I often talk to moms and dads about talking to their baby, singing and even reading to their baby while pregnant. We know that from about the midpoint of pregnancy your baby can hear you fairly well. Research has shown us that baby's can recognize voices they've heard during pregnancy at birth. And let me tell you, there is nothing that melts your heart like a newborn quieting and turning to look at you when you speak to them...
Now there is research out that shows that baby's also acquire some early speak traits. That means that they cry in similar patterns to what they've been hearing, what researchers are calling the "mother tongue."
This study specifically looked at German and French babies born to parents who spoke those languages. As with typical French speaking patterns, the French babies cried with a rising melody and increasing pitch. The German babies had a falling pattern of cry.
French newborns tend to cry with rising melody patterns, slowly increasing in pitch from the beginning to the end, whereas German newborns seem to prefer falling melody patterns, findings that are both consistent with differences between the languages.
Just another reason to talk to your babies! How do you connect verbally with your baby?
Related:
Source:
Newborns' Cry Melody Is Shaped by Their Native Language. Birgit Mampe, Angela D. Friederici, Anne Christophe, Kathleen Wermke. Current Biology - 05 November 2009