Parents' Response to Baby's Babbling Can Speed Language Development

The way that family members and caregivers respond to an infant's babbling can affect the baby's language development, a new study suggests. Over six months, researchers observed the interactions between 12 mothers and their infants during free play. The infants were 8 months old at the start of the study. When parents listened and responded to a baby's babbling, infants began to form complex sounds. The babies whose parents responded to babbling also started using language more quickly, according to the study.