The paper intends to discuss a particular form of communication between the mother and her baby, entitled "motherese". The paper emphasizes the different forms of non -verbal communication established between the mother and the baby, particularly the music of the maternal language. The baby is initiated into the different modes of interaction through the mother's affective responses, more than from the content of her discourse. Considering that the maternal role is not always carried by the biological mother, one of the questions of this paper refers to the possibilities of emotional development of institutionalized infants and children.