Baby Sign Language - Experiences? Thoughts? Advice?

Question

Baby sign language was especially trendy a few years back. I've known a few people who used it with their babies and they *swear* it helped ease their non-verbal babies frustration when they had a need or want.

Has anyone had experience with baby signing?

I would be interested in checking out a DVD on the subject that is geared for adults (I'm completely not interested in any of the Baby Einstein-type videos that are supposedly made for babies, though). If I were to start baby signing, at what age (my baby's age, that is) should I begin doing it? My LO is now 11 weeks old.

Any thoughts, advice or recommendations appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

My niece does some signs (she's less than 2 years old).  I don't know as it's been super helpful, but I think it's been handy.  Start anytime, just be patient.  Maybe pick a few important signs and work on them.  My niece learned to do her own sign for "please" and she would point to things and sign "please" to indicate what she wanted.  This was probably the most useful thing.  Other signs are just plain cute to see her do.

Answer 2

Hi! I am a preschool teacher and sign constantly with my younger children.  Baby Einstein does have a good signing video if you're learning to pick up some signs. (for you, not the baby)  There are also videos on the web.  I started signing with my baby at around 4 mos. Some people start at birth, my ped said to start at around 6 mos. I chose 4 mos because I noticed he (my child) was starting to really imitate what I was doing with my mouth and hands. It's really key to remember to say what you're signing. "More" for example. Each time you sign it, say the word. I find as a teacher that some children as they get older use the signing as a crutch and don't develop their verbal skills. They think that just by signing what they want that they don't need to tell you.  So when your child is old enough, have them tell you what they want as they sign it to you.  I think signing is WONDERFUL! It really does help in regards to communicating when you're not quite sure what it is they're asking for.  Good luck!!

Answer 3

Ok... I guess I should expect thumbs down since everyone else that answered got one... obviously someone out there doesn't agree with baby sign language :)

I have used key word signing (signing the main word in the sentence such as "more" or "finished") with my daughter since she was born. It is certainly not necessary to start this early but I am a speech pathologist and before I went on maternity leave I used it every day at work so it is almost second nature to me (I even get in trouble from hubby for signing to him LOL).

You are right don't need any fancy pants stuff like baby einstein. Learn a few basic signs. good ones to start with are:

More

finished

food

drink

mum

dad

anything you think will benifit your child to be able to communicate and use the sign everytime that it is appropriate. The more regularly you use it the more likely it is to be effective.

Some people will argue that it will delay your child's learning to talk. While it MAY mean that your child MIGHT use spoken words a bit (but not much) later, langauge development is much more than spoken words and the child wil learn to communicate with sign before words which can help ease frustration in the child.

THe most important thing to remember is that you should ALWAYS use the spoken word with the sign so the child also knows how the word sounds

I hope all that helps and good luck

Answer 4

I think that you could probably do sign language with a baby no problem.  But those baby einstiens are a load of c**p

Answer 5

Do it! It is a wonderful thing and it allows for them to communicate with you before they can even speak. Simply signs like "more," "hungry" are easy and they understand. If your baby is going into daycare, they will generally teach your baby, just make sure you use the same signs.

What the heck is with the Thumbs down?

Answer 6

I don't have experience personally, but my best friend's niece went through it when she was a baby and it was amazing! She was comunicating much earlier than she would have if she had waited to speak. Now she's four and a half, and she is somewhat fluent in two different langauges (they taught her to speak in english and italian, and she knows some spanish words). Who knows if the sign langauge helped her brain developement or not, but she seems to pick up on langauges very quickly now.  

Answer 7

We're trying baby signing with our little one at the moment. If you live in the uk there might be a baby signing group in your area - ask your health visitor. We were recommened a book and dvd that made learning the signs easy and gave advice on when to introduce signs.

Joseph Garcia's Complete Guide to Baby Signing is the book, ebay has swcond hand copies