Baby Signers Come in!

BootsOrHearts

Tell me about your experiences - when did you start showing signs and when did LO start signing back? Did you find it helped a lot with understanding what they need?

Baby Boots has entered a shrieking phase I guess because he gets frustrated and that's the only way he can use his voice so we're thinking (maybe overly optimistically) if we can start doing more signs with him,  he will learn to do some back and that may reduce his frustration at not being able to communicate effectively.

We've been doing eat (for solids), milk, play, bath, change (diaper change/clothes change), car, and hug. We have flash cards and a DVD (that we've not yet watched because who has the time??). I want to look up walk (or stroller?) and kiss (because it just would be cute, no other reason, haha!)

So tell me about your successes (or failures!) with baby signing!

Mom2anAngel2

DS was introduced to signing through dc. I think they started around 6 months. He never really used much of it, other than the sign for "more." He would constantly sign more when we were finishing up with a meal. He is a really good eater! LOL!

ProfessorPedals825

We haven't been consistent, but we've done some signs here and there.  I've noticed that she's really picked up more and more as she gets older.  We used eat, drink, milk, all done, please, thank you, mommy, and daddy.  She really only uses eat and sometimes thank you, but now that she's older (14 mths), she will mimic us when we show her a new sign.  Too bad she doesn't ever want to do it again after that first try.

4legsRbest

DS started at DC pretty early on. His first "more" and "all done" emerged at about 9 months. Now he verbalizes them with words, but still only has 5 signs despite trying our hardest. "Help" has been the most useful! But he uses "all done" for everything; stroller, car seat, bath time - any time he doesn't like something, we get an "all done" "all done". It is hilarious. He is 17 months now, so we are really trying to use words, but it is helpful to have a few big ones down. Some just didn't stick and I am afraid "all done" will be here forever...

Junebug060609

As a mom of a LO with a speech delay, I would encourage you to start now. I didn't with DS and I regret it. He will be 32 months tomorrow and is still non-verbal. Let me tell you, a toddler who can't express himself so you can understand is a frustrated toddler and frustrated toddlers are no bueno to deal with.

ellebelle2384

I don't think it's ever too early to introduce signs paired with a spoken word.  Even though he may not be able to sign it to you yet, starting early and getting him used to the routine will be so helpful later on.  I would just pick a few really functional signs and focus on those, rather than overwhelming him with a whole bunch.  We did "more", "all done", and "please" as our baby signs.  "Milk" is a good one too.

Also, although formal signing classes are great don't feel like you have to carve out time to watch the video or sit and practice your flash cards.  If you think of something that fits your family, just look up that word.  At work (I'm a speech therapist) I always recommend parents just use an online dictionary like https://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi to look up functional words that are important for their family.  HTH!

MauLoaM0M

I signed with DS here and there until about 9 months. Once 9 months hit, I decided it was time to get serious. It took about a month or so and he was signing "more." He picked up "eat" and his own sign for "drink" quick. We're still working on "all done" & "milk." I'm not sure which ones we will work on after that.