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Baby Signing Basics
The Immediate and Lasting Benefits of Teaching Baby Sign Language
By Melinda Copp
"Let your baby experience the sign by helping them make it with their hands," Coleman says. "For example, in between spoonfuls of food, sign 'more' as you ask, 'Do you want more?' Then, take their hands and help them sign 'more' as you say it again. Then, as you give them another bite of food, say and sign 'more' again."
By 6 or 7 months, your baby will be able to use simple signs and communicate basic needs, such as hunger – this is when it really starts to come in handy, and parents become excited by the ability to communicate with Baby. Then by 10 to 12 months, your baby will really catch on and pick up numerous signs, and you can incorporate more and more signs into your routine.
Repetition and consistency are important, as with learning anything new. And using the verbal word with the sign is critical, Dr. Goodwyn says, because the ultimate goal is to teach the child how to talk.
As your baby grows and masters communication through signs, he will be interested in different signs and initiate more complex conversations. So while you can start with simple wants and needs, like "milk" and "more," babies approaching one year in age and toddlers will want to expand into animals, different foods, "please" and "thank you," toys and activities.
"Linguistic development instructs what they'll be interested in," says Nancy Cadjan, author of Baby Signing 1-2-3 (Sourcebooks Trade, 2007) and president of www.SignBabies.com. "The signs are eventually replaced with words, but sometimes they keep signs that are really important to them – 'please,' 'thank you' and 'I love you' often hang around."
Once you start using signs with your child, it can be applied to many different activities purely for function, and also for peace of mind.
Amy Frank, a mom from Lake Park, N.C., found that signing was handiest at mealtimes. "It becomes irritating very quickly when a child is just screaming in his highchair and we are saying, 'Do you want more of this? Or do you want something else? Or are you all done?' and he just keeps screaming," Frank says. "But it has been so calming and relieving for us to be able to say to our son, 'Do you want more? Or do you want to get down?' have his face light up in understanding, and make the sign for 'more.' It immediately calms him, and immediately calms us."
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