From Birth, Engage Your Child With Talk

All too often, the mothers and nannies I see are tuned in to their cellphones, BlackBerrys and iPods, not their young children. Randi Jacoby, a speech and language specialist in New York, recently told me in an e-mail message: “Parents have stopped having good communications with their young children, causing them to lose out on the eye contact, facial expression and overall feedback that is essential for early communication development. . . . Parents need to be reminded of the significance of their communicative model. . . . Reward your little one’s communicative attempts with your heightened attention to his/her conversation. Be prepared to put down your cellphone and look them squarely in the eye as they share their thoughts with you.” NY Times