I didn't even really try to teach it to her. She just picked it up from watching Baby Einstein DVDs. "My first Signs" goes over basics like milk, more, please, Mommy, Daddy, eat, drink, baby, bath, sleep, etc. "Baby Wordsworth" goes over things around the house like computer, phone, couch, swing, etc. I love these videos and she learned to say them while learning the signs so I wouldn't worry about it messing with her speech. You can get really good deals if you buy them on Ebay. It's really fun to see her learn the signs.
Alison- I have used the "My Baby Can Talk" dvds and my daughter loves them. They show an adult using the sign, a child using it and many pictures/ videos of the object. They have different ones for different subjects- early signs (milk, more, etc.) and Exploring signs and Sharing signs. These are great videos and you can order them online. They also have a website with a library of signs. You can look up a sign for "snow" and they will show you how to do it. These are great tools to get your child interested in signing and are great to start out with a 9mo. old because they will really help with the language barrier. When my girl was little she could communicate through sign language before she could say the words. Now she is extremely talkative (27mo.) and doesn't really use signs anymore because she can say pretty much anything but she still remembers her signs. I applaud you for wanting to teach your child sign language!
Hi Alison! We are using Baby Signing Time with our little girl. She's 11 months and I think she is starting to sign "eat"!!! She loves watching the children on the DVD and when I sing along and sign she gets the biggest grin! Here is a link to BabyCenter Store which has free shipping - we went ahead and got Volume 1 and 2 but haven't watched vol.2 yet. Volume 1 covers: eat, drink, juice, milk, banana, cracker, cereal, all done/finished, dog, cat, horse, frog, fish, bird, mom, dad, grandmom, granddad, hurt/pain. I can't remember anymore LOL! I'm sure I forgot some. They also have a website with other helpful information on it. These DVDs came HIGHLY recommended by other mommies on my BabyCenter Birth Board and I can see why!
I hope that helps a little!
mel b
Wow, you've gotten a lot of suggestions, they all sound good. We bought the "My First Signs" board book since it was easy for us to follow and fun for the babies to look at, also they can chew on it as they love to do with every book.
I agree with the book when it states it is important to say the words when you sign, and to be consistent. I've been doing this with about 5 phrases since my twins were 6 months old, more so I would get used to it rather than them learning that early. Now at 9 months old my daughter is sporadically signing for milk (bottle) and my son really understands when I sign all done and sing-song it at the same time.
Everyone feels differently about most baby topics, but I'm trying to teach signs so they can communicate their wants and needs if they can't verbalize them yet, especially the basics which I hope will cut down on frustrated crying when the request is so simple. I think your daughter will probably pick and choose what she signs and what she speaks (my son says bababababa while my daughter is starting to sign for bottle) and I certainly don't think it can hurt. Plus it's fun for the parents to learn a new skill too!
There are sign language flash cards. I bought my son a set. There are classes given for sign language. A DVD would be to hard. Find someone who speaks it. I learned it because my mother taught special needs children. The words are easy for most food products. I taught me son so he would have more than one way to talk. His first grade teacher told him he could not use hand waving in her class. Prejudice and ingorance are wonderful things. I think it is wonderful that you want to learn. The school district may know a teacher who can help you.
I'm a pediatric SLP and I recommend the book, Baby Sign Language: Find out what's on your babies mind by Karine Shemel Rosenberg. ( http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Baby-Sign-Language/Karine-Shemel-Rosenberg/e/9780760782125/?itm=63 ) It comes with a short book with a great index of functional signs for little ones as well as colorful flashcards with really cute (easy to interpret :) drawings! In the booklet, it also gives signs for a couple early children's songs. I found this book really helpful and I recommend it to parents a lot. Hope this helps!!
Signing is great. It pulls out the important words and can help them speack faster. My favorite easy start video is "Treasure Chest". Even your 3 year old would like it. It is so cute. "Baby signs" is good for vocabulary, but mot as cute and engaging as treasure chest.
I don't recall the books I used, however, I used sign language with my daughter beginning at age 6 months. It was wonderful! She picked up signs very quickly. Focusing on the important ones such as milk, more, book, eat, etc. were a great start. I remember one night when she was about 15 months old, I woke up and she was standing in her crib, silent as a lamb, and frantically signing milk in the moonlight! I believe it helps with the baby's stress level. It gives them the power to communicate before they can speak. I would do it all over again!
I love the Baby Signing Time and Signing Time series. My son
has been watching them since he was six months (he's 18 months now). He is starting to talk now, but he still uses his signs!
Hi Alison,
I went to my local library and took out a "baby signs" video, it was great and kept both of my kids interested. I would check the library before buying a dvd. I bought a dvd called Smart Bee and I couldn't get my kids to watch even 1 minute of it. Good luck!
Discovery toys has books and a dvd for baby sign language. I am teaching my 2.5 yr old daughter and she is catching on very quickly. It is really easy to remember. Good Luck.
You've gotten plenty of replies - but here's mine:
We started with my son when he was 4 months with "Baby Signing Basics" by Monta Briant (i think) - they just published a new edition - but my older one was small enough to fit in my diaper bag and I brought it with us on our first airplane ride - My husband and I read it together and learned all the signs on that trip. Later, a friend gave us the little board books by Linda Acredolo - "Baby Signs for Bedtime" "Baby Signs for Mealtime" "Baby Signs for Animals" "My First Baby Signs" - these were really fun for my son. By 11 months, he would sit on the floor and flip through the books, doing the signs - I was amazed b/c it was like he was reading!!! (The only thing about these books is that they are not ASL signs - which shouldn't matter unless you want your child to communicate with a deaf friend/relative)
Finally, I found "Baby Signing 1-2-3" by Nancy Cadjan - and I wish I had this at the beginning. It's a cool book b/c it talks about starting signing at different ages - it explains a lot and has a ton of signs.
Also - sorry to be long - but I did want to mention that I caught a lot of flack from my older female relatives (cousins, aunts, mom) for doing signs. They said it would delay his speech - he'd have no motivation. Well, guess what? My son has an expressive language delay - he is almost 2 and not talking much - HOWEVER, I know that teaching him signs is helping him through this - I think he would have had the delay anyway - and now he is able to "speak" in sentences with signs. I think it cuts down on any frustration he would have had. (We ALWAYS speak the word when we sign with him and we ALWAYS make him try to say words rather than just sign...) Also - I have a friend that taught her daughter signs - and this child was speaking in sentences at 15 months! Bottom line - kids are different - but I am SO certain signing can only help children - besides, it is so much fun and pretty amazing! Good luck
After reading some of your responses I just had to respond. I just wanted to say that I don't believe that teaching your baby some signs will delay her speech. I am fluent in sign language and taught my son signs to help him communicate his basic needs at an early age. I used spoke to him and signed the word at the same time. His speech was not delayed at all. I think that knowing signs cut down on his frustration because he was able to communicate with us. I also think that the signs made learning speech and language easier and he has benefited from it in many ways. His speech and vocabulary today are actually better than most kids his age.
I loved the Baby Einstein sign DVDs that the others recommended. Good luck and have fun!
If you are in the city, Children's Memorial Hospital offers a baby sign class 1-2 times each year. My son and I took the class and really liked it. My son started at 9 months, but did not really start to communicate until he was closer to 12 months. That being said, the class was great because it showed me how to teach my son the signs. Even though I had read the baby sign book, I was still confused about the how. He consistently used very helpful signs (more, eat, drink, all done) until he started speaking. He will still use the signs if I do not immediately respond to his verbal requests.