice, so don’t be afraid to use it. Babies seek out faces even a few minutes after birth, so stick out your tongue or open your mouth – they may copy sooner than you think and it is all good preparation for talking.

As your baby becomes more expressive and starts to make coos and other noises, repeat them back. Look at her while you are doing it so she can see your face. Even if you feel foolish at not making sense, it is teaching your child communication skills; and communication is a key part of infant parenting. When your child is a few months older and ready to start making talking noises she will start moving her mouth a lot. Respond to this too, say something like “That’s funny” or “That’s a nice thing to say”. This helps encourage your baby to continue because she is getting a positive response.

Middle of the night feeds might not be fun, but that doesn’t mean there is no fun in infant parenting. Helping your baby to learn to talk can definitely be fun. Even tiny babies can be played with: try counting toes and fingers, or play tickling games with them, talking while you are doing it. Singing to your baby is also great and it doesn’t matter what you sound like – they love hearing their parents’ voices. Use the TV to help you. Experts agree that too much TV is bad for children, but there is nothing wrong with watching suitable programs with young children and infants. In fact it can be really helpful, as programs aimed at the youngest children are full of techniques to help them communicate. Talk to your infant about what is happening on the TV, not only will they have the benefit of what is on the screen but you will also be helping them communicate.

All the time, talk about what you are doing, the things around you, and what your baby shows interest in. If he starts pointing at cars, talk about the cars. Answer the noises and nonsense talk as if it is a real conversation, looking at your child as much as you can while you are talking to them. Start reading him books and talking about the pictures; that will get him interested in books as well as talking. Involved, communicative infant parenting is vital if you want to raise a communicative child.

With confident use of these ideas, your infant parenting skills will be giving your baby the best start possible in learning to talk.

For more tips on parenting refer to my free e-book “New Parenting Style” on http://www.newparentingstyle.com/index.html.