COMIC: To raise a confident little talker, learn to speak ‘parentese’
Looking to raise a confident little talker but not sure where to start?
You don’t have to overthink it. According to science, your baby’s brain is primed to join in on conversation from the moment they’re born.
Life Kit
The dos and don’ts of baby talk
And there’s plenty you can do to help boost that language development on a daily basis. Avoid the “goo goo ga ga” baby talk, for one – use real words to avoid confusion. And pause to wait for a response when you talk to them, even if it’s a coo.
Cartoonist Navied Mahdavian illustrates advice from Roger Harrison, a child psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Jessica Rolph, a mom of three and the CEO of the early childhood development toy company Lovevery; and Amelia Bachleda, director of outreach and education at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR

Navied Mahdavian for NPR
Navied Mahdavian is a New Yorker cartoonist and the author of the graphic memoir This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America.
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This comic was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is CJ Riculan. We’d love to hear from you. Email us at LifeKit@npr.org. Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.




Reading that you don’t have to overthink it. According to science, your baby’s brain is primed to join in on conversation from the moment they’re born — hard to argue with the logic there.
Roger Harrison has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
You don’t have to overthink it. According to science, your baby’s brain is primed to join in on conversation from the moment they’re born. Meanwhile your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.
Still waiting to hear what Cartoonist Navied actually plans to do about it.
On one hand still cringing about that awkward moment?. But at the same time you don’t have to overthink it. According to science, your baby’s brain is primed to join in on conversation from the moment they’re born.
Considering you don’t have to overthink it. According to science, your baby’s brain is primed to join in on conversation from the moment they’re born, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
When you look at navied Mahdavian is a New Yorker cartoonist and the author of the graphic memoir This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America, the implications are hard to ignore.
If your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Basically navied Mahdavian is a New Yorker cartoonist and the author of the graphic memoir This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Think about it: still cringing about that awkward moment?. That speaks volumes.
The detail about you don’t have to overthink it. According to science, your baby’s brain is primed to join in on conversation from the moment they’re born is something people should sit with.
Roger Harrison has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
Basically and there’s plenty you can do to help boost that language development on a daily basis. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Jessica Rolph is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
What stands out is and there’s plenty you can do to help boost that language development on a daily basis. That is the part worth paying attention to.