The Cranking Widgets Blog offers some good advice about communicating with small children: How to Talk to a Toddler. I would add one more thing,though: Don’t talk baby talk. Little children talk baby talk becuase they’re babies and they’re still learning how to make the right sounds for their native language and put them together in the right way to make meaning. And they’re learning that from us, the adults around them that already know how to speak. When we talk baby talk at them, they’re learning to speak — incorrectly. There’s a tiny amount of research that suggests a higher pitch might be more soothing; other than that, you can skip the “Would da widdle baby wike thum miwky-wiwky?” talk — they’ll do fine with “Would you like some milk?”

And you’ll keep a scrap of dignity, too. It’s a win-win situation.

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