New research indicates that babies learn language more from their moms than their dads, and that moms react and respond more to a baby’s cues than dads.
A report in the journal Pediatrics analyzed a group of 33 babies monitored with a small recording device called LENA attached to a vest researchers wore on them just after they were born, while in the hospital and again at 44 weeks and 7-months old. With over 3,000 hours of recordings, the researchers found that “when babies made sounds, moms were more likely to respond to them verbally than fathers were — “Oooo, sweetie pie, you’re talking this morning, ” Time summarized.
The report also discovered that mothers responded 88% to 94% of the time to the babies vocalizations, while dads responded only 27% to 33% of the time.
As a result, and perhaps because the babies were used to hearing their mom talk to them more, both boys and girls were also more likely to respond to their mothers’ or female voices than they were to male voices.
Dang dads, even strange random women beat your voice!
But you dads can change all that, the study suggest, by simply talking to your babies more and perhaps doing so in a higher pitched sing song-y way that moms do and pairing your talking with eye contacts as moms tend to do.
Give it a try and report back, kay?
Good luck!