Talking to babies often—and letting them talk back—can boost their language skills, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers looked at 275 families of children ages 2 months to 4 years and measured the kids’ exposure to speech and television. The results? Back-and-forth conversation was linked to improved language scores. In fact, adult-child conversations were six times better at fostering good language development than adults simply talking at the child.