Communicating with your Baby

Ever wonder how your baby seems to understand exactly what you are saying when you are saying it. When parents effectively communicate with babies and toddlers from a young age there is no room for misunderstanding. To communicate effectively with your child be sure to follow these tips.

Make sure that your verbal and non verbal coincide, leave no room for mixed signals by ensuring that your body language and verbal cues match up. Don’t tell your baby to stop biting as you are coddling him and using baby talk, look him in the eye, give a disapproving glare and state calmly but firmly teeth aren’t for biting.

Maintain active eye contact when speaking with your baby or toddler, get down on his level and look him in the eyes when you speak. This ensures that you have his undivided attention. Actively listen to your child. Be clued in to your child’s verbal and nonverbal cues. If your baby is crying and pulling on his ear put two and two together and investigate what he is trying to tell you.

When your tone of voice, intonation of statement and body language all point in the same direction your baby quickly learns to differentiate between mommy’s happy and unhappy voice and your approving and un approving body language.

This is Michelle LaRowe, America’s Nanny and author of The Parenting Series, Nanny to the Rescue for Baby Talk Radio. Be sure to visit my website http://www.michellelarowe.com for you parenting tip of the day