When you find out that you're going to be a parent, it's not unusual to start seeking out advice - from friends, from books, from the internet and so forth. I did, and one of the pieces of advice that popped up regularly was "talk to your baby". This made perfect sense to me. After all, according to my mum, I'd been reasonably vocal early on because my grandmother had talked to me a lot when I was a baby myself.
So talk to my baby I did. All. The. Time. It wasn't hard for me - I'm one of life's natural talkers. I never use one word when 10 will do. There are people reading this right now who would hate being stuck in a room with me. But I digress. I would talk to her while I changed her, telling her what I was doing. I'd talk to her while I gave her a bath, and I'd talk to her while we played.
When I wasn't just talking to her saying whatever came into my head, I'd be reading to her. This seemed a good plan - hopefully I could instil a love of books and reading at the same time (this one seems to have paid off so far, I hope she sticks with it). Attempts to read her to sleep were less successful. I tried with something that was all words and no pictures to see if just the drone of my voice would send her off, but half a page into The Hobbit, she asked me for a different book. Time will tell whether she inherited her father's geekiness or not, but this was too soon, it seems.
So did my efforts pay off, I hear you ask? Well, yes. Yes they did. A little too well in fact. I have, as they say, created a monster.
From the moment she opens her eyes in the morning to the moment she closes them again at night, she's talking. It seems she's talking whether she has something to say or not. If she's going over there, she'll tell us that she's just going over there. If she's playing with her farm, we know all about which animal is going where. Sometimes we even get a morepork report at 3am.
Okay, so on balance I guess I'm happier with this situation than if she never said a word. She's a genuinely funny kid and she comes out with some crackers. The other night she had a tummy bug, and when my wife tried to explain this, she exclaimed most earnestly, "I don't want to eat a bug!" Even at 1am after a nappy-explosion-related sheet change, this still cracked us up.
We have finally managed to find a couple of things that hold her attention long enough for her to stop chatting. Dorothy the Dinosaur on DVD captivates her, and often has her up and dancing around the lounge, and singing too - so I guess she's still technically vocalising. Watching videos of her dancing school on the iPhone is good too.
In case it's not obvious, the above is meant to be in fun. I love it that she's a talker and it makes communicating with her so much easier than when she was a baby and couldn't easily let us know what she wanted. Still, that doesn't mean it isn't nice when the peace of evening descends...
Is your kid a chatterbox? Is it endearing, or just annoying?
» Follow PG on Facebook
Sponsored links
Newest First
Oldest First
Ha ha - you spend all that time waiting and waiting for them to talk, and then once they start, you wish they'd stop - just for five minutes!!! I dont mind the talking, it's the repeating that drives me crazy, when they ask something, and you answer it, and they keep asking - even when you've given them the answer they want!!!!
Great blog post! And oh, so true! I have three chatterboxes (9, 5 and 2 1/2 years) and being the only parent at home in the evenings, I cop the lot of it from all three. I really love it because I know exactly how their day went, who's friends and who's fighting at school and how dolly behaved while I was at work. But, by the time they're all in bed I'm completely shattered and my husband gets frustrated that I don't engage in intellectual conversation with him. Honestly, hon, it's not you, I'm just completely worded out!
Small boy (2yrs) told me he wanted "eleven toasts" this morning. ;)
Language development is pretty cool & hilarious. And communication does make parenting a WHOLE lot easier!! But yes, the repetitive statements do get a bit trying - I find he'll just keep repeating the same statement until someone responds and, on occasion, it has to be the RIGHT someone as well - if he's telling Dad something & Mum responds, he just keeps on going until Dad responds. Drives me bonkers...
My Mum talked constantly to my brother and I as babies and toddlers. She was a primary school teacher, so she also knew the best books, and read to us each day. When we started school, our teachers commented on our extensive vocabulary. My brother and I are voracious readers (and fairly chatty) to this day. So keep on going Hamish, you're doing a great job. Eventually your daughter's stream of consciousness conversations will stop, enjoy the hilarity while it lasts.
Hamish - We've done what you have for our boy - reading plenty of stories and talking about everything. Then number two came along, a beautiful girl, and all our routines and planning and our 'feeling-good-about-our-parenting-skills' took a little denting. Noise levels rose and attentions spans shortened. Then came number three. A lovely boy - cried alot. All routines out the window. Three distinct personalites so that when you babble to one, the others squabble in the background and oh my goodness- bring on bedtime. BEDTIME! It's wonderful.
@ Wait until you have 3 #6. Wishing there was a LIKE button on these blog comments!
Well we are going to be in trouble then! I talk to my wee boy all the time. He clearly (and verified by others) said "ilk" for milk at 3 months - only when hungry, says Mama and Mum when he is really upset, and said "I love you" to my husband quite a few weeks back. He is only 5.5 months old. He wakes up talking at crazy oclock too! LOL
My daughter will be three in a couple of months and boy does she love to talk! The worst time is in the car when it's 'mum look a truck. mum look deciduous trees. Look mum! Look mum! Look!!'. It's great, but a volume dial would be nice! We get the running commentary now too. My favourite time is when we are baking. She always gets the butter out of the fridge, hands it to me and says 'here mum, need 4 grams of butter'. She does make me laugh!
I do fear I might go insane once her one year old brother starts talking as well though...
We have a five year old chatterbox who didn't suffer at all from mum not being terribly talkative early on, but made up for it later. I'm not a naturally chatty person but got into the habit of talking to him the whole time once I was getting enough sleep to function properly. We have had a much easier time of it with number 2 - I have been talking constantly to him from the beginning and at nearly 16 weeks he vocalises A LOT, not as clearly as @Michelle #8, but he's definitely telling us what he thinks already!!
Sir Graham Henry cautioned over ref comments
Kidnap horror: Dragged behind a car like dummy
'Woolwich Killer' held three years ago
Warriors bounce back with win over Knights
A whale of a time for cruise passengers
Magic keep season alive with overtime win
UFC Kiwis bloodied and disappointed
Polynesian men a global sports commodity
Aussie PM demands live odds ban
More AFL racism caught on camera
Polanski: No to equality, yes to skimpy dresses
Keeper mauled by tiger 'broke rules'
Our wee lady has just turned 3, and to be honest, i struggle to remember a time when she was not talking up a storm. We always spoke to her a lot and read to her from early on, and it seems to have rubbed off. At times you just wish she would can it for a few minutes, but so much gold comes out of that little girl it is well worth it. I love that she is vocal and her little personality really shines through. If given the choice, i would not change a thing. Out of the mouths of babes as the saying goes....