I want to do right by my baby

Hi Chris,

I have a baby girl at home, my first, and naturally I’m really nervous about doing everything right! I can’t wait to start talking to my little one, but how does it all start?

Talking to Babies

Chris says,

Hi, Talking to Babies!

Talking to young children is a fascinating experience and it’s worth learning how to do it well.

With little babies, it all starts with touching and cuddling. And talking to them all the time because they need to hear lots of language so that they can attach feelings and thoughts to the sounds.

Turn baby talk into a two-way conversation. So if your daughter makes a sound like ‘ba’, say something longer like ‘ba-bee-ba’ back. Soon, you’ll be playing sound games back and forth.

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Sing to her and keep her away from passive language on screens and TV.

Your daughter will soon start to use words and phrases, but she still won’t understand everything you say. So you’ll have a lot of misunderstandings. Develop her language skills by extending what she says. For example, reply to ‘Go home’ with ‘You want to go home? We’ll go in five minutes.

Toddlers have minds of their own, so you’ll hear a lot of ‘no’. And you can’t reason with them, so train them instead. By ignoring bad behaviour and rewarding good.

And let her feel she has some control within your rules. So if ‘Bedtime!’ always gets a ‘No!!!’ try ‘Red or blue pyjamas tonight?’ ‘Blue!’ ‘OK, let’s go!’

As she grows up, answer all her questions and never knowingly tell her anything that isn’t true, even with the best of intentions. Don’t hide the realities of life from her, but give her honest, age-appropriate explanations right away. If you want your daughter to be honest with you, you have to be honest with her. So make even the most difficult topics feel like normal conversations.

Help her to understand fear and anger as well as love and happiness. And praise her for her efforts and hard work. Then, she’ll persevere and succeed!

All the best,

Chris