Surrey Baby Lab

Sometimes children’s unexpected answers are the most revealing. I can’t get enough of this conversation between little Waylon and his mom. She’s hoping to introduce him to a new vocabulary word - “hydrangea” (and to film his attempt at pronunciation). But with her phone set to selfie mode, our hero misunderstands her intent - believing she’s initiated a video call (almost certainly something they do with relatives) with a friend named “Dranja.” The result tells us all about Waylon’s language and social development - and offer a reminder that child development is occurring simultaneously across multiple domains. What a charming little guy. This video was shared to IG by his mom, nachoprobllama.

How does the presence of older siblings influence the development of language? This lovely video brought my mind immediately to research on the topic. There is some consensus that the presence of one or more siblings can correlate with slightly slower* language development among children who are not first born. This is because parents juggling the demands of multiple children generally have less time for one-on-one interaction. But research suggests that this the presence of a “cognitively sensitive” sibling can mitigate against such delays. What is “cognitively sensitive?” It’s this little guy. Notice how he not only takes time out to deliberately expose his newborn sister to language and vocabulary, but makes an effort to slow and simplify his language in recognition that he’s speaking with a baby. He shows the photos. He points (as he’s able) to match vocabulary with what’s on display. It’s like having a third, mini-parent. What a fantastic little teacher. *By the way, the delayed language often displayed by younger siblings is not anything to get too worked up about. Might they develop a little slower? In some cases yes. But do they catch up and close this gap? Also yes. In the long run, there’s also plenty of reason to believe that the presence of siblings can be advantageous. Though subsequent siblings may receive slightly less one-on-one time, they are often exposed to richer and more varied language due to the presence of older children in the home. What was your experience? This loving brother-sister pair was shared to IG by halesmoore.

Read to your newborn. 📚 With hearing developing during the final months of gestation, it’s never too early to begin reading to your baby. And this mom is giving us an absolute master class in how to do it right. Note first that she’s reading face-to-face. At this age (10 weeks), there is literally nothing more thrilling - or instructional - to your newborn than your face. Check out how intently focused baby is on mom’s voice and facial expressions. Mom reads with expression and emotion, alternating between glances at the text and direct eye contact with her adoring audience of one. And there is so much going on in that developing brain. Did you know that during the earliest years of life babies form new neural connections at an estimated 1 million per SECOND? With these types of rich daily interactions, mom is setting her baby up for a lifetime of success. Kudos to KelseyPaumer (IG) on this fantastic and educational 🎥 clip.

Love this little guy “reading along” with his dad. Infancy is where literacy begins.

This sweet video illustrates several important lessons for parents and caregivers when it comes to reading with infants and toddlers. What can we learn from it? Take a moment to watch (sound on) and then let’s unpack it a bit in the thread below. 🧵