Everyone knows that sleep is important to babies, but a new survey by Pampers® Baby-Dry has revealed just how crucial sleep is, specifically to the development of language in babies – and how the battle of the sexes may manifest itself through baby’s first words, as mummy and daddy both hope that their name is said first.
The first few years of a baby’s life are centred around sleeping and learning. You may think that they look peaceful when asleep, but their brain is actually hard at work processing everything they have come across throughout the day. In fact a baby’s ability to sort through information overnight is so advanced that they often wake up the next day having learnt something new.
More than half the parents who took part in the survey had observed this happening. The survey has discovered too that, contrary to popular belief, the first word a baby says is actually ‘daddy’, not ‘mummy’.1
However, to make mums feel happier, when you drill down more subtle findings, the survey also found that although ‘daddy’ beats ‘mummy’, boys are more likely to say ‘mummy’2 first, and girl to say ‘daddy’3 - perhaps where the sayings mummy’s boy and daddy’s girl come from.
Professor Margaret Harris, Language Development Expert from The Institute for Research in Child Development, Oxford Brookes University, says of the survey findings:
“These results show just how adept babies are at learning new things after a good night’s sleep. Although both ‘mummy and ‘daddy’ have previously been reported as very early words, it makes sense that more babies will say ‘daddy’ first because many babies hear the name more often – as mummy says things like “that’s daddy” when he returns home from work – babies get used to hearing the word in a special situation which helps them learn how to say it.”
Because sleep plays such an important role in a baby’s development, ideally your baby should have up to 12 hours uninterrupted, quality sleep. This will help towards him or her developing into the little chatterbox you’re looking forward to talking with!
September 2007
The Pampers Baby-Dry survey was conducted by 72 Point during June 2007.
1 More babies said ‘daddy’ (45%) than ‘mummy’ (30%).
2 34% boys vs. 28% girls
3 47% girls, 39% boys
Because sleep plays such an important role in a baby’s development, Pampers Baby-Dry has a unique Extra Sleep-Layer™ which is made up of two absorbent layers. The double layer locks wetness away from your baby's skin for extra protection for up to 12 hours to help him enjoy uninterrupted, quality sleep.
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