Teaching Your Baby To Sign

A lot of new parents ask different questions and research topics on how to create an environment that stimulates the best learning atmosphere for their baby. In my experience as a teacher, and with a BA in Child Development/Psychology, I have learned that babies learn the absolute most they will ever learn in a lifetime between ages birth to 4 years old! To me, that is incredible! And wow... what pressure that puts on us parents!

One of the topics parents sometimes research is the “terrible twos” stage. Everyone has heard of it and no one wants their child to misbehave that severely, especially in public! For some it’s embarrassing, to me it’s honestly a part of their growing up and learning how to respond emotionally. (Although, I haven’t hit that stage yet with my son – granted, he is only 6.5months old!) With that said, I have found that starting early with teaching sign language to your baby helps to eliminate a lot of those biting, kicking, hitting, spitting (etc.) behaviors in the 2 year old stage that we all dread! This is because all of a sudden they know how to communicate their needs! A lot of these behaviors are done out of frustration and many parents aren’t aware of that. “Experts” recommend beginning sign language around 8 months; however I say the earlier the better! Why not start as soon as you can and that way you already have the hang of it yourself, plus they may even pick up on it earlier than the “experts” say!
http://www.articlesbase.com/babies-articles/the-advantages-of-sign-language-for-babies-6248499.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2167190_teach-baby-sign-language.html

I personally have been teaching signs to my son since he was 4months old. He is only 6.5 months old and already consistently signs “all done” and “more” during meal times! We are still working on them during playtime, but I have no doubt that he will be signing during those times very soon!

If you want to teach your baby sign language, you must be consistent yourself. Use the signs as often as possible while saying the word with it. And then provide the action right after. For example: If you are feeding cereal to your baby, in between a few bites sign “more” while saying the word and then give more to your baby. Also if you use “all done” take the item away as soon as you sign/say it.  Here is a great book with flash cards that will help you learn the signs, but is hardback so it makes for a great book for your baby to play with too! http://www.amazon.com/Simple-First-Words-Lets-Sign/dp/B005FOIHWO Locally, it is sold at Ollies!

Good Luck Signing! I'd love to hear about your signing adventures!