There are many ways to communicate with a baby; everyone has their own style, but certain techniques can help a baby’s development. It’s not just about what a parent says to an infant, but also the way it sounds and how often the communication takes place.

BABY TALK
Experts have debated whether it’s better to use baby talk on a baby or to speak to it like an adult, but Australian speech and language expert Denis Burnham says baby talk’s “characteristic structure, rhythm and use of emotion” helps language development.

“Compared with adult-directed speech, infant-directed speech has more emotion, irrespective of the actual words used,” he writes in The Conversation. “It has a higher pitch and more up-and-down patterns, which attract infants’ attention. It also has more hyper-articulated vowels and consonants, which exaggerate the differences between sounds.”

FREQUENCY AND VOLUME
Research shows that when it comes to talking to a baby, the more words, the merrier. One famous study found that children from the wealthiest families hear 30 million more words than children from the poorest families by the time they turn 3 years old. That makes a difference in language development, which is related to general success in school and reading skills.


BODY LANGUAGE AND VISUAL CUES
The National Association for the Education of Young Children also says using gestures and facial expressions can help kids understand new words. “For example, when introducing the word joyful, you might smile and wave your arms about to convey what it means.” Research shows that visual cues help young children digest new vocabulary, and boosts their ability to understand context clues.

EYE CONTACT
Another silent boost to a baby’s development is eye contact. One study published earlier this year in Current Biology showed that eye contact between a parent and a baby improved the latter’s attention span.
Parents can help build a baby’s attention span by coordinating attention during playtime.

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