Baby sign language

shadysladyWed98470

Are there any STMs out there who used baby sign with their first LO? I am interested in doing this but have a few questions: When is a good time to start? What signs did you start with? I've heard of people srarting with the signs for more and please, but what else? How many different signs did you teach at once?

Jorleny

My friend said its okay to start at 4 months and to be consistent so they would actually learn. She said every time I'd give her a bottle do a sign for that or every time she was hungry do a sign for that and that eventually my daughter would get it. I'm hoping to try it as well

ToAoShesha

Sign language is a great way to communicate with your LO before they develop verbal communication. Just a few words: food, more, milk, finished (all done), please, thank you, help....

You can start at any age, it may take a while for your LO to sign but soon they will understand you. It is important to be consistent and immediate. For example, sign food and then give them food... Don't sign it and then start dinner. Or milk don't sign and then prepare the bottle, have everything ready then sign in.

I have my translators certificate in ASL (American Sign Language). So feel free to ask any questions. My only caution is some baby sign programs don't use ASL signs they used their own made up versions. You want you use correct signs. You don't need to purchase any programs just be consistent with your signing. You can go to aslpro.com they have a baby section and a dictionary where u type in any word and it will show you how to sign it.

shadysladyWed98470

Thank you ToAoShesha! I was planning to start with 5 signs: mommy, daddy, milk, more, cat (since we have a cat). Good info!

cheesecakerunner

I've been using the mama and daddy signs for a while and will start adding in more, milk and cat. I know it will be a while before he can use them, but I figure it doesn't hurt to start using them early so MH and I get used to using them and learning them!

This site is where I found some good free resources: https://www.babysignlanguage.com/ 

ToAoShesha

melandjames14 said:

NandaB said:

Just out of curiousity (I'm wanting to start using signs) did you use milk to mean breastfeeding and then use something else after weaning?

I use milk for BFing then teach drink, or juice, water, as try get older

ChicagoBroad26

Ava used the signs for "more", "all done" and "please". Those were the only ones we taught her but they were effective. I think we started around five or six months. Even after she began to talk she still used the signs in conjunction with the language which was pretty cute.