Let’s talk, baby! Study hopes front-line doctors can get more parents conversing with their infants

Having conversations with babies — even before they’re old enough to say anything back — is one of the most powerful ways to boost their language development and eventual success in school, research has established.

But what’s the best way to get more parents starting those conversations with their newborns?

The University of Kansas Medical Center is leading a first-of-its-kind study to learn whether pediatricians and well-child visits could broadly and effectively deploy an early language intervention approach called Talk With Me Baby.

“It’s really based on the idea of language nutrition. Just like a child needs an adequate amount of food for their physical growth, they also need adequate language for their brain development,” said Brenda Salley, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and associate professor of pediatrics at KU School of Medicine, who is leading the multisite clinical trial.

“The barrier has been reaching families with information about language nutrition. That’s where pediatricians and the health care system come in. … Talk With Me Baby is meant to take those evidence-based strategies and embed that information into well-child care to reach families.”

Salley said the study will be the first to train pediatricians to share Talk With Me Baby’s “concrete strategies and actionable tips,” then measure the impact on children and families.

Decades of research have shown that “language-rich interaction” with caregivers supports babies’ language development and reduces long-term disparities in health, academic and economic outcomes. However, Salley notes that existing interventions have not had the necessary outreach to families who need this information the most.

The new study will test the primary care setting — which reaches up to 98% of families with infants and toddlers — as a low-cost, universal platform to deliver Talk With Me Baby to the public.

The study is funded with a $3.3 million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant, awarded in May 2024.

Researchers will follow babies from 1 month through 2 years old, Salley said. Doctors will deliver Talk With Me Baby curriculum at each well-child visit. Outcomes will be measured in several ways, including standardized language development tests, analyses of home video recordings and interviews with parents.

Currently, Salley and her team are signing up pediatric clinics to participate in the study. Their goal is to enroll 16 clinics and 400 babies, along with their caregivers. Half the participating clinics and patients will be in the Kansas City metropolitan area, and half in Atlanta. Study collaborators include researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, where Talk With Me Baby was created as a public health initiative.

The randomized controlled trial will compare clinics conducting care as usual to clinics with pediatricians trained in Talk With Me Baby, Salley said.

For example, Salley said, pediatricians might suggest discussing with your newborn what you’re doing and seeing together throughout the day — like narrating out loud as you change their outfit, “Let’s put your feet in, now let’s put your arms in.”

“For some families, they may not think about talking with their child before their child is talking back, or they may not realize the importance of having a conversation before a baby is using sounds or words,” Salley said.

Salley said previous research has shown that factors like socioeconomic status or parent education are not the strongest predictors of success in school. Rather, more high-quality language interactions can be a protective factor for children in under-resourced families.

“The power of well-child care is that we can reach all families even before delays in development emerge,” she said. “The goal is to start our language promotion early before we see disparities in school readiness and health outcomes.”

Pediatricians interested in participating in the study can learn more at talkwithmebaby.kumc.edu.