Baby talk is something almost everyone finds adorable. While it’s great to hear your little one make sounds and words for the first time, it’s important to try to help her develop her babbles into proper language skills. By listening to and communicating with you, your child will learn to speak like an adult and be able to effectively communicate with others as she grows up. Whether it’s by using motherese (the high-pitched happy mommy cooing we naturally chirp to our babies) or simply talking to your little one as much as possible while you do daily activities, you can help your little angel learn how to use baby talk as a building block for future communication.

Listen and Learn

Babies learn most words by listening, so it will be in everyone’s best interest to talk to your child as much as you can. As your little one hears you speaking, this words and phrases will stick with her and help out when child moves beyond baby talk and starts using full words and sentences. Here are some great ideas for talking to your little one that will help improve her language and communication skills:

• Sing songs and share stories. For babies, songs and stories can be a great way to learn a language. Because the words in songs and stories get repeated, young babies will have a better chance of learning them over time. Make it a point to sing songs and tell stories to your little one as often as possible. Songs and rhymes are also pleasing to her ears and therefore more engaging. If you can, make up songs or stories that have physical cues associated with them.  This way, your little one will learn to associate words with actions, and this will help her language skills develop.

• Read children’s books. There are a lot of great children’s books out there for you to choose from, so you can make sure that you find books with different types of language in them. Try finding books that make use of poetic language, as this may be more interesting for your little one to listen to.

• Learn motherese. This is something that most moms do naturally. You can speak to your baby using regular language, but just change your pitch and rhythm. If you use a singsong voice with small babies, they may be a bit more receptive to your message.

• Incorporate touch.  Massage baby lotion onto your baby’s legs and toes as you sing a song about what you are doing.  Incorporating more than one sensation can stimulate your child’s brain and make him ready to soak up all the good things you are teaching.

As your child gets older, she will begin to replace baby talk with complete words and proper sentences.  The listening she did as an infant or toddler will influence her speech patterns. Remember, it’s never too early to start talking or reading to your little one. The more language a little one hears, the more he or she is going to learn and use later on.  Besides, talking and reading to each other can help strengthen the bond between the two of you.

For more tips on baby talk and motherese, visit BabyMagic.com.