to never use 'baby talk'

[tootiredtomakeupagoodname]

At swimming today with DS's. The woman in the next cubicle was getting her DD changed and saying things like "oh the wee bubba wubba, just you waiting till mummy gets you all cosy tosy in this fluffy wuffy towel".

My teeth are still itching, I have never spoken to my DS's like this - are they missing out on something?

Yanbu.

Or you would be if you didn't talk about teeth itching.

Argh...I hate it too, and I've always just spoken like a normal person with my DCs. Don't understand the baby talk!
YANBU

I hope not.

I can't stand it and have never talked to my boys like that.

It's like nails down a blackboard!

She should of been punched in the facey wasey.

I never used it either.

I feel sorry for kids learning to speak when they're faced with that sort of shit to learn.

Then they get to nursery and the parents wonder why none of the staff know WTF the child wants.

I wonder what sort of response you'd get if you posted the same question on netmums...

Babies need to hear you talking to them in "baby-talk" or "mother-eese" It doesn't matter so much what you are saying, rather the tone of your voice.

I bet you don't say "Hello DS" in the same tone of voice as you use to say hello your boss.

It's hideous. YANBU. It can't be a good way for children to learn speech.

How old was her DC out of interest?

Illegitimate

Actually, having a child with speech delay, I was surprised to learn that it is incredibly good for speech development.

I quite understand people disliking it. But it is actually excellent for babies and toddlers.

I think after 12 you should lay off though

I overheard a conversation outside the school Nursery.

The Mum said to the child "Mummy's going Tats now and when I pick you up, we'll go to Auntie Nat Nats for some Lom Lom and Bic Bics"

I later learned she was trying to say "Mummy's going now and when I pick you up, we'll to to Auntie Natalies for some lemonade and biscuits"

Why didn't she just say that to the poor child? ARRRRGGGHHHHHH!

YABU

Baby talk has its place ,it does no harm

Changing tone is very different to making up words...

You can say 'look at the dog!' in an excited, upbest tone, which your baby will react to, without saying 'look at the doggy-woggy'.

Illegitimate beat me too it. Nothing a good punchy wunchy in the facey wacey can't solvey wolvey.

I had to clasp my hands behind my back to prevent such activity if anyone talked to any of my DC like that.

That and taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_talk

babies respond to it more and engage better so YABU in that there's nothing wrong with it. It's totally natural to speak to babies that way.

YABU

It's none of your business how anyone else speaks to their dc and as others have said baby talk is actually good for language development.

I think baby talk does serve a purpose. The higher pitch and sing-songy quality appeals to a baby more than monotone speech. Rhyming and repetition help enforce the words in the baby's memory. Adding the -y suffix highlights certain words in the sentence (often nouns).

Some people feel comfortable doing it, other's dont. I'm sure your child isn't missing out , the important thing is that you talk to them at all, really. How you do it is up to you.

arf at you lot but yes, motherese

can I just say going tats is the most stupid vapid phrase (my Mum used to say this) grrrrrrrrrr

other's? Gah, others, of course.

It's the silly baby speak pet names for things that I think can cause problems and stress for the child when other people haven't got a clue what they're asking for.

When I looked after my friend's DD, she kept asking for "Doo Doos" and getting increasingly upset.

I thought she needed the potty and kept trying to sit her on it. In the end, she sobbed herself to sleep.

When my friend arrived to pick her up, she said "Oh yes Doo Doos is what we call her dummy"

Illegitimate Glad you would stop short of killy-willying her to actual deathy-weathy.

Last weekend, DP was away - I spent the whole weekend saying to 10mo dd...

A boooga boooga boooga and a choooga choooga choooga

She loves it! How it started I do not know :)

YABU. It's her business how she speaks to her child. I'm sure the child will learn how to speak properly when it's time. Who cares? Stop being so stuck-up over it.

People do it without thinking. It's a very useful and clever way of engaging with and communicating with children. They enjoy it immensely and you do find yourself doing it without realising.

The mumsywumsylumsys who do it are ickle products of evolutionywutiony.

The children who miss out are the ones who don't get spoken to.
Speaking to a child in baby talk is perfectly natural and very good for them.
Talking to them as adults is fine

But pretending baby talk is either stupid or damaging is hugely wrong. And making out that the people using it are stupid is a bit odd. Again, unless the child is a pree teen.