To think that parents sound stupid when they use baby talk?

[Sallystyle]

I was out walking my dog and a mother stopped me so her nursery age child could look at my "woo woo" "Look at the cutey woo woo"

It's a dog not a bloody cutey woo woo!

I admit that I might be more easily annoyed today because I have an infection in my gum and didn't sleep.

4 years old? Surprised the child didn't retort ' It's a dog, not a woo woo, I'm not a baby'.

Still love talking baby talk with my little cutey woo woo. I call her Tiddles, or Tiddlywinkywoo - she loves it.

Had the wretched tooth out but had to wait 4 weeks and took Anitbiotics for 1 week.

Parents engaging with their DC is fine. Don't be such a curmudgeon.

I have no opinion on baby talk but am impressed at the use of the word "curmudgeon", Pag and intend to use it often. Tis a sadly neglected word

You don't know the child is 4 OP, my son is 3 and easily looks about 5.

YABU in the nicest way, hope you get some sleep soon.

Never too old to learn a new word - never heard of it before. Or my Anitbiotics - antibiotics !!
Eyes and fingers getting tired.

jamie

I'm sure I read that baby talk is an important stage in the development of early language for babies/small children. I had a sister who point blank refused to use it and it always seemed unnatural for me.

YANBU to dislike it, but you would be being unreasonable if you asserted that people shouldn't do it.

It might be important for very young children, but could someone point out to my BIL and SIL that our ds's are 4 and 7 now, so they can drop the baby talk!

It doesn't seem to have any effect if I point it out to them!

OP, Yab a weeny bit u, but I'll let you off due to your pain!

YABU. It's called parentese and it's done instinctively by adults to help a child's language development.

Do use it Ariel. It sometimes is the only word that fits. We should bring it back.

Yabu, the child probably made up the word when they were younger (thinks of dd2 still asking for 'diggies' instead of raisins!)

Have you tried difflam spray or rinse for gum, very good at numbing it.

I only ever talk to woo woo's in baby talk

I don't like doing it to children, I find it pointless. I am a great believer in teaching things correctly the first time round. Why teach them to call a train a choo choo if you later have to teach them to call it a train

Have you not considered that she might be calling them woo-woos because that's what the child called them when they were first learning to speak and it's just a cute in-joke? Just like your mother calling jumpers jumpies because you called them that. I bet people overhearing her saying that probably rolled their eyes and thought you were too old for silly talk as well!

Round our way it's wo wo,not woo woo.If you're gunna to talk 'babby',gerrit rite.Guess where I'm from :)

Theres nothing wrong with babyspeak, after all you are interacting with a baby! They love soft sounds and silly sounding words.

Ah, don't be so mean OP!

I think it's really sweet when I hear parents do that.

It's actually an important part in the development of the relationship between parent and child. It's called "echoing/mirroring" and indicates how "sensitive" a parent is towards their child because very often the parent is echo-ing or mirror-ing how a child refers to a particular person/object and is an example of a pre-speech "conversation" between a parent and child.

So please don't knock it. There's a lot of important stuff going on there y'know!

I have never used baby talk ever in my life and find it odd that someone would do it with a 3/4 year old.

I thought 'woo woo' was slang for vagina anyway.

I loved talking to my children when they were little in baby and think its lovely when other people do, as long as you are out of ear shot of anyone else!

If I hear parents out and about trilling on and on in baby talk I have to restrain myself from punching them, this includes friends/family!

It wasn't a baby clipped

YANBU Samu2. How is the 4 year old going to speak properly if the mother says "woo woo". Maybe the 4 year old was inwardly cringing!

Totally agree with doucblechocchip.

YANBU, gum infection or not! Ridiculous woman (her not you). The only consolation is she probably felt a right tit about a nanosecond after she said it out loud.

Oh and for what its worth I hope your gum infection gets sorted soon. I had one last summer and it was HELL. Sea salt mouthwashes and the strongest painkillers you can lay your hands on are my advice (and anti biotics, obv). I hope you feel better soon

Making sounds back at a baby when they are first learning to talk - great.

Using ridiculous terms for things, "Doggey" "horsey" "bot-bot"... Makes me want to explode. Irritates the shit out of me.

And on a practical level, what is the point in teaching a child to talk if two years later you'll be telling them they're wrong and to use another word?

My parents tell me when I was a toddler some person they knew said to me:
Person: Ooh look LTJ - look at the gee gee!
Me: It's a horse

Baby talk when talking to a baby who can't yet speak is perfectly normal and a good thing - they don't understand the actual words anyway, they just react to your tone of voice. Then when they're first learning to speak it can be easier for them to make simple, repetive sounds, such as bo-bo or woo-woo or choo-choo. Parents have been doing it forever and there are very few adults who have trouble calling a train a train so it can't be that bad!

At least I am not on my own anymore lol

My gum is much better this morning and the sun is out so I am ready to face people today