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UNICEF urge fathers to do ‘baby talk’
  • | dtinews.vn | December 12, 2018 05:04 PM

UNICEF and non-profit H&M Foundation have just launched Baby Talk for Dads campaign in Vietnam which aims to encourage local fathers to use baby talk to boost their babies’ brains in the earliest years of life.





The initiative is part of a global programme on early childhood development that was launched by UNICEF and H&M Foundation in 2014. It has so far reached more than 135,000 children around the world.

UNICEF and H&M Foundation have recently worked together in Vietnam to ensure that more than 30,000 children in Dien Bien, Kon Tum ang Gia Lai have access to quality services for early childhood development (ECD) and to support the national programme for ECD.


A web-based campaign – Baby Talk for Dads – developed by UNICEF and H&M Foundation, in collaboration with Dr. Marina Kalashnikova from the Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language – forms part of the organisations’ longstanding commitment to supporting healthy brain development in babies and young children.


Through the Mini Parenting Master class, dads are urged to be more involved in their children’s brain development and to practice the most important language in the world. In addition, the Baby Talk for Dads online tool takes fathers on a journey whereby they can learn and practice the most effective tone and pitch for when talking with their babies.


During early childhood, the human brain develops faster than at any other period, creating new neural connections at optimal speed. These connections form through interactions between genes and a baby’s environment and experiences, and create the architecture of a child’s brain– which all present and future learning, behavior and health depend on.


According to UNICEF Chief of Early Childhood Development, Dr. Pia Britto, healthy brain development during the early years of life is reliant upon responsive interactions and stimulating experiences, along with good nutrition and protection – and it is parents who hold the biggest stake in providing this environment.

"We hope that this innovative tool helps inspire fathers and all caregivers to talk more with their babies,” he said.

Evidence suggests that when babies hear slow, melodic, and exaggerated sounds it helps them develop fast cognitively and learn new words more efficiently. Some studies have revealed that when babies are spoken to in high-pitched baby talk from their caregivers they can speak earlier and have a larger vocabulary than babies who have not been interacted with in the same way.

Two-way conversations with babies, using eye contact, mirroring expressions and responding to cues are equally as important to vocal sounds in supporting healthy brain development in babies.

“When we talk to our babies from the earliest moments of life – particularly in melodic, high-pitched, and exaggerated tones – we have a profound impact on their cognitive development,” said Dr. Marina Kalashnikova. “In our research we’ve seen marked differences in the early development of babies who have experienced responsive baby talk with their caregivers and other family members around them, to those that haven’t.”

“Baby talk may sound silly to us, but not to your child. It actually helps develop their brain. But as it turns out, dads don’t speak baby talk as much as mums do. We have developed these tools to support dads in becoming fluent in ‘baby talk’.” said Diana Amini, Global Manager, H&M Foundation.

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