Beware: Babies raised by men could be delayed in speech

[alchemy]

http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archi ... xt/309385/

Somewhat related to the topic, The Atlantic recently asked whether our cell phone habits were having a detrimental effect on linguistic development.

[Mama Mia]

I don't think it matters in the long run anyway. Every parent is different and every child is different. Whether they learn to talk a little earlier or later doesn't mean anything , it all evens out. Raising children isn't a competition to see who walks/talks/toilet trains fastest.

I just thought it was interesting that there are these general differences, and as usual the more typically male way is seen as more advanced, but it turns out the more typical female behavior is actually the better one in this situation.

For me this is one of the worst parts about underlying sexism. We assume and are taught that typically male patterns of behavior /thoughts/beliefs are the "higher"level ...and we don't even realize it.

Again, I used the word typically male and female because of course there is wide variation between people.

[lawlifelgbt]

I don't know if I'll talk baby talk. I have almost no exposure to babies, so when my partner and I have our own, I don't know how I'll react. However, when I've talked to friends' babies', I'll coo at them when they're doing something cute and maybe talk in a higher-pitched voice. I don't do "maternal drivel." Then again, if our dog is any comparison, my partner does!

Since we're both women, can I expect that the baby would be using complete sentences at a year old because we talk SO MUCH MORE than men?

[theologygeek]

I don't know if I'll talk baby talk.

The documentary that I saw wasn't so much about baby talk as it was about how mothers and fathers say the same things to a baby and it comes out sounding different. I was at a bbq party all day today. I got silly at one point and thought of this thread. They brought out bubbles for the little ones. The fathers were like "Heyyyyy cool! Bubbles! Yayyyyyy look at the bubbles!" in a jovial and upbeat manner. I eyed one of the mothers in particular who pronounced every letter of every word very clearly and she really stressed the word bubbles. She said "Look, buh-bles. Can you say buh-bles?" The documentary said that women have a built in instinct and they don't even realize that they are doing it.

[Closed Womb]

The documentary that I saw wasn't so much about baby talk as it was about how mothers and fathers say the same things to a baby and it comes out sounding different. I was at a bbq party all day today. I got silly at one point and thought of this thread. They brought out bubbles for the little ones. The fathers were like "Heyyyyy cool! Bubbles! Yayyyyyy look at the bubbles!" in a jovial and upbeat manner. I eyed one of the mothers in particular who pronounced every letter of every word very clearly and she really stressed the word bubbles. She said "Look, buh-bles. Can you say buh-bles?" The documentary said that women have a built in instinct and they don't even realize that they are doing it.

That is very interesting. I've certainly never noticed it, but I guess that is the whole point -- it goes unnoticed.

However, that is very different from what the columnist wrote; she claimed it was "maternal drivel...Oh, how are you, what lovely little toes you have, look at this picture there’s a cow, moo moo, you can say moo too, moo moo, yes, aren’t you a clever one, yes aren’t you a clever one, you are, you are." She may well have not understood the studies she was alluding to, but that in and of itself disqualifies her from giving advice to a soon-to-be-mother that is trying to balance career and family.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I am good at babytalking, but I think I do it to the cat more than I do to my baby sister.

[theologygeek]

That is very interesting. I've certainly never noticed it, but I guess that is the whole point -- it goes unnoticed.

However, that is very different from what the columnist wrote; she claimed it was "maternal drivel...Oh, how are you, what lovely little toes you have, look at this picture there’s a cow, moo moo, you can say moo too, moo moo, yes, aren’t you a clever one, yes aren’t you a clever one, you are, you are." She may well have not understood the studies she was alluding to, but that in and of itself disqualifies her from giving advice to a soon-to-be-mother that is trying to balance career and family.

I also don't think that the columnist understood it, because it is certainly not "maternal drivel."

[Dysfundamental]

My genetic children were the earliest talkers I have known out of all the babies I've ever encountered, and they have two dads.

My nephew was a pretty early talker, and my brother-in-law was his primary caregiver from three months on.

I think you would have to factor out all the men who were primary caregivers because of family emergencies (because there are likely to be other issues affecting children's speech acquisition) and compare only men who actively chose primary caregiving to women who actively chose primary caregiving to get a useful study.

There is a fantastic book by Cordelia Fine called Delusions of Gender that mercilessly annihilates study after study "proving" inherent gender differences, simply on the basis of sloppily designed research instruments, drawing conclusions not supported by evidence, and other basic errors of experimental design.