Is baby talk good or bad for babies?
The sing-song voice is good, as long as you use real words. Researchers call it parentese: higher pitch, slower speech, stretched vowels and real grammar. In a randomized trial, coaching parents to use it was linked to children saying about 100 words at 18 months versus about 60. Nonsense words and made-up baby babble are a different thing.
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The short answer: keep the voice, keep the real words
Most parents start talking differently to a baby without being told. The voice goes up. The vowels stretch. The tone turns happy and sing-song. Researchers call this parentese, and a randomized trial links it to more words by 18 months.
What people often mean by "baby talk" is something else: silly sounds and made-up words, like "Who's a wittle snookums?" Parentese keeps real words and real grammar, just slower, higher and more musical. So the answer is: keep the voice, keep the real words.
| Parentese | Nonsense baby talk | |
|---|---|---|
| Example | "Look at the doooggie! Is he biiiig?" | "Wook at da widdle woof-woof!" |
| Words | Real words, real grammar | Made-up or mangled words |
| Voice | Higher, slower, stretched vowels, warm | Often the same sing-song voice |
| What your baby hears | Real language, made easier to catch | Sounds that don't match how anyone talks |
What the research found
In a randomized trial at the University of Washington, 48 families got short coaching sessions when their babies were 6, 10 and 14 months old. Coaches played back recordings of the parents' voices at home and gave tips for back-and-forth talk in daily routines. A control group got no coaching.
The coached parents used more parentese, and kept increasing it after coaching ended. Their families had a sharp rise in turn-taking between 14 and 18 months. By 18 months, their children produced real words at almost twice the rate of the control group, with parent-reported vocabularies of about 100 words compared with about 60. Patricia Kuhl, a senior author, called parentese "a social hook for the baby brain."
To be fair about it: this was one lab, the vocabulary numbers came from parents, and long-term effects aren't known. Still, it's a real trial, and the "treatment" was simply a change in how parents talked.
An earlier study from the same group, of 32 Mandarin-speaking mothers and their babies, found that mothers with the clearest stretched vowels had the babies with the best speech perception.
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Why parentese works
Parentese seems to help in two ways. It makes real language easier to catch, and in the Mandarin study, clearer stretched vowels went with better speech perception. It also pulls babies into the conversation, which is what Kuhl meant by a "social hook." A high, happy voice and a big, warm face invite a coo back, and back-and-forth turns are linked to stronger language more than sheer word counts are.
That's the heart of serve and return. Your baby coos; you answer in parentese; you pause; they coo again. Each round is a tiny conversation.
What parentese sounds like, in practice
- Higher pitch than your normal voice, but not a squeak.
- Slower, with long vowels: "Here's your spoooon."
- A big, warm expression on your face.
- Short sentences with real words: "You want the ball? The red ball!"
- Pauses after you speak, so your baby can answer. Count silently to five. Often the answer arrives at about four.
Try it during one routine a day to start: feeding, dressing or the bath. "Arms up! Uuup they go. Where's your tummy? There's your tuuummy!" Then wait for a kick, a coo or a grin, and answer that.
Parentese games by age
| Age | Try this |
|---|---|
| 0 to 3 months | Face to face. Hold your baby so your face fills their view. Make one slow expression, a big wide-eyed "oh," and wait. If they move their mouth, smile: "You're talking to me!" |
| 2 to 6 months | Coo conversation. When your baby coos, answer in parentese: "Ooh, is that right? Tell me more!" Then go quiet and count to five. Aim for three rounds in a row. |
| 6 to 10 months | Babble to word. "Ba-ba-ba" gets "Ball! Here's your ball." Smile or touch your baby right after the babble. |
| 9 to 12 months | Point, name, bring. Look where your baby points, name it in parentese ("The cup! That's Daddy's cup"), and bring it closer if it's safe. |
Each game takes one to five minutes. Stop when your baby looks away or fusses; that's their way of saying they're done.
What about pet names and silly sounds?
Family life is full of nicknames, raspberries and silly noises, and many of them are serve-and-return games in disguise. Blowing a raspberry and waiting for your baby to try one back is a real conversation. Copying your baby's coos is a powerful answer.
The studies tested parentese, so that's the voice to lean on for most of your talk. Use real names for things: dog rather than only "woof-woof," bottle rather than a made-up word. Toddlers love big real words, too: bulldozer, spatula, enormous. A silly nickname now and then is part of loving a baby. Just make sure most of what they hear is real language.
As your baby becomes a toddler
As your child starts talking, the same idea grows up with them. When your toddler says "Dog run," don't copy the baby version back, and don't correct it either. Expand it: "Yes, the dog is running!" They hear the grown-up version and get credit for starting the conversation.
For the next stage, see how to get your toddler to talk more and when babies start talking.
Do this
- Use parentese, with real words, for at least one routine a day.
- Stretch the key word in your sentence: "Here's your spoooon."
- Count to five after you speak so your baby can answer.
- Use real names for things alongside any pet words.
- Expand your toddler's words instead of copying or correcting them.
Grow a Genius
In the book: Chapter 16: Serve and Return
The book explains parentese, the pause and ten serve-and-return games by age, and Talk to Me: 101 Conversation Games gives you dozens more ways to talk with a baby who can't talk yet.
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People also ask
Is it bad to talk in a baby voice?
No. The high, slow, sing-song voice, called parentese, is linked to better language in research. The key is to use it with real words and real grammar. In a randomized trial, coaching parents in parentese was linked to about 100 words at 18 months versus about 60.
What is the difference between parentese and baby talk?
Parentese uses real words and grammar in a higher, slower, more musical voice: "Look at the doooggie!" Baby talk usually means silly sounds and made-up words: "Who's a wittle snookums?" Parentese gives your baby real language, made easier to catch.
When should I stop using parentese?
There's no set age. As your child starts talking, shift toward expanding what your toddler says: if they say "Dog run," answer "Yes, the dog is running!" That keeps the same warm, back-and-forth spirit with richer language.
Should dads use parentese too?
Yes. Any caring adult can use it, and the trial coached parents, not just mothers. A second warm voice giving your baby real words and pauses to answer means more conversations in the day.