Baby Sign Language

joyfulsimplicity

Hey mommies! Did any of you teach, or are planning to teach your baby sign language? If so any tips, books, apps etc you used? And did you find it helpful?

kacichch

Hi, I'm a FTM and have decided that I 100% want to learn baby sign. I will be going to classes though rather than teaching it myself to get to know some other mummy's and so that baby can make some play friends they cost about £5pw. I think that it sounds like a brilliant thing to do, only ever heard good things about it. I would also like to do baby swim and baby yoga

lucky10liz

I plan on using it with our little one. I'm a FTM but I have been using Pintrest to get some good material on it! 

foxracerjess268

Baby sign language is excellent. These motor movements are easier for children before having to use all the fine motor needed to speak. Try signing times videos if you don't have any local classes. Netflix has these and so do many libraries! My area has free ones in mini series style.

Also (because this is what I do) always pair the sign with the verbal word. Try doing hand over hand until they get it. Stick to a few signs at a time. Don't overwhelm them!

aah1013

I didn't use any signs with my first, but she was an early talker. We went to a sign language program at the library yesterday, just for fun. I think I will definitely use some signing with this baby.

texasmomma84

Yes! I did with my boys and plan to do the same with our girl. I didn't get super into it, just basic signs, but they were extremely helpful. I was given the Baby Signing Time DVDs as a gift with my first born and still have them. That's what I use and I LOVE them!

sgoodsel

We did baby sign language with my first. She signed before she spoke. Just pick a few basic signs and try to sign them every time you say them.  Babysignlanguage . com has a top ten list of signs. Also Signing Time dvds are great, until the songs get stuck in your head and drive you crazy :-) The free signing time on netflix is much more advanced, I'd recommend buying a dvd or two, or renting them from the library.

erinboehme

We use baby sign language. I have 3 deaf children (and 1 hearing), so my case is different, but we still start with the very basics. Signing Time has baby sign DVDs as well as some more toddler geared DVDs.

cgummie

My niece is 2 and my sister did this from the very beginning with her. It really helped, even though she was an early talker. They only did a few signs, maybe 6 or so, but it helped when she is being shy with non family members.

adcoxmt

I'm actually trying to learn ASL (by myself so it's probably not the most effective), and BD has already assured me that our son will grow up knowing ASL as well. I know that's different than baby sign language, but BD's parents are both deaf so it'd be extremely helpful for me to know, and essential for our son to know in order to communicate with his grandparents. Pinterest definitely has a lot of resources and ideas for baby sign language, and don't forget about books!

LiveNLove44

Yes! This helped SO much with DD. She didn't become frustrated easily when she couldn't communicate with us verbally because she was able to sign her needs sooner than she could talk. Their ability to communicate develops way earlier than their verbal skills (whether they talk "early" or not), so learning signs is really beneficial in my opinion. 

We did it with DD with a book we have (it's around here somewhere...). We chose some high frequency words at the beginning and only did a few at a time paired with the verbal word. Some people have suggested to me that they think it would delay a child's desire to develop verbal skills, but I can attest to you that in our case, that was absolutely not the case. They enjoy exercising their verbal skills no matter what

casserole27

My friends baby girl has down-syndrome and she Signs.  It's great to have a way for her to communicate with us better.
The Signing Time DVDs are great, but the most effective they said is just using the signs as you interact.

MamaOwl15

I didn't do very much baby sign language with DS, but I did teach him a few signs. It helped that I had a deaf client at work so I had to learn some signs to communicate with him.

DS picked up on "down," and a couple other signs, which I found helpful before he learned the words. I'd like to learn more so I can teach them to DD - signing can help cut down on fussing in those early days of talking when they get frustrated because they're trying to communicate, but don't have enough words yet. It's definitely worth it!

LiveNLove44

casserole27 said:

My friends baby girl has down-syndrome and she Signs.  It's great to have a way for her to communicate with us better.
The Signing Time DVDs are great, but the most effective they said is just using the signs as you interact.

YES! My mom's cousin's son (I believe that makes him my first cousin, once removed? Second cousin? Something like that) was born with down syndrome. Due to their developmental stages being different from her other son, she was thrilled to find that signing made such a difference on his communication! It was invaluable to them as parents of two little ones and one who has DS. All the kids learned to communicate with one another even better because of it.

eat111315

I used to teach baby sign classes. It was amazing to watch little ones learn to sign their needs. Like anything, the key is consistency and getting all caretakers on board with the program. We did the BabySigns program and it was great- totally logical and simple to implement.

Unfortunately, I didn't do much with my own kids in terms of official signs. They were great communicators using other cues, and some of their own signs.

twogirlsandagreen

We did the baby signing time videos with Rachel Coleman. Her voice still haunts my dreams, but both daughters loved them and picked up the signs I wanted them to, like "all done," "more," "eat," "drink," "sleep," etc. We used "all done" and "more" the most though.

on_the_move

We used it a lot with DS.  He didn't decide to start talking until a few months before he was 3 so it was a lifesaver (now you would never know it)!  We learned about 10 words that would make it easy for him to describe what he needed.  One thing his speech therapist said that I think eventually helped DD also was to always say the word with the sign.

double2rouble

We do it with our daughter.  She is 2 now and speaks a lot but will a lot of times sign and speak.  We watched "baby signing time", and now sometimes watch singing time, and the same person has a potty time.  I love it.  Its been so useful and also helps me figure out what her words mean.  

TurtlesMum

I am actually conversational in ASL, so I plan to sign as much as I can to my baby. I taught some baby signs to my sister and nephews and it really helped reduce frustrations and tantrums. I definitely think it's a great idea.

sweet+cheeks

We did very beginner level signs with DD and found them to be helpful before she could talk. But then found she had little reason to learn to say the words when she could sign instead. I have mixed feelings about diving into sign again with this LO. We will see how things go.

sarapagan

I used simple signs with my son when he was very little, and his babysitter did the same. He was a late bloomer (got his teeth late, talked late, and walked late). Instead of crying or grunting, we taught him simple signs like "more, please, thank you, milk, cookie, cracker, mommy, daddy, baby..." etc....

I picked up a "teach baby to sign" book from amazon and it came with flashcards and everything for toys and all different foods. It was very helpful and he still signs to this day as he's talking to me. It was a help for us!

sugarplum513

We did basic signing with my daughter. Key words were more, done, and milk. It worked great for us and I plan on using it again.

I've heard to be cautious of using sign too much that it could delay them in communicating verbally.

babyadams8611

My husband and I are involved in a Deaf Volunteer work in our area so we DEFINITELY plan to teach our DD ASL! I can't wait! We have a lot of cartoon videos that have been translated into ASL to help (also available in English). On JW.org. There is a American Sign Language option! LOVE IT!!!

ElleMF728

Haven't gone through them all yet but we did baby signs with DS and will again with this LO.  I started at about 6 months and just focused on need based signs like "all done", "more", "help", "eat", "milk" and "drink".  These are all really easy to teach since these are things that you do all day everyday with your baby! 

I just started pairing the word and the sign and then did the action and DS really just picked it up eventually which is pretty typical.  One thing to keep in mind is that your baby will do each sign his or her own way so you will need to watch them to pick up on it.  

For example the sign for "all done" is turning your palms outward but since DS always saw our palms when he did the sign he looks at his palms so they are turned inward when he does it.  

furelise93

I learned ASL when I was little. I loved it! It actually came in handy a few times too. I'm excited to teach our baby sign language!