Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to talk to my child

64 replies

Chocoholicmonster · 07/12/2016 23:41

Walking down the road chatting to my newborn. Someone stopped me just to tell me how stupid I was because "the baby doesn't have a clue what I'm saying so social interaction is pointless".

I wasn't discussing current politics or world news with my newborn. Just idle chit chat. So am I stupid & being unreasonable to converse with my baby? Surely every parent 'chats' to their child so they learn their voice & feel somewhat comforted to know they have you near?

OP posts:
kiwipie · 07/12/2016 23:43

What! What a moron.
Not at all, I just got home from a walk with my LO and was singing and all sorts.

Footinmouthasusual · 07/12/2016 23:43

How utterly bizarre!

I talk Brexit with my 9 month old dgs.

He looks like Boris but think he's a remainer. Grin

Ignore op people are stupid.

freethebiscuit · 07/12/2016 23:45

Wow friendly stranger alert! What harm are you doing and how you bond with your baby is none of their concern....

OohhThatsMe · 07/12/2016 23:46

I used to talk to mine all the time when they were babies, even when it was just the two of us. They always looked interested, too!

almightygirl · 07/12/2016 23:46

Definitely not unreasonable or stupid!! If you'd been walking down the road in silence, someone would have criticised you for that!!

Talking to babies, no matter how young they are, is how they learn to talk. Their babbling is them trying to copy us. It's why parent-facing prays are so good - so they can see and hear us.

Carry on talking to your baby, & ignore anyone who thinks that's a bad idea Smile

almightygirl · 07/12/2016 23:47

Prays?! That's supposed to be prams

ChasedByBees · 07/12/2016 23:47

Well the research doesn't agree with them.

www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/14/talking-to-babies-brain-power-language?CMP=share_btn_link

How arrogant must they be to think their opinion is so valuable that they have to share it with random passers-by? Being utterly wrong is just the icing on that pompous cake.

Thinkingblonde · 07/12/2016 23:47

Keep chatting, it's supposed to be beneficial to the baby. I used to do it when I was pregnant and so did my daughter when she was pregnant.
The baby will recognise your voice.

Kuriusoranj · 07/12/2016 23:47

Doesn't the research demonstrate exactly the opposite? That talking to your child in exactly the way you are doing so is actually crucial for their development? How on earth does muppet stranger think we acquire language unless it's by people talking to us and around us?

Ignore, snigger. Bet your baby actually has some good insight to offer on current affairs!

MommaGee · 07/12/2016 23:49

No it's good for them to hear your voice, see your facial expressions. Otherwise DS would be strapped into his buggy for an hr with zero interaction!! Sometimes I even answer for him in a baby voice because it's the only conversation I get all day and I'm a lonely batty sahm
And even if people think its rude, they should shut up.
I also talked to my bump. Occasionally when ds was tiny and in NICU so not with me I'd pop to the shop and talk to the bump and then remember I just look like a fat girl who talked to herself

Footinmouthasusual · 07/12/2016 23:50

Tell the stranger the baby says you are a twat! Grin

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 07/12/2016 23:51

Where are these people coming from thinking they can just go up to random people and say what they like. Are people literally allergic to keeping their gobs shut.
Some people think babies are like dolls, but. They're actually very intelligent. They take in a lot more than people think.
Ignore the idiot.

Footinmouthasusual · 07/12/2016 23:52

I talk to my dog too.

And recently when a stranger gave her a treat as her dog had one I actually said to the dog, 'what do you say?' I am suprused I am trusted with dgs. Smile

HotCheesePiece · 07/12/2016 23:53

How else do they learn to speak?

She sounds like a moron.

littlesallyracket · 07/12/2016 23:53

Perhaps if the stranger's parents had spoken to them more when they were a baby they wouldn't have grown up into such an obnoxious bellend.

I'm no baby expert, as I've never had one, but even I'm pretty certain that talking to them is something you're meant to do, right? I don't think I could just ignore one?!

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 07/12/2016 23:53

Jeez, I chat to my dog and I'd give a very hard stare indeed to anyone who thought that was weird. She's a twonk. Ignore, ignore, ignore.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 07/12/2016 23:55

I don't know what she'd make of me. I walk around talking to my bloody self at times. Never mind dogs and babies.Grin

Pallisers · 07/12/2016 23:57

My parents came to help out when my first baby was born. The only advice my mother gave me was

"you have to talk to him and sing to him as much as you can". (at the time she was lying on the bed next to him, singing him a made up song about how his hair WOULD be curly like Grandad's)

That "advice" the stranger gave you contradicts nearly every piece of research into child development there is. Almost majestic in its wrongness.

Original poster
Chocoholicmonster · 07/12/2016 23:57

So glad to know I haven't completely lost the plot! Grin I'll continue to chat to him. He started smiling yesterday so he cant be that unhappy with me continually babbling to him!

OP posts:
Catam · 07/12/2016 23:59

Had to laugh (sorry OP) I chatted so much to my DS that sometimes even on my own I would blurt out - ohh look at the fire engine/dog/whatever. Developmentally it's good to talk to your kids, they learn not only words but the rhythm of your voice.

Questioningeverything · 08/12/2016 00:00

I hustled my baby out of the shop the other day chatting with the elder one. Then realised both were with a friend and I'd been talking to myself 😳
So yeah, I chat with them all damn day to the point I do it when they're not there too. Good practice! Haha

NeedsAsockamnesty · 08/12/2016 00:00

I do discuss politics with mine so far I'm thinking he may be a fan of revisiting the whole situation surounding fishing

Pallisers · 08/12/2016 00:01

sometimes even on my own I would blurt out - ohh look at the fire engine/dog/whatever.

I've done that when driving colleagues to a work site - "oh look at the fire truck!" I still point out dogs to my kids (all late teens).

Footinmouthasusual · 08/12/2016 00:02

'Oh look at the sheep'

And you turn around to see disgusted and pity ridden teenage faces judging you for not moving on.

YelloDraw · 08/12/2016 00:06

'Oh look at the sheep'

My mum still does that to me!