My 4th daughter is 22 months old now and really starting to talk up a storm! This is such a fun age too, since so many of her words are adorable baby approximations! All of her "L's" and "R's" sound like "W's"...and with her cute little voice...she is just adorable.
What I have found, however, is that her older sisters (and parents) don't sound nearly as cute when we imitate her! Not only that, but if we were to continue to use baby talk with her, she would have a difficult time learning to pronounce words properly, and would have a greater chance of developing a speech impediment.
Not only do we avoid using baby talk with our toddlers, but we also strive to re-say the word they are saying with the proper pronunciation. For example, our toddler LOVES apples and cheese, and when she asks for it, it sounds like "happle eese"...to which I reply, "Apples and cheese? You want some apples and cheese?" This provides her the opportunity to hear the proper way to say what she wants to, and sometimes she tries again. She is still too little to actually pronounce it completely, however, I want to make sure she knows how it is supposed to sound when she is ready.
And if she continues to use baby talk when she is older, I will get down to her level, and encourage her to try pronouncing it properly. If she asks for a "baff"...I will get down...say "baTH? Say baTH"...and encourage her to practice the "th" sound.
As parents, it is our job to teach our children skills. Language and speech is no different. It is much easier to shape our child's speech when they are just learning rather than trying to retrain them when they are older. Being aware of how our children are pronouncing words, and encouraging them to develop good speech habits is helping them for the future.
Of course, using regular speech with our children and encouraging them to pronounce words properly does not guarantee they won't have a speech impediment. And if that is the case, how grateful I am for professionals to help our children!
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I totally agree with this. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear people, and especially parents, speak baby talk to their kids. How do they expect their kids to have a chance to learn how something is pronounced? Our kids are prolific talkers (surprise) and they've picked up on the differences they've observed between us and others. Speak clearly and they have a shot at learning to speak clearly. Kids, for the most part, speak similarly to what they hear. This explains why some of our children have strong "Stettler" accents.
ReplyDeleteLisa, sometime we need to sit down and discover just how alike our parenting styles are! What are we both doing whenever the extended family gets together?!
ReplyDeleteThis has been a pet peeve of mine since way before I even had children. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard for me to hear parents talking baby talk to their children, and for the exact reason you said: we need to teach them how to speak properly. Not only have I never spoken baby talk to our kids, I try to use more descriptive words once they have a bit of a grasp of the English language. Why say something was "neat" if you mean surprising, or amusing, or even organized (well, looking at my house, we don't often use the word "organized" here!).
One last thing that might get a laugh. You and I do differ in our use of baby signs (I haven't ever used them). I remember once when your girls were over at our house, and I had a little one; maybe Sarah. She wanted a drink,and I was helping her say that to me. One of your daughters asked why I didn't teach her the baby sign. My answer to her was something along the lines of I didn't know the signs myself. The answer I would have loved to give: our children talk early enough without me giving them an even earlier opportunity to tell me all the things I'm doing wrong!!