Baby Signing - What Are Your Thoughts?

My husband got a "baby sign language" book for our son. I get such amusement watching my husband try to teach him to sign "daddy" while hitting his own thumb against his forehead over and over and over again, only to get my 10 month old to wave at him and smile.

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We did it with our kids - the looks on their faces when they have that first "aha!" moment - amazing! I had two "Baby Signs" books (board books with pictures of babies doing the signs) that my kids loved. My older son had glow in the dark stars above his bed and my baby loved to lay on the bed under those stars. One of the words in the 'bedtime' signing book was "stars" (wiggle all your fingers up high). We'd incorporate the signs into our daily life when labeling things in the baby's environment, and one day, the baby had his arms out and was wiggling the fingers on one hand. I didn't clue in right away, but when I said, "stars?" He lit up. So I picked him and ran with him (and the older one) into preschooler's bedroom and when my baby saw the stars he laughed and wiggled and squealed in delight, while doing the "stars" sign over and over. One of my favorite moments - even better than his first spoken word. For us, it reinforced the connections between words and their meanings. Plus, being able to communicate (and actually being listened to) was powerful for my kids. They could use their signs to ask for more, go to sleep, read a book etc, rather than crying or screeching and leaving me to guess why they were upset. I found signs really helpful. After doing the signs in the two board books we had, we made up others to suit our needs. For example, my son made up "excavator" by scooping with his hand and arm...and "mini excavator" by doing the same motion with his index finger. Enjoy!

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We didn't buy books but we did start simple signs. We used ASL directly (DH took a class in college and knows functional ASL). It took a couple of months for DD to stop looking at us weird but we still use it some when we need to communicate across a room. DH was using simple signs like "come here, sit, done?" when his older kids were small to get a point across without interrupting a group.

We feel that it didn't hinder DD's development any and it allowed her to communicate to us what she needed or wanted before she had the word for it. "Ba" could be bottle or ball or sheep, but "drink" is pretty clear. Her first sign was "more" at dinner.

Signing Time is a good program. I got some of their DVDs for my friend's daughter who is hearing impaired (but not totally deaf) and her friends. Even older kids benefit from learning sign.

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Don't waste your money on a book. Learn a few signs yourself thru the internet for free. Learn "more" "please" "drink" "eat" and you'll be fine. I rented "Signing Time" from my local library and learned some extras. Those movies are great, but the songs can get annoying and stuck in your head.

So all in all, yes, signing is great. My son picked it up fairly quickly. His biggest one was "please." I rarely used the books I bought. The Signing Time videos were better. If your son isn't picking it up yet, don't fret. You have to be more consistent in using it. But the books say to teach only 2 or 3 at a time. So perfect "more" and "water" before going on to "cat" and "dog" and "mom" and "dad." It'll be easier on you and on your kiddo.

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Loved it when my kids were little. They were "talking" before they could talk and helped cut a majority of the tantrums in my late talker (wasn't understandable until he was 4y) even though we only had about a dozen sign words that we used. I found it also helpful when we were at places and could "talk" even with the noise at a park or in a crowded room, espically when my tot/preschooler needed to go potty.

But its practice practice every day. I started a bit earlier, but give it some time. It you're doing a sign for each specific word/thing every time you say that word then he will catch on. By the time he's a year old, he will be signing every single time.

I'd borrow a baby sign book from the library or look online for some basic signs - youtube was a plus to get some. I had a friend who knew ASL and taught us a few easy to remember signs.
Best of luck!

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We loved it with both our kids (7 yrs and almost 2). I never took a class or watched a DVD but would check baby signing books out of the library. Friends knew a lot of signs and would teach me. And the local baby group had a leader who would teach signs as well. Both my kids seemed to love it (the youngest currently does!). They just learned signs for things they ask for or have to say every day (like more, milk, change diaper, up, all done, cheese, grapes, etc) or things they are interested in (fan, light, moon, bear, dog, etc). I thought it was great. I just would do the sign as I said the word during the day. And eventually they would start doing it too.

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Baby signs has been around for a while.... the benefit is that babies want to communicate well before they can talk and they are able to sign before they can talk too. Teaching them signs helps them tell you their needs in a way you can understand and it decreases the level of frustration that they have because you are meeting their needs. If he's not imitating you, keep trying. He'll connect the two pretty quickly.

I think it's beneficial to at least teach the basics, like "eat, drink, more, sleep."

As far as games or exercises... most babies love music and movement, playing outside, being read to and sung to and just talking to them as you are doing things.

Good luck!

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I've done it with all 3 of my children and it was brilliant! My third was the best. No surprrise, she had 2 big brothers who signed with her all the time along with my husband and I LOL.
We did a combination of proper ASL signs, signs that were invented by our children and some of the dance moves to The Wiggles songs and other such things.
It is completely worth it to me! It helped them communicate when they didn't have the verbal skills and prevented a lot of frustration. It helped in the early talking staged with "ba" could be any of 10 things and you can't figure out which one they mean but the sign makes it clear.
Always say the word while doing the sign and be consistant. It takes a few times before they get the idea what you're doing. Also, the dexterity of a little one isn't the same as yours so their way of doing a sign might not look like they're doing anything to you at first, like "more" could be them simply bringing their hands together instead of touching their fingers together as it's properly done.
If you have an iphone I bought this totally awesome app called "baby signs". It's been a lot of fun to use. We have a ton of baby board books that have an item per page with the word and sign of common baby things like balls, cups, shoes etc. I'll have to dig though the bookcase to find their names if you were interested. We have quite a few and have had them since my first who's 10 now.
It is rare that we get the typical frustration and tantrums from our kids because we can't understand what they are saying or asking for.
We just use it in everyday activities, we don't make a big deal out of it. We learn the sign ourselves and then use it as we go about our day.

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I haven't had much luck with it with my baby. But I'm curious to see what other moms say!

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I tried with my daughter, and I think she could have done really well, but I didnt put enough time into it.

She learned more, drink, and the cutest, "Go to bed." At 18 months, she still puts her cheek in her palm and hollers "Nigh nigh!!!" before she goes to bed.

From what I know about language development, I DEFINITELY think its a good idea,

I bought a baby sign kit for $4 at Half Price Books, but you could just go to a website to get started.

Also, lots of singing and talking, reading books, and rhymes are great for her langauge development.

Good luck with that fun little guy!

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I thought it was great & used it w/both my 6 1/2 yr old and my 2 1/2 yr old I started w/ both of them at 6 months with the basic signs eat, drink & more slowly added new ones we were able to communicate before they really started to talk & I think it helped w/preventing some meltdowns.

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We used baby signs with both of our kids and it worked great! It is awesome for them to be able to communicate before they are ready verbally. As with anything, all kids will learn at different rates, but consistency is the key. Say it and sign it at the same time. Take his hands and show him how to do the sign himself. My daughter was signing by 9 months, but my son didn't catch on until around 13-14 months. We started with both of them at around 7 months. My daughter was much more verbal though and was speaking in sentences by 17 months old, whereas my son didn't really start talking until after he was two. I say stick with it! You'll be surprised at how much he will pick up in the next couple of months.

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When my son was a baby I was able to get him to recognize signs, but was never able to get him to sign back. So I think that some babies respond better.

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I started showing my daughter sign language since she was four months and I couldn't be happier she is my only child I never bought books or DVDs or anything. I just went on YouTube so I could see what were the signs for words and taught her just like that
they have to be calm and have fun with it so they wanna keep learning and use their signs
My daughter knows more milk ball dad cat fish all done airplane please thank you bath time sorry I love you
And she is only 18 months
You can do it if you practice with her everyday and make it lots of fun
I haven't read other responses yet but I'm sure these smart mommas will have more advice for you :)
Good luck
Have fun k

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Yep - definitely helpful. Communication is the major source of frustration for toddlers because their brains have words before their mouths can produce the words. Signs allow them to communicate what they want or need which makes EVERYONE's life easier. Also, it helps their language development because they can communicate and want to communicate more because it works to get them what they want :)

Pick a few important signs and use them. Hungry, thirsty, more, etc. Don't stress about it. My son only learned a few, and then was an early talker.

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if i had known my daughter would have been delayed so long in her speech.....i think sign language would have saved us much heartache and intense tantrums. We have struggles until now. She is 4 and just learning how to put sentences together to be understood.

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I taught both my kids sign language from 6 months old.
It is a form of communication.

I didn't buy anything to teach it to them.
I just used myself, and what I knew from looking online at resources.

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I signed with my son b/c of a speech delay and he picked it up SO fast! It was a great way to bridge the gap between speech and silence. I would do it with my next child should I ever choose to have another. The baby Einstein DVDs have sign language ones with Marlee Matlin and they are helpful for the basic signs. My son loved those!

I think it's just like speech or any training. For example if he wants more milk you could refrain from giving it until he signs. It can also help to do hand over hand and help him first and then he will see when he does it he gets what he wants!!

We survived before baby sign language, so do whatever works best for you guys, but I loved it!! good luck :-)

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Love it! We did baby signing with my girls starting at about 9 months until they were about 2. They knew about 40 signs before we stopped (because they could talk so well that signs just weren't necessary). I loved the fact that they could communicate with me even before they could speak.

Signing helps develop the communication areas of the brain, so children who sign are marginally quicker to speak than non-signing children.

And don't worry that your 8 month old hasn't picked it up, I think most do around 9-11 months. You just have to be really really consistant.

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We had great success in signing. Our daughter caught on around 10 or 11 months though we started signing to her at about 8 months old. What I liked about it is that she was able to communicate with us so easily and we knew exactly what she wanted. Kids are unable to speak and communicate their wants/needs for so long I thought it would help us and make her feel heard. We LOVED it. We're definitely going to do it again with the 2nd child.

As far as books etc... we didn't buy any. When we got to a point in which we thought a sign would be helpful to all of us we looked it up on youtube and then started teaching it to her. We started with things like milk, all done, and more and added on as we found the need. She didn't do every sign exactly as we taught it to her but we're not looking for perfection, just being able to understand what she wanted. Don't give up, just keep signing and saying the word and eventually he'll get it. Sometimes it takes a while.

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It's not a mass movement. My nephew didn't talk much until he was about two years old. To this day, (he is 17) he still remembers the sign for cute. It just takes a lot of pratice, and when he gets it, you will always have your own signs for each other when he gets older!

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I've seen lots of moms use it but I never really saw much benefit for it. I think you can easily figure out when a kid wants "more" or is "done" or whatever. Not sure how that prevents tantrums. Its only a few months difference between when a baby actually learns the signs and can use them, to when they can say those words. And if it takes longer for language to develop, then its not like full-on sign language where a slower-to-develop-speaking three year old is going to be able to sign everything he wants to convey anyway. I think its trendy right now, but not necessary.

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my son was slow to talk but right after he learned a sign he learned to say it
Of course you say the word when you sign it so he is learning both. Wish I had started it sooner!

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if I'm going to take the time to teach my child "something"....then I'd rather teach speech!

I simply clearly state each item I'm working with & wait (exhibit extreme patience, while maintaining an encouraging look on my face) to see if the child is going to repeat me. Method's been working for 25 years now! :)

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Hi--
My oldest used sign a lot. I started teaching him as soon as he started to wave. He didn't say much until he was around two, but he signed quite a bit. Every time we tried to teach a sign to my youngest he would just say it. He learned one sign, Milk, and that became " I want" for him and then he just started talking. He was one of those kids that was speaking in complete sentences by age two.

I say try it. Try teaching words that are most used---milk, eat, more, hurt, please, thank you....
Good luck!
J.

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My good friend has a double Masters in child development and psychology and worked with children who are hearing impaired for 12 years. When she had children she (not surprisingly) taught them to sign. They were quite impressive and by one I remember them signing quite a bit. As an outsider, here is what I noticed right away - they never said words... I think it was two or later before I ever heard them say anything. It cured me of wanting my kids to sign early. Basically my kids were putting words together and hers didn't even say "hi".

I wouldn't worry too much about it, if your child picks up on signing, great, if not, great. It has its benefits but most of society cannot understand it so I would push for spoken communication and proper behavior.

Good luck.

I started with my DD when she was around 9 months old. The only sign she picked up for the next 3 months was the sign for "more." Then one day, around her 1st birthday, it's like a light bulb went off and she realized that she can get things and communicate. She literally learned 2 to 3 new signs a day. It was amazing. She was a super calm toddler and it was so nice to know what she wanted. We used the Baby Signing Times DVD series. Most libraries have them you can check them out to give them a try if you are unsure. Just make sure you get the Baby Signing Times and not the regular Signing Times.

The extra added bonus to her signing was when she was learning to talk, she would also sign, so I didn't have to try and guess what she was saying, as I'm sure you know, they don't start out saying the words perfectly. I have seen many a mom's trying to guess what their toddler is saying while the toddler is just getting frustrated. Water can come out sounding like hotter, bottle, or nothing even close to a word in the beginning.

We never needed it. We communicated just fine via facial and body expression for 2 years.

((He spoke 'late'. Maybe half a dozen words at age 2, and then a language explosion shortly thereafter. We -myself, my speech pathologist godmother, etc.- weren't worried about the late speaking. He communicated just fine, comprehended just fine, and made all the necessary sounds in babbling, and then bam! Was speaking in full and complex sentences in the space of a few weeks.))

We did it pretty minimally with our oldest, but it was helpful. Especially as they do start talking, because so many of their words sound the same. When they say it along with the sign, obviously, it's a lot easier to understand them.

Our daughter is much more into signing. One reason, I think, is that she's the second child, so we're a lot more relaxed about letting her watch TV than we were with our oldest. So she watches the Baby Signing Time DVDs, and she LOVES them. She communicates way more than her brother did at a similar age, and not just with signs. She's very verbal. Not sure there's any correlation at all with the signing - could be that just that she's a girl or that she has an older sibling who also knows the signs.

Eight months is a little young to really be signing on a regular basis, so the fact that he hasn't imitated you doesn't really mean that he's not getting it. But of course some babies respond better to this than others, just as with anything.

I started signing with my son as soon as he was born (I'm a sign language interpreter) by the time he was 8 months old he was signing mom and dad. shortly after that he started using lots of other "common" signs (milk,eat,more,drink,etc). He was using sign AND words by the time he was 14 months and continued using both sign and words until he was 2 when he started dropping the signs and just talking. He was waaaay ahead of all the children in his preschool class and has never looked back.

I really believe sign language helps children to be able to communicate WELL BEFORE they can talk. As many of the other posts said, it helps to cut down on the frustration of not being able to understand them AND them not being able to tell you what they want.

Certainly continue to use it every day and if necessary use your own "home" signs. children don't need to do it perfectly (if they were speaking would you expect them to talk perfectly?) just good enough you know what they're doing. good luck!!

Teach the key words to prevent some amount of frustration. The main ones (all identified in other posts) are more, drink/milk, food/eat, all done, please, thank you, and diaper change. You could make up your own signs for these things and it will work fine. Most are obvious, so you'll probably "make up" signs similar to the official ones.

My first daughter was extremely verbal very early (and used signs), but the signs still helped. The second is behind in her speech development, so the signs are invaluable.

You aren't just a slacker. Your child is just the right age to start this. It will give him a leg up on being able to communicate with you -- which is very helpful in overcoming the terribleness of young childhood. If your child can communicate with you then they can sign or talk instead of crying.
Just keep it up. Add more signs for common things as you can remember them. And remember that you don't have to use ASL signs -- you can make them up! It is all about giving your child the opportunity to communicate. I will say that the ASL in my babysigns book pretty much made sense and were easy to remember, so you could start there.