Talk to your baby

This post is outside the realm of my usual topics, but not really. First, some background: Last week while out walking I noticed several moms pushing strollers while staring down at their iPhones or BlackBerrys, madly texting. Their babies were wide awake, but the moms were engaged with someone else. As a parent and as a human, this worries me.

When my daughters were babies I talked to them all the time, especially when I was the only adult in the house, and well before they were verbal themselves. “Let’s have some oatmeal ... OK, it’s time to put on these blue socks … Which foot first? Left? Right? ... Honey, we’re going for a walk. Where’s your pink snowsuit and your mitts?” This is not Pulitzer material, but it’s communication that helped my children to learn to speak, to listen, to learn, and to feel cherished and loved.

This week in the New York Times, health columnist Jane Brody tackled this very topic. Her article begins:

I recently stopped to congratulate a young mother pushing her toddler in a stroller. The woman had been talking to her barely verbal daughter all the way up the block, pointing out things they had passed, asking questions like “What color are those flowers?” and talking about what they would do when they got to the park.

This is a rare occurrence in my Brooklyn neighborhood, I told her. All too often, the mothers and nannies I see are tuned in to their cell phones, BlackBerrys and iPods, not their young children.

Brody goes on to quote Randi Jacoby, a speech and language specialist in New York, who says: “Parents have stopped having good communications with their young children, causing them to lose out on the eye contact, facial expression and overall feedback that is essential for early communication development.”

If you’re a parent, please think about this. You’ll have plenty of time to play with your iPhone when the kids go off to college!

You can read Jane Brody's piece here.


P.S. Actually, two of my most-read blog posts are about communicating with children:  Talking to teens and How teens communicate.

Comments

[Eileen B]

All the time...I used to sing to them too...or make them rhyme a word with the one I gave them. Honestly, I'm not coordinated enough to text, talk and stroll, but come one moms!

[Donna Papacosta]

Yes, of course. I too sang A LOT, and played music for them.
Hmm, the article doesn't even get into the SAFETY aspect of texting while pushing a stroller. Yikes!
Thanks for commenting.

On 30-Sep-09, at 12:06 PM, typepad@sixapart.com wrote:

[Donna Papacosta]

Yes, of course. I too sang A LOT, and played music for them.
Hmm, the article doesn't even get into the SAFETY aspect of texting while pushing a stroller. Yikes!
Thanks for commenting.

On 30-Sep-09, at 12:06 PM, typepad@sixapart.com wrote:

[Sue Horner]

Excellent post! Even though babies don't yet understand what you're saying, over time they DO pick up meaning and context, and the interaction is so important, whether you're talking or reading out loud. Teachers can tell the students whose parents read to them, and I'm sure they'll be able to tell the ones whose families live and die by the BlackBerry.

[business opportunity leads]

Communication makes the gap with the parents and children closer. It's much better if you communicate with them as early as you can. Give time to them and preach.

[Rich M]

I too have been amazed at the number of people that do not take the time to speak with their children regardless of their age. People underestimate the impact that this has on their childs develpment, just because they can't speak does not mean that they are not ready to learn and absorb as part of healty development.