Talking to a two year old baby

[sb70012]

Hello,
I'm curious to know how English and American parents talk to their 1 or 2 year old babies. I have some examples here:

"What a cutie."
"You are so cutie."
"I'm going to eat you all up."
"You are my little baby."
"Hi little princess."

Would you please be kind enough to tell me that in American or English culture, what sentences do parents use in order to talk to their babies? Would you please be kind enough to tell me some examples (sentences & expressions) appropriate to be used to a little baby? I like to know how they talk to them. I mean I like to know what words or sentences or expressions parents use while talking to them in English.
Thank you

[YesNo]

Hello,
I'm curious to know how English and American parents talk to their 1 or 2 year old babies. I have some examples here:

"What a cutie."
"You are so cutie."
"I'm going to eat you all up."
"You are my little baby."
"Hi little princess."


The "You are so cutie" is not correct. "You're so cute" might be used. I think the "You are" would be replaced with "you're". Of course there would be smiles.

[CharlesH]

I don't think there are any particular words people use to talk to their babies, people tend to use all kinds of names for their children, I can't imagine it's any different to anywhere else.

[Bleeding Pawn]

Hello sb70012, out of curiosity want to know how do parents refer their baby/ies as when sweet talking to them?

[The Atheist]

Hello,
I'm curious to know how English and American parents talk to their 1 or 2 year old babies. I have some examples here:

"What a cutie."
"You are so cutie."
"I'm going to eat you all up."
"You are my little baby."
"Hi little princess."

Would you please be kind enough to tell me that in American or English culture, what sentences do parents use in order to talk to their babies? Would you please be kind enough to tell me some examples (sentences & expressions) appropriate to be used to a little baby? I like to know how they talk to them. I mean I like to know what words or sentences or expressions parents use while talking to them in English.
Thank you

Well, I've always spoken to mine the same way at 18 months as I do at 18 years.

I am completely turned off by baby talk and I'm very confident that my throat would rupture if I ever tried.

Many - probably most - parents do use the phrases like those you gave as examples, but I'd like to think my approach has had some bearing on all of my kids being extremely well-spoken & articulate and able to construct a sentence both orally and in writing. They also don't use txt spk wen using fones lol.

[YesNo]

I am completely turned off by baby talk and I'm very confident that my throat would rupture if I ever tried.


Being on the receiving end of baby talk can be annoying as well. I think it should be limited to children who aren't old enough to talk back.

[cacian]

"I'm going to eat you all up."
definitely NOT this.
it sounds scary like little riding hood.

[The Kid]

cacian






"I'm going to eat you all up." definitely NOT this.
it sounds scary like little riding hood.

More common is to say, "I'd like to eat you all up". This is generally understood, but to say "I'm going to eat you all up" sounds more like a threat.

Often people say nonsense words. I can't spell any of them, sorry, but many of these are said in a somewhat higher pitch for some reason. It sounds silly if said to an adult, but it's generally accepted if said toward babies.

[YesNo]

When people are talking to a baby, they are sometimes indirectly putting on a show for some other adults who can hear them. For example, a mother could baby talk to her infant while her husband is listening, "Your daddy has been acting very stupid lately, hasn't he. Yes, he has! Yes, he has!".

[sb70012]

Everybody, thank you so much for answering.

[qimissung]

It's actually kind of a myth that talking "baby-talk" to infants hinders their speech development. Studies have shown that "parentese" as it's sometimes known as actually helps babies learn words more quickly:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329143741.htm

[The Atheist]

It's actually kind of a myth that talking "baby-talk" to infants hinders their speech development. Studies have shown that "parentese" as it's sometimes known as actually helps babies learn words more quickly:

That study concludes it's tone that matters, and as I was going to say to TheKid, who said:


...but many of these are said in a somewhat higher pitch for some reason...

There's no secret to babies responding to higher pitches, because you can see it in their faces, let alone studies.

[sapaluxury]

The "You are so cutie" is not correct. "You're so cute" might be used. I think the "You are" would be replaced with "you're". Of course there would be smiles.

Yep, I agree with you, "You're so cute" is correct, not "Cutie" :D

[The Kid]

There's no secret to babies responding to higher pitches, because you can see it in their faces, let alone studies

I don't really understand what you're pointing out here. Do you mean that it's no secret because it is a very obvious thing to see? Or perhaps you mean the opposite; that it's simply not true?