Baby talk
It may come as no surprise that babies hear more words and get more back-and-forth baby talk from their mothers than their fathers.
However researchers say they were surprised at what they found when they fitted babies with microphones and told parents to turn them on only when both parents were around: Babies heard three times more words from moms than from dads, and dads rarely engaged in baby talk unless moms were in the conversation.
“We have our work to do in getting dads into this loop and telling them how important they are in terms of infant development,” Vohr says, an author of the report.
Vohr and colleagues are studying the effects of early language exposure on babies at risk for language delays. A 1995 study found that the number of words a small child hears is linked strongly with later intelligence and academic success and that children from affluent households hear 30 million more words by age 3 than poorer children do.
Results
These home recordings were done only on days both parents were home and the results are fascinating.
- They found that the majority of words infants heard, directed at them or in the background, came from mothers.
- About one-quarter of vocalizations from infants got an adult response.
- Those responses came from moms alone more than 70% of the time, from both parents 18% to 23% of the time and from dads alone just 6% to 12% of the time.
- Moms responded more often to girls than boys. Dads responded more often to boys, but the difference was so small that the researchers said it was not significant.
The study is small and included only families in which a male and female parent lived together, so it might not represent all families and should be repeated on a larger scale, Vohr says.
Fathers are incredibly important in the development of their babies so in these cases it would be completely beneficial for them to speak up.
maternity&infant
Originally posted 2014-11-03 10:39:42.