Does gender or birth order affect language development?
Dr. Apel: Contrary to popular belief, no. Parents might observe that “my daughter talked much more than my son,” or “my oldest learned to talk much earlier than my youngest.” But usually, other factors can explain these perceptions. Sometimes parents act or react differently to children depending on their gender, and that can lead to initial, but not lasting, differences. Also, first-borns may have more parental attention than later-born children, which may influence perceptions of when and how your children began to talk. P&C: How does reading to a child help develop language, and when should parents start? Dr. Apel: Children are never too young to be read to. Infants and toddlers might not show a lot of interest in books or sit still for very long, but they are still learning that those mysterious scribbles on a page represent language, and that they mean the same thing each time you see them. Also, through reading, children are exposed to new words. P&C: Once a child starts to talk,
