How to talk to Your Newborn Baby in 5 simple steps
Babies start to understand words before they can use them. Research shows that by the time they are born, they have already absorbed the sound and rhythm by their mother. The question for most parents now is how to talk to your newborn baby effectively. We are going to run through below how to talk to your newborn baby in 5 simple steps. It is easy to follow so that you can start an effective communication with your newborn.
Table of Contents
Motherese
The way adults or even children speak to babies is different in how they speak to themselves. Most of the time, it will be using a softer, more sing-song exaggerated type of speech with a higher pitch tone. There will also be a lot of repeat phrases taking place. This musical way of talking is sometimes called motherese or parentese. It is thought to be a more responsive way to communicate with your newborn than the normal speech.
Expressions
Another way to get the baby attention is to use exaggerated expressions. Opening your eyes wider, smiling more or making your emotions more obvious then you are talking to another adult. When you are speaking to your baby, you may find this is quite an intuitive way to communicate.
As you talk, your baby isn’t just listening to your stream of words. He is also noticing how fast you talk and the length of the rhythm of your sentence.
Your overall tone, rise and fall of your voice plus facial expression will also be noticed. All these will help him learn how to speak , recognise words and understand emotions.
Emotions
You may also want to try talking about his moods using phrases and a voice. Your expression must also match when saying phrases like ‘You look happy’, ‘you are smiling’ or ‘are you sad?’. These will help to differentiate his feelings or encourage him to communicate them. You have to show him that he can trust you to show his feelings. Reflecting feelings this way will also help him to generate awareness of how other people feel.
Giving your baby attention
Some parents may feel self-conscious or unsure about talking with their baby. If you are struggling to know what to talk, it is mainly about giving attention and allow him to respond. Apart from picking up and commenting on his feeling, another way is to comment on what is happening through the day.
For example, it can be talking to him and describing your actions while changing his diapers. Babies learn to understand whole phrases very early. It can be like ‘lift up your legs’ or ‘i am putting your leg down now’ These sentences will help him to pick up the word leg and understand its significance even before he can speak his first word.
When you bring the baby out for walk, you can describe the things you see like flowers or the weather. You can also describe clothes of passerby or colors of objects. Repetitive words will make it memorable for your baby and incorporating in sentences will show him how words work.
Your baby wants a proper chat
Babies are the same as adults. We do like to be interrupted halfway during a conversation. Many parents will notice their baby protests loudly or appeared strange when someone interrupts them. One example can be someone engage with him by saying hi, or playing a little before disappearing from sight.
Lots of background noises will also irritate the baby during a conversation. Just like adults, babies will also want to focus on the conversation and the noises can be distracting or confusing.
The baby may feel disgruntled when suddenly cut short. Whenever possible, you will have to give the baby a chance to focus on his conversation and the opportunity to have his say.
Conclusion on How to Talk to Your Newborn Baby
There you go, daddies and mummies. The above mentioned 5 simple steps will help you to communicate effectively with your newborn baby and build his or her language skills on a daily basis. It is normal to feel awkward when speaking to a newborn as you will feel that he/she is not ready to communicate. However, overtime you will see your baby reacting to certain words even before they can start speaking it.
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