Some parents find it cute to hear the words their children come up with on their own when they are not able to form the correct word sound. When I was young I came up with a word of my own “chesterroodoo” which apparently translated into “sit on the chesterfield and read to you”. I am sure every parent knows a few of these words themselves.

In homes where there are younger siblings quite often the older child will dumb themselves and revert to baby talk because they often see their parents giving more attention to the younger child, and rewarding that child for coming up with “cute” words. Does this stunt the older child long term? Probably not. However if that child is encouraged to stay at a lower level they may have difficulty even in preschool or early learning levels when communicating with the other children.

There are many forms of baby talk, we just covered nonsense words, which are words made up to act in place of more difficult words, this is the most innocent form of baby talk. The problems occur when the parents start talking baby talk to their children rather than using the correct terms and phrases. At this stage the child is not even encouraged or given the opportunity to grow mentally because they are not given the option of expanding their vocabulary, and therefore, their mind.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Another type of baby talk is when parents take easy to say words and try to make them sound cuter. Duck becomes “ducky”, bird becomes “birdie” and so forth. Innocent enough, but totally annoying to the rest of the world to hear adults talk like this, and dangerous if they find themselves talking like this when away from their child. In families where there are older siblings, and the parent is talking like this it can really be confusing, because if one person is supposed to talk and act their age, why isn’t the parent doing the same thing?

A very dangerous form of baby talk is when parents refer to dogs as “puppies”. While some dogs are safe and good with children, the word “puppies” infers an innocence about them. Dog sounds like a stronger word, a child might not approach a “DOG”, but who wouldn’t approach a “puppy”? Sure it is only a word. One word. To a young child whose brain processes things differently, it might be a word that gets them into trouble.

Oddly enough some baby talk doesn’t end when kids are babies. Some parents continue talking like this when their children are first entering school. Perhaps they miss the “baby” that their child was, and are sad to see it grow up. Behaving like this as a way to recapture that time of innocence and wonder. This is the most dangerous form of baby talk of all, because it shows insecurity of the parent. It shows an unwillingness to let their child grow up and become its own person. These parents are holding their children back for their own unhealthy reasons.

The next time you go out where there are parents and children, watch them and listen, are some parents encouraging their children to dumb down their language or are they wanting their children to soar high?