Hearing a baby try to talk is one of the most adorable things that you can listen to.
And it’s especially cute when that baby is trying to talk to her great-grandmother.
Unfortunately for babies, their mumbles and goo’s and ga’s often fall on deaf ears–oh sure we hear them, but rarely do we talk back.
But for one lucky baby, she gets to make all the baby noises and words that she can come up with and get some conversation back in return.
When this baby’s great-grandma hears her great-granddaughter trying to talk to her, she talks right back.
She’s holding the young child in her hands and looking right into her eyes as the baby makes all sorts of cute noises.
And when great-granny fires back with some noises of her own, the baby (and great-granny) love it.
She starts to laugh and swing her arms and make louder noises.
This continues on for a good couple of minutes and you can’t help but wonder what it is that the baby is trying to say.
Whatever it is, the great-grandmother is all ears and happy to listen.
This type of stimulation for the baby is actually super beneficial for her overall development.
According to Baby Bonus, “Talking with your baby or toddler can help his language and communication development. The more you talk with your baby or toddler, the better. This is because parents who talk a lot to their young children use lots of different sounds and words. When children hear more words, it helps to improve their understanding of language, and increases the number and variety of words that they can understand and use.”
So although this may seem like nothing more than just a cute interaction between great-granny and baby, it is actually helping that cute little girl learn to speak.
Not only that, but the simple fact that this baby is interacting with an elderly woman is going to benefit her as well.
Masako Myowa, an associate professor of development science at Kyoto University told the Japan Times that, “Unlike most other primates, human beings have evolved into a species where multiple adults — not just the mother but also the father, grandparents, and others — are involved in raising children together. Opportunities to interact with the elderly are extremely natural as well as important for a baby’s growth.”
But the benefits aren’t solely for the baby in this situation.
Great-grandma is going to receive some positive impacts as well.
According to CNN, there is a nursing home in the UK that encourages young children and the elderly residents to interact with each other.
They bring in toddlers and babies every day and let them play games with the older folk.
And the workers in the nursing home have noticed some very positive effects because of this.
They claim that “Improvements for the elderly participants include reduced depression, increased mobility, better communication and language, and lower levels of dementia and memory loss.”
So if you have a young child at home make sure to take them over to grandma and grandpa’s house as often as you can.
It’s going to benefit your child as well as your parents.
And I’d be willing to bet that it is going to have a positive effect on you as well.