Baby Sign Language? What’s that???
You may have never thought twice about the use of sign language by families with hearing-impaired members, have you ever thought of using it with a baby who has normal hearing? In an fascinating trend, many parents are now teaching their infants and toddlers to use sign language to communicate their needs when they are not yet able to do so with words. Furthermore, parents can choose to continue the use of sign language with newly verbal or children who are gaining a strong foundation in the use of spoken language as a way to enhance their language skills and family communication patterns. And you already have everything you need to get started: a love for your child, a desire to teach them new things, and a computer.
Learning Baby Sign Language is Easy Because:
- Children can understand and recognize signs before they can use them (just like learning to talk).
- You don’t have to be fluent in sign language in order to teach this skill to your baby. You can learn together and enhance your own abilities while you share communication with your child!
Why teach your baby sign language?
- It’s natural for babies to invent their own signs and symbols to communicate their needs. By teaching them signs that people besides their parents can understand, they are much more able to ask for what they want or need – in a daycare setting, for example. That makes for a happier baby.
- Less frustration for baby means fewer tantrums –and less stress on caregivers – including Mom and Dad!
- The time you and your baby spend sharing language and learning together strengthens the bond between you.
But is it really a good idea to use sign language with a hearing child?
Parents sometimes worry that using sign language will lead to delayed language development. Many parents also wonder if sign language be useful to their child in later life. In fact research has shown that:
- Signing babies usually start to talk earlier than non-signing babies.
- Signing babies develop larger vocabularies than non-signing babies.
- Signing reinforces verbal language by adding visual and kinesthetic emphasis known and new words
- Signing children tend to be more interested in reading.
- Children’s use of signs tends to fade out as their language develops – unless parents choose to continue to increase their knowledge of sign language.
When Should We Start?
- Start as early as 6 months. The window between ages 6-9 months is ideal.
- If your child is older, you haven’t missed your chance! Now is still a great time to begin, because frustration and tantrums often peak from 16-30 months when toddlers are still unable to express their needs fully.
How Do We Get Started?
- Use sign language with your child in every day settings. Start with a few signs for things that your baby needs, like milk, eat, drink, more.
- Sign with the activity (before and during). Try asking “Do you want some milk?” using the milk sign. Then, when your baby is drinking or nursing, you can say, “Is that good milk?” using the sign again. Consistency is key.
- After mastery of basic signs, you can move to other basic baby signs, like please, thank you and sorry, full, hungry, toilet, etc. Later you can add emotions, colors, and animals.
- As your child learns the signs and begins to sign back, start adding others while you continue to use the signs you already use.
Most of all…
Have fun! Using Baby Sign Language is one way to enhance the precious bond between you and your baby while building two-way conversations with him. How exciting is that!
Learn more…
· “Baby Sign Language: How to “talk” to your hearing baby and toddler with sign language” – a featured topic at the 2006 For the Love of Kids Conference on Positive Practical Parenting on Oct. 21, 2006! Register now!
· See a video dictionary of signs to use with your baby
· Read the research