Baby sign language

We have done some signing with both of our kids. BEST ASPECT: cuts down on whining! Around 9-12 mo. our kids have known 5-10 signs, and it is enough to get the major points across (drink, milk, change, all gone, etc.)
I took a community education class, which was based on ASL. I like the ASL because it translates when other kids/parents/caregivers know the signs too.
They also use it heavily at our daycare - especially in the little toddler room (16 mo-24mo) where the kids really want to communicate, but may not have a lot of words yet. My daughter has a friend who is a Chinese adoptee - she experienced some language delays (perhaps because of the change in languages that she experienced) but she could sign a blue streak!
We have not noticed any speech delays, and in fact, sometimes if they say the word and do the sign at the same time, it is easier to understand the sign, but they feel proud that you know what they said.

My experience - no disadvantages, many advantages - go for it!

Reply

I used sign with all three of my boys, with different reactions from all of them. My firstborn used it A LOT. He was a late talker (he's cautious by nature), and I think the signing helped reduce his frustration. When he did talk, it was in complete sentances. Now he's ten and this morning as he was reading the funnies he told me, "Garfield is such a malavert." So. I don't think his verbal skill suffered. My middle son used it some, but wouldn't sign around other people (he's very shy). The baby had NO USE FOR IT, but preferred to dive head-first into speech. So all in all, I'd say it's worth a go. Can't hurt, might help.
And as far as I remember from my early childhood education classes, kids who are bilingual do tend to be somewhat delayed in both languages until age five, when they catch up and then some. You really are giving Nolan a great gift.

Reply

My son has been very receptive to sign language. We didn't teach him much, just a couple of things. He is 15 monthes old and has been signing since 6 mo. I would not say that it has impacted his speech because he knows at least 50 words.

Reply

I love baby sign language. My older daughter, now nearly 3, learned to sign and it was the most helpful thing we could have done. The capacity for babies to communicate develops long before their ability to talk, so learning signs helped her tell us what she wanted. She had no speech delays, and probably learned about 40 signs, total. We had such fun teaching ourselves and our daughter new ASL words (we used Joseph Garcia's Sign With Your Baby). Now our younger daughter, 11 months, is also signing. Big sister is a huge help with that! My biggest thrill is when I see Big Sister helping Little Sister with her signs, or understanding what the baby wants because of the signs. It's a great help.

Another benefit? I can "secretly" remind Big Sister to say thank-you by quickly using the sign when she forgets, without all the verbal "what do you say?" reminders you might usually hear from moms. Score!

Reply

I've started using signs with my baby 5 months ago. He hasn't started signing back yet, but in the experience of my friends, they don't start using them back at you until they are closer to 1 year old. My friends with the older babies have had great success with signs - it really relieves both baby and mommy's frustration.

While having lunch with one of my friends, her baby was able to sign to me he wanted more of my pickle (I had given him a piece earlier). He was so thrilled and happy that I understood him!

I'm continuing to use the signs with my little guy and I'm looking forward to when he starts using them back!

Reply

We did the signing thing with our daughter and it was really fun. Honestly, she got the words faster than the signs, so she'd say things with the signs. We only did a few: more, nurse, eat and a few others. She still uses the sign for more, even though she now speaks in 3-4 word sentences. I don't think the signs would slow down verbal development and it certainly helped our girl communicate (a little) before she could speak.

Reply

Oh, I highly reccommend you give it a try. I have been signing with my kids for about 5 years now and it really has done so much for them.

I have a baby signing website, American Baby Sign Language because I believe in doing all you can to boost your baby's future. Baby signing is something I am very passionate about because it can do so much for your baby now and in the future.

Take it slow and enjoy it and you will begin to see the benefits you are giving your baby. Good Luck and I hope you give it a try.

Reply

I started signing with both of my children when they were 6 months old. Now knowing what I know I would have started earlier. Joshua signed back and 9 months and Sabrina at 11 months. Both at 16 months had about 80+ words (a combination of the signs and verbal words). I would highly recommend using only true ASL signs; there is no reason to use made up gestures. Now my children are 3 years and 5 years and my oldest is fingerspelling the words he's learning in kindergarten. Signing with my little ones really opened up thier world to us when they were little. It also increased their language skills and now their literacy skills. Have a look at the website: http://www.weehands.com

Reply

My daughter was taught signing in her daycare. They started when she was 9 months old (in the one-year-old room) and she picked it up very quickly. The key to not having the delayed verbal skills is to always say the word and sign it at the same time. When she started signing I didn't know what she was saying to me, I said I know you are saying something but I don't know what it is. When I took her back to the daycare on Monday they told me what she was saying (more) and gave me a 'cheat sheet' I was so excited I went out and bought loads of baby signing books. Needless to say my daughter was not slow at saying the words as well as signing them. She is almost 4 and we still use some of the words like more, please and thank-you.

Reply