Baby Sign Language

It's awesome. Start now but do it with no expectations - just offer it, and have fun. It's bound to help her communicate sooner or later!

I started signing to babe immediately after he was born. He at age 2 knows hundreds of signs.

Its a myth that you have to wait until 6 months...we don't wait until 6 months to talk to our babies. By signing to the child before they can sign, their brain begins to create new synapses for language that will help them when they begin to sign.

My son was signing before 6 months and continues to sign today. He also talks well and talks while he signs or signs only or talks only depending on who he is talking to--a deaf person or a hearing person--a speaking person or a signing person.

He was already signing 20 words before he was 1 because I went right ahead and signed to him.

To put things into perspective, deaf parents dont wait until the child can sign to sign to their babies. They do it immediately just like we talk to our babies immediately.

My son at age 2 is fascinated by the video "Sign With Your Baby" because he loves seeing other babies and toddlers using sign language. There is a segment on the DVD where the teacher goes through words in alphabetical order. My son knows 97% of the words used on that DVD and more.

He can tell you exactly which foods he wants, what he is feeling, thinking, and where he wants to go in sign language.

We taught both our children sign language and used the Signing Times videos. I highly recommend them. Sign language helped our children to communicate their needs before they could speak, preventing a lot of frustration and tantrums. I don't remember exactly what age they were when we started the videos, but it was somewhere between 9 months and a year.

I signed to my youngest daughter the very day she was born and not stopped since...she is 2. She knows many signs and can understand a sign that she cannot do, ie. colors and some letters. I have just one book that has pictures of real hands making signs...and I also love the website www.signwithme.com it has a list of words and video to watch the sign...its way cute. Also many community colleges have beginning ASL classes that might help.

My friend's son was basically non-verbal, but highly intelligent. So not being able to verbally express himself was frustrating. They've been using sign with him and he is much more relaxed and able to communicate what he wants.

Check out this site http://www.signingbaby.com/main/

I work with students with autism who are non-verbal and my heartfelt feeling is that providing any way to enable or promote communication is ALWAYS great for any kid. The frustrations happen when kids know what they want or how they feel and can't express it. That's a key!

Good luck and I think it's a terrific idea!!

J. K-V
www.AisForAutism.net

I started teaching my 2 year old signs around 6 months. It really helped when she started wanting things but couldn't talk...I only thought her the real basic signs that would get us through a day without both of us pulling out our hair, for example ~ hungrey, thirsty, all done, tired, more. You can get a lot of signs from the internet. The most important thing is you doing the signs over and over. I thought my daughter didn't grasp it after I demonstrated the sign for months...but they will start to pick it up! Don't give up!

Hi, we started sitting our daughter in front of the computer around 6 months. We have baby einstein and "Signing Time" tapes. It was AMAZING to us how quickly she learned signs and used them. She was able to tell me she wanted more, or wanted milk at a very early age. I think by the age of 1 1/2 she knew about 20 signs. It;s a great way for the whole family to learn something new together. Good Luck and have fun!

I started signing to my daughter just one sign and a time when she was about 6 months old. It took her forever to start signing back but around 13 months she finally did!! I still keep it simple with the signs. I definitely think it helps your child communicate & would recommend signing to your baby. Just remember that it may take her a while to start signing back. STick with it though & eventually it will pay off. I sell Discovery Toys and we have a baby signs set that includes 2 board books and a dvd for 29.99 (plus s&h). If you're interested, send me a personal message & I can answer and questions you may have and/or order the set for you. Have fun!

I used this with both of my kids but more with my first as my second talked sooner and was able to communciate better. With my first, I started very young, I want to say maybe 3-4 months. Not teaching persay but for example, before nursing, I'd do the nursing sign. I started with more and nursing and then drink, etc.. I believe to this day that because my first knew how to sign she didn't have meltdowns. I can't remember the name of the book, maybe Baby Signs? It was a male author who also had a video.

I started signing a few words at 2~3 months. First sign he made was a "dog" sign when heard a neighbour dog barked a few month later. A "dog" sign is made by slapping one's thigh and snapping two fingers. So, of course he couldn't snap his fingers, but it was very obvious that he wanted to tell us that he heard a dog barking. We started watching a video tape made for children as soon as he was able to sit up right. He started telling me "hungry", "thursty", "more", "please", and "thank you". Quickly he increased his vocabulary and when he was barely a year old, he combined two words by himself to tell me that it was "time" to "eat". I believe that the ability to be able to communicate his immediate needs early on helped develop confidence and mild tempered personality. Combining with daily story time, I believe we helped establishing a solid foundation for his language skills. He has been found to be gifted in language skills and skipped from 1st grade to 3rd grade. He loves talking, reading, and writing stories.
I recommend sign language along with daily story time to every baby on the earth.
I read somewhere that children's cognitive skills are developing way before their vocal codes. The best thing parents can do for their children is not to underestimate their ability. On the surface, they may not be able to utter a word, but inside, they may be composing 2-words phrases.
My son proved it to me by signing "time" to "eat" .

Yes, I too taught my daughter, now a few month shy of 3, how to sign when she was about 10 months old. We started slowly with one word at a time and gradually introduced more words. I knew early on that this would alleviate the stress of communicating or the lack there of. My entire family on both side have learned to sign and she has really taken to it. (a bit of history, My girl has had a tracheostomy tube since she was 4 months old, so she is limited in using verbal cues/ words to communicate.) She knows about 50 signs and can now actually say about 10 verbal words. If not for signing, she would have been very frustrated and frankly, so would everyone who is in contact with her. Best of luck to you. One resource I found helpful in addition to the Signing Time Dvd's is the ASL Signing Dictionary. I got it at Barnes and Nobel.

YES, do it. You don't say how old your child is or where you are. My daughter started learning sign at about 18 months due to a speech delay. Signing helped her communicate her needs. Now she is five and talks and sings all the time. My brother signs with his almost 2 year old. Communicating eases a lot of stress. It's so easy, don't wait.
M.

My friends did and I think they started about 6-9 months. They said it took a few months of them signing before their son did any signs. I am going to try it with my daughter too, who is now 6 months. She likes watching me move my hands when I talk. I don't do it consistently yet, but here and there to start getting myself used to it. I have been trying to get her to wave (a very simple sign) hello/goodbye and I think she'll have that one sometime this month.