Baby talk can be a touchy subject depending on who you’re speaking with. Some parents believe that babies should be spoken to like miniature adults, while others scoff at the thought. Scientists have now settled the debate. Research reveals that using baby talk with your infant serves an important purpose and that humans instinctively use baby talk across cultures and continents.

The term “baby talk” may conjure the image of a parent hovering over their baby, speaking gibberish, but that’s not what it means. The PBS show Otherwords describes baby talk as the high-pitched, sing-song voice adults use with infants. And dogs. And cats. Pretty much anything a person deems irresistibly adorable. It’s a sound that may take you by surprise the first time you use it. Why is that?

Baby talk may be instinctual

The host of Otherwords, Erica Brozovsky, explains that baby talk has “also been called ‘Motherese’ or ‘Parentese,’ and for many years, child psychologists discouraged the practice, warning parents that it could slow language development and teach bad speech habits.”

Brozovsky later adds, “But that........

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