Blog — Personalized Pacifiers

As a leader in Innovative Baby Products, MyRaZbaby is passionate about the health, safety, and wellness of babies. That's why we're always excited to find and share the latest research that teaches us more about this vital stage of human life.

NPR recently reported on a new study that explores one of the most vital developments in early childhood: how we first develop speech. As it turns out, infants begin practicing how to talk in their minds months before they verbally utter their first words.

Using what looks like a hair dryer from Mars, researchers from the University of Washington have taken the most precise peeks yet into the fireworks display of neural activity that occurs when infants listen to people speak.

They found that the motor area of the brain, which we use to produce speech, is very active in babies 7 to 12 months old when they listen to speech components.

"What we're seeing is that the babies are practicing because they want to talk back," says Patricia Kuhl, a speech psychologist at the University of Washington and the lead author on the paper, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. 

Kuhl used a machine called a magnetoencephalograph, or MEG, that measures the brain's magnetic field from outside the head. Unlike MRIs or CTs, which require that patients be completely still, the MEG can scan images in moving patients, which works out perfectly for fidgety babies.

The researchers found that the motor part of the baby’s brain lit up when the baby listened to the sounds, indicating that they were trying to mimic or respond to the speech. Essentially, between seven months to a year, babies undergo a major transition in which they can begin to distinguish sounds from different languages; by age one, they can actually pinpoint the native language of their parents and tune out foreign speech.

The study’s conclusion was that "baby-talk" – the way parents typically speak to babies, as characterized by a higher pitch and slower pace – actually benefits them by helping to develop this vital but unsent social development. Other scientists suggest that this reinforces the importance of surrounding one’s infant with language in general, though not necessarily needing to speak “baby”.

While future plans call for research to further confirm this, the take-home advice is clear: communicate and engage with your baby as much as possible.

We hope you have enjoyed this fun and exciting bit of baby news. If you’d like to learn more about our products – including Personalized Pacifiers, fun-shaped teether, and  more – call 1-877-298-6622 or email info@myrazbaby.com.

It goes without saying that babies need a tremendous amount of care and caution. That’s a big reason why MyRaZbaby has always strived to provide the most Innovative Baby Products on the market, in order to ensure the best health and safety for babies. It’s also why we’re eager to share the latest news and research in this area.

A new study reported in the Huffington Post drew attention to a fairly common and increasingly popular practice: bed-sharing, which the researchers defined as "the infant sleeping on the same surface with a person or animal" (which includes toys and other objects). Analyzing factors linked to sleep-related deaths for babies, it concluded that bed-sharing brings considerable risk to children four months and younger:

"Bed-sharing for 0-4 month old babies is extremely risky," Rachel Moon, M.D., a pediatrician and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) researcher at Children's National Health Hospital and an author on the study, wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "In this study, this sleep situation presented the most important risk for infants in this age group."

Among babies between the ages of 4 months and 1 year, however, the predominant risk factor was rolling into objects in their sleep space.

"Although we always recommend that the infant's sleep area be clear of pillows, blankets, bumper pads, etc., many parents forget the importance of this message as the baby gets older," Moon said. "However, these items are equally dangerous as the baby becomes more mobile."

Note that this study did not factor in the use of a co-sleeper, a crib-like device that typically attaches to the side of the parents' bed. Moreover, while the researchers found a link between bed-sharing and deaths, they could not definitively determine that a high percentage of infants who bed-share will die.

Still, it is vital to be as safe as possible, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has thankfully provided clear guidelines for safe sleeping practices for babies. These include having babies sleep on a firm surface in the same room as their parents – but not the same bed – and placing babies on their backs to sleep every night until they reach at least one year old.

MyRaZbaby is more than happy to share such vital information with our customers. To learn more about our company and our many famous products (such as Personalized Pacifiers) contact us at 1-877-298-6622 or info@myrazbaby.com.