The importance of talking to your child

[SoloD]

Apparently talking to your baby is actually really important for their brain development, and the most vital factor in your babies development of good speech and language skills is the parent.

It was a really interesting article I have a two year old and apparently many of his tantrums come from his frustration at not being understood (I know the feeling)

To me this seems really obvious - of course talking is important for brain development. How else will they learn language skills if you don't talk to them? Is there more to the article?

www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201105/Naming_Feelings_RocknRoll_OnlineMay2011.pdf

A lot of tantrums are caused by an inablity to express emotion like sadness, anger, fear or even positive emotions like joy or love. Have you a link to your article?

I agree with onelittlefish this should be so obvious. Unfortunately we live in a world where a lot of parents are unaware of this. We have even had an advertising campaign run by the local council, reminding parents that they should talk to their children - adverts on the back of buses, etc. It's a sad world where parents need reminding.

i'm rubbish at talking to my tiny babies but as soon as they get a bit older we talk, talk, talk, talk. my 2yr talks non-stop, i'm amazed with the level his language is at and i'm sure it's helped by a big brother and the amount we talk.
i've also found i don't get many full on temper tantrums if i've done enough talking - they generally happen when i've not explained things well enough.

Its not just talking to your children. Its what you say. Sometimes its better to say nothing and shut up and listen. Gawd gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.

I think that telling parents to talk to their kids is plain patronising. What is more sensible is helping parents to improve communication skills.

This is a really good book.

www.amazon.co.uk/Talk-Kids-Will-Listen-Child/dp/1853407054

Well I talked to my son, but not really thinking about it. This made me think more about it and the fact that when my son gets frustrated, I am now trying to listen more. I think it is working, just wanted to share this experience. Sorry if I have offended anyone.

Will try and find that article.

soloD I think mine (and other responses) have come off rather badly. I certainly wasn't 'offended' by anything you said. I read your post as having a 'no shit sherlock' theme going on, but obviously I was mistaken, so my apologies for that.

I agree that many "tantrums" are due to a child being frustrated about lack of ability to communicate, or simply wanting their parent to give them some attention.

I'd love to read the article too.

But saying all this.... I still get funny looks when I talk to my DD when we're out and about.

She is only 9 mo but I tend to narrate our trip to her. It keeps her amused.

Can't find the page I read it on, but this is the same article here

funkygiraffebibs.co.uk/babytalk/blog_17.html