The Power of Talk

Why It's OK to Be Chatty Kathy Around Your Baby

By Teri Brown

Talking to your baby is good, right? Reading, speaking and singing to your baby is so popular that there are programs available outlining how you should talk to your baby even before it makes its entrance into the world.

Parents, like Mary Castillo from Newport Beach, Calif., have found that talking to their infant comes quite naturally. "I have a 2-year-old son and we have always talked and read out loud to him," Castillo says. "When he was 4 months old, I would strap him in the baby [carrier] and walk around the house while reading his books. He was one of those babies who needed to be carried so I felt like a library on legs!"

Castillo has also found that interacting verbally with her 2-year-old has helped him to pick up words and assign them meaning. "Right now, he has a lot of his own words," Castillo says. "For example trucks are 'macks' (from the movie Cars). I take the opportunity to say, 'Yes, that's red Mack, a red truck.' I know he understands because when I point out a truck, he'll know what I'm talking about. I also ask him simple questions, especially when we're sitting together at snack time. For example I'll ask, 'Do you like the white popcorn?' And he'll either nod or say yes and then continue babbling in his language. Almost every day he adds several words to his vocabulary. I try not to stress and force him to speak. Every child is different and they're not machines."

Dorothy P. Dougherty, a speech and language pathologist and author of How to Talk to Your Baby (Perigee/Putnam, 1999) and Teach Me How to Say It Right: Helping Your Child with Articulation Problems

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