Baby sign language

cinderellabella

Last night DH and I were looking through all of the pregnancy and parenting classes, then he saw the "Baby Sign Language" class and he immediately says "awwwwww...." I gave him the side eye and asked him why he "aww'd" He said "Baby sign language is cute because it's tiny...and small" (and he makes tiny little motions with his fingers).

I'm not sure why, but it was so cute to me since he has really big hands...seeing him make tiny little motions was adorable. Especially because that's not even what makes this "baby sign language". Haha. 

cma1989

awww! Are you guys gonna do it? We definitely are.

Desmond&MollyJones

Ha.  Funny

 

My 19 month old niece is just starting to learn sign language and she is doing SO WELL.  It's awesome.  We are doing it with our son even younger.

anabell0920

Aww that's so cute! My dh was showing me the movement you make with a baby's legs when they get gas and how you "pump" their legs it was the cutest thing. I took sign language in high school and it was really neat to learn!

cinderellabella

cma1989:

awww! Are you guys gonna do it? We definitely are.

No, we're not. I used to nanny a little girl who practiced this and I can see the benefits, but it's not our style. Some of the drawbacks just aren't worth it for us...but it is really cute seeing tiny hands sign.

 

Oh, I forgot to add - DH said "We should teach our babies ASL just to show off." Hahha...he was joking but it was still hilarious.

JARbaby

cinderellabella:

I used to nanny a little girl who practiced this and I can see the benefits, but it's not our style. Some of the drawbacks just aren't worth it for us...but it is really cute seeing tiny hands sign.

ASL was my language in college and I do it with both girls. I am not aware nor have I seen any drawbacks. My first had a spoken vocabulary of over 500 words by the time she was 22 months. I feel it has given her an advantage over other kids.

mooeta

cinderellabella:

cma1989:

awww! Are you guys gonna do it? We definitely are.

No, we're not. I used to nanny a little girl who practiced this and I can see the benefits, but it's not our style. Some of the drawbacks just aren't worth it for us...but it is really cute seeing tiny hands sign.

 

Oh, I forgot to add - DH said "We should teach our babies ASL just to show off." Hahha...he was joking but it was still hilarious.

The drawbacks of sign?  They are?  I've studied ASL and the use of sign language with hearing, deaf and HH kids and there are no drawbacks, besides having to put in the time to make it work

stephnews

My 15-month-old niece has been learning baby signs since she was 5 months old, and she has about a 10-word sign vocabulary now (milk, more, all done, food, sleep, etc.). My mom loves taking the baby out because there are hardly any tantrums. My niece can explain what she wants/needs without crying most of the time.

I am definitely going to try it, at least for those very basic items.

And yes, it is adorable to see her sign with her fat little toddler hands.

officers_girl

We did baby sign with my DD and it really was a God-send. Tantrums were greatly decreased because she could communicate her basic needs. She also started talking pretty early and I think the signing definitely helped with that. We started with her at about 5 months. I highly recommend it.

 

cma1989

You ladies just reinforced my decision to do it! I wasn't aware of any drawbacks either...

GoldGirl315

Aw!!! I taught my son basic signs and it was wonderful! Makes parenting a little easier when they can communicate basic needs.

SapphyrEyes

Is it baby signing or ASL signing?

mooeta

baby signing usually uses an English grammatical structure while ASL has its own.  The use of either is great with kids.  Kids taught ASL will be like any other bilingual child and may sometimes mix the grammatical structures between the two languages, but it just takes some reinforcement on the part of the parent to ensure the child learns the correct structure of each language.

ernlei608

My nephew is being taught sign right now. And he has got quite a handle on it. I saw him in December a little after his first birthday. His mom was weening him off his pacifier, he could only have it at nap time and bedtime. Well he would start signing "sleepy/tired" trying to get his pacifier just at random times. Mom would say no and he would sign "please".  That was enough to convince me to use it with our LO's.