Baby Sign Language - Crawfordville,FL

I think at 6 mo. DD was looking at us funny, but I would start with some simple signs (like milk or drink) and see what he picks up. It really helped my DD to be able to say she was tired or hungry or thirsty when she was pre-verbal and even though she's very vocal now, we still use signs sometimes to clarify (toddler language is hard to decipher sometimes). AND my friend's daughter is newly diagnosed with hearing loss, so we are all learning more signs to help communicate with her so the signs DD already knows are coming in handy. My DH learned sign language in college and we never used "baby" signs. We taught DD ASL to the best of her ability so that we wouldn't have to correct her later.

I remember when I met DH I was impressed at his use of sign with the big kids. He could tell them to "sit, be quiet" or "later" at the table or across a room and not interrupt a dinner or other event. And it was sweet when we were talking with a deaf neighbor and DD rolled out "thank you" for him (she was about a year old).

You may also find that he uses signs his own way. It's the way kids use all language. DD would ask for "banana" (the sign) and cheese. I realized she meant STRING cheese. Well, you peel it, right? :) We still call it banana cheese.

ANY age is old enough. Everytime you hand him something or show him something, do the sign along with it. MIlk, dog, play, sleep, bath, cracker, duck, eat, nouns and verbs are the way you start and they usually will start to sign back around 10-11 months when they request something.

Yes, do it! It really is amazing and gives baby a way to communicate with you, without fussing and crying for what they want! 6 mos is perfect, that's when I started w/ my daughter, and about a month or so later she was signing! It really doesn't take a lot of time and it's very easy, and SO worth it! Good luck and have fun!

Baby Signing Time/ Signing Time is awesome--usually around 9 months they can do basic signs, some as early as 6 months. Mine just never seemed interested until closer to 10-12 month age range. I love , love it! No regrets at all.

With my 1st son, I put the BST video on about 12 mths and he picked up all the signs in less than a week. We just incorporated the signs in our every day speech. When I grabbed a "banana" I say would you like a "banana" --then sign "banana" or whatever he wanted ie milk, water, cracker etc.

My 2nd son didn't really pick them up until closer to 15 months, but he was also working very hard on walking/climbing etc and wasn't interested in communicating that much at all. Even now, its interesting to see that he can sign a lot of words if you ask him too, but very rarely uses them to communicate with us. He rather point and then grunt or stomp his feet etc. I find he seems to be just a little bit more impatient and forgets to use his signs. We have to remind him more than we ever did with my 1st.

My most favorite signs to teach were eat, milk/water, more & help. These were the ones that help alleviate the tantrums the most in our home! Good luck, I don't think you'd ever regret trying it at least :)

Oh he's TOTALLY old enough. You don't have to "teach" it to him any more than you are "teaching" him to talk, or eat, or crawl etc. Just use the signs consistently and he'll pick them up.

Signing REALLY helped my son and made his speech understandable from a very early age because he signed as he spoke, so you knew it wasn't just babble.

The signs that really helped (and the main ones he ended up using) were the ones that helped him communicate his needs: more, eat, milk, drink, all done, no, yes, sleep and thank you. He also signed kitty, dog just because he loved them :)

He started signing "more" at 4 months and the rest followed pretty quickly. He certainly communicated all of those before 1 year.

My advice is just to start using some of the signs, but make sure you use them EVERY time you use the words so that your little guy will get that they MEAN the words. Emphasis the signs when you ask him questions "Do you want MORE? MORE?" "Are you thirsty? You want something to DRINK? DRINK?"

Good luck, mama.
T.

By about a year, I had taught my daughter a few words that were helpful to her, like "More", "Please", and "Thank-you". They're also helpful as little reminders later on. For example, if she forgets to say "please" or "thank-you" to someone, I will quickly and subtly do the sign and she picks up on it. It cuts down on saying, "What do you say?" and everyone thinks I have the most polite little kid on the block (which I do, by the way :-) )

he is old enough. i was interested in teaching mine, because i know that it can help with communication issues and avoid some tantrums and frustrations on their part...but my son was an early talker so it never took off with us. we had a baby einstein "first signs" dvd that was really cute.

he is old enough to start. It takes about 6-9 months for them to start doing it on their own at least it did with mine. Now he signs quite a bit but limited words. I would get signing time for the teaching. I didnt like baby sign. There is also one with a man in a bear suit my son liked real well. My son has hearing issues and is just now signing no if someone does something to him he doesn't like. Problem is nobody really understands it but me. He is just now starting to sign hurt. He has a scratch on his knee and keeps signing hurt to me. It is a normal kid scratch nothing serious so I know it really doesn't hurt. So it doesn't hurt to start now just don't exoect it to pick up right away.

Yes, we did it with both our kids. You can start now - every time you say a word you do the sign. We just started with the useful signs and at about one both our kids would do them. Our daughter is 18 months and she still uses signs often to tell me what she wants. For us the most useful ones are water, milk, food, more, up, diaper change, and all done. We branched out from there and now our daughter will sign for lots of other things too - she likes being able to communicate. You can tell it makes her less frustrated.

I did sign language with mine last one (now 6) and wished I knew about it for my older one (14 yrs now). I started it earlier than 6 months and I believe she was 7 or 8 months when she started signing back to us - it was life changing - she wasn't frustrated or crying near as much because she could communicate if she was "all done", or she wanted "milk" or "food". I didn't go all crazy, and just stuck to the basics and signed and said them everytime we gave her food or milk, and said signed all done when we took her out of the high chair. We even made up a few signs of our own - like i would take my two fingers and push them together infront of my lips - chew with your mouth closed - we still use this out in public - just a nice reminder wtihout having to say it. i used to sign "no-no" a long time after she was speaking - I just think it's nice to reprimand them in public without embarrassing them or always having to say no.

We used the Signing Time videos with both of our kids and it was great. They can watch at 6 months old but probably won't actively use the signs for another few months. Every kid is different. Both of our children used the signs extensively to communicate with us - milk, more, sleep, eat, etc. are key signs they used to tell us what they wanted. They also used the signs to name things - dog, cat, mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, ball, etc. before they could say these words. Some people might "warn" you that this could delay their speech. Not true at all (check out studies online and ask your pediatrician). The most verbal kid I ever knew (complete, grammatically correct sentences by 2), had an extensive signing vocabulary before she spoke. This was my friends child, so not bragging on my own (and both of my kids have been average to above average in their verbal skills).
Baby Einstein also has a My First Signs video, which my son enjoyed, but honestly, he seemed to get more from the Signing Time ones.

PS Even after my kids started speaking the words they knew signs for, they would use the signs for emphasis. e.g. If I did not respond right away to "More Milk", they would say it and use the sign at the same time:-)

I have done simple baby sign language with my kids and we love it. They both communicated by 7 or 8 months with signs like... hungry, more, please, eat and other simple things. Please was the best because it gave them something physical to do instead of just screaming for something. I did not use a book though. Just Google ASL and there are tons of free sites. Just remember to be flexible about the way they do the sign at first, because there are some signs that will be hard at first.

My children still wave to everyone with the I Love You sign by the way 8-)

I taught my kids from around 6 months , they still use some of it today at 6 and 9 yrs
There's a "baby signs" book that I used.

It's great. Pick a few words that are important - hungry, eat, drink, nurse, more - whatever you see yourself using. There are books at 1/2 price books, or the library that will help you. Kiddos understand way before they can speak, so if they can communicate their needs, you'll all be a lot happier. Enjoy!

He's old enough to start using them with him. He might not do them right away, nor exactly like they are supposed to be done---but he'll learn a few one by one and it can make your life SOOOOO Much easier.
I can't recall exactly what age our son was when we did it with him...but he was talking pretty early, so I'm guessing we started around 7 months maybe? Just teach one or two at a time. You say it and do it, then help him use his hands to do it while you say it. It really cuts out a LOT of frustration for them, when they can sign to you that they want something to DRINK. or EAT. or they want MORE. Neither of our children were "screamers" except for our son, when he was in his high chair and he wanted more food. Then he would scream. Once he was able to sign "more" then the screaming stopped immediately, and he would sign "more" repeatedly until I was able to serve him more. MUCH less stress for both of us that way. :)

Just be certain that any caregivers you ever leave him with (before he is verbal) KNOW that he signs and that they understand what he is signing to them. Otherwise he will get REALLY frustrated with them. I always felt like I was teaching a mini-sign language course when we left him with someone (we didn't have a regular sitter b/c we didn't go anywhere without him very often).

I taught my 7-8 month old "more", "done", "milk", and "eat". Then she started talking at 8 months, so we kind of dropped off the sign language. I just started watching a 7 month old and hadn't thought to teach him. Glad you posted this!

We started around 6 months ... all we did was more, milk, eat, change (as in diaper change), sleepy, all done, thank you, please. I think around one we threw in cracker and some other simple ones but we did not go full out like some do we just used enough for basic communication needs.

I taught my kids that, from 6 months old.

Just look online.

Teach your baby, functional words.
ie: hungry, drink, more, eat, sleep, stop, done, please, thank you, etc.
That will help them to convey, communication.
If you teach them FUNCTIONAL words, (not just nouns), then they can actually ask, for things or wants or needs.

Kids will learn it, by repetition.
You use it, to show them how as you speak the word/or action.

Yes, he is old enough, kids are always old enough to learn. I did a few signs with my youngest and it certainly does help. Like many others have said we just stuck with the basics milk, more, eat, help, all done. It will take a little time, but say the word as you make the sign and before you know it he will be making them back to you. His signs may not be perfect so you will have to pay attention, but it should be close enough that you can figure it out. Good Luck and have fun, this can only help him.

He is NOT too young to start...in fact my daughter started signing with her son from the day she had him! They don't have the manual dexterity to actually use the sign language yet but they will understand what you are "saying" and it will amaze you how quickly they catch on to things!!
My daughter and SIL used signs for things all the time with Kieran...."Mama's Milk" was the first thing they started teaching him, (he was exclusively breastfed)...Mama...Papa....Kitty...Puppy....Eat...More ( that was the one he used first I think....used it a LOT)....All Done...eventually he learned to sign Grandma Grandpa...literally hundreds of words. He could sign all the fruits and veggies that he loved...the animals that he saw at the zoo...it was really wonderful!! !The proudest moment that I think we had was when he made his first "phrase"...my husband always ALWAYS wears a hat....and out of the blue...Kieran referred to him as "Grandpa Hat" in sign language!!! What a heart warmer THAT was!!!
Go for it...use it all the time...repeat repeat repeat repeat....and you will reap the benefits when he is able to communicate with you in sign language months before he is able to do it verbally!!! There are lots of great websites on line that can help you....just google baby sign language.

He is old enough to start learning, but might not master the sign a lot. My son is now 18 months and says please and thank you! It's so cute! He'll even do it for strangers.
I would suggest the book Sign with your Baby by Dr. Joseph Garcia.
When ever we change my son we sign potty. When ever he sees me on the potty, we sign that too. We are hoping that it will help bridge some gaps. May or may not work. Who knows.

We did a few basics and it really came in handy! milk, eat, sleep were our most used ones.

Very easy for him to learn - all you so is make the sign every time you say the word.

Good luck!

We started with my daughter at 6 months. We only taught her the signs for eat, milk, more, and all finished. Those four words were immensely helpful in understanding her needs. We just kept repeating them and she picked them up after a while. I definitely think it's a great idea :)

I've done it with all 3 of my kids. I think we started around 6 or 7 months with our first. Mostly because we hadn't heard of it, it was really new 10 years ago. With my other 2 we did it from day 1. I find myself doing it with any baby I'm around now too LOL It's just habit at this point.
We use a combination of ASL, signs the kids made up and signs we made up. All depending on dexterity. The point is to get the message across. My youngest is 23 months old and uses signs for so much! Along with words, but having that sign helps so much seeing as so many words still sound a lot a like. I have an iPhone App I bought called "Baby Sign" that has been really fun to have with our third. My older 2 love learning the real ASL sign for things from it. They use the baby signs with their sister.