Baby sign language

TJ1979

Is anyone doing sign language with their LOs? I want to teach E the sign for milk and the sign for more so she can tell me when she's hungry and if she needs more. I know she's still too young, but I figure it can't hurt to try. Anyone else doing this? Anyone know the sign for milk?

lovebug33

No. I watched enough signing time with Alex and Leah when I was babysitting my friend's kid (who never learned to sign) that the whole thought of teaching my daughter that makes me want to vomit. Sorry!

 

imoverit

Yes I taught M both of those signs and it is very helpful. When he got the signs down we made him use them in restaurants instead of screaming for his food and it made for more pleasant evenings out. I believe we started teaching him between 68 months and just practiced every now and again. We didnt go crazy with it but gave him a few tools to help communicate without frustration. HTH and GL.

austenreader85

I started with DS around that age. I didn't do videos or flash cards, just looked at a website. It was the coolest thing to communicate some with him and even way cooler when he started to get things perfect. Pursing your fingers for "more" is difficult for a long time, he would kind of clap but I knew what he meant. I also taught him finished, please, mommy, daddy, grandma, eat and cup (used milk for nursing). I tried to teach help but he figured out how to just say it first. Some kids are naturally good at and some just aren't big with communication especially via hands, like the kid I babysit. Never hurts to try. It can be tecious at first to say and do it every.single.time but it's actually good practice for when they learn to talk and you end up repeating what they say 1,000 times an hour.

jesselayne8

We have been trying to teach DD milk, eat, all done, and more for months.  She hasn't really caught on.  I am not into the video/flash cards though.

JillAly

lovebug33:

No. I watched enough signing time with Alex and Leah when I was babysitting my friend's kid (who never learned to sign) that the whole thought of teaching my daughter that makes me want to vomit. Sorry!

 

LOL - I LOVE these videos!  I got 2 as a gift.  I never played them with ds but I tried doing sign language with ds (my friend is deaf so I know some ASL).  It never caught on with ds so I gave up.

Then my dd loved looking at babies so I put the Baby Signing Time videos on one day just to keep her entertained.  She learned sign language so quickly.  She loved the babies too! 

I found that her knowing sign language really helped when it came to wanting something she couldn't express.  Not just the basics of milk, food, diaper, etc, but she learned signs for tired, sad, happy, scared, etc. and it helped her express how she was feeling.  Even after she could talk, she would continue to sign the words while talking.  It's only now, at 2 1/2, that she has cut back on that.  But until recently, it has been the best thing! 

I highly recommend the videos as a way to teach the sign language.  They learn through songs and having fun.  I found just teaching the signs not as effective - but that was just my experience.

 

74dragonfly

JillAly:

lovebug33:

No. I watched enough signing time with Alex and Leah when I was babysitting my friend's kid (who never learned to sign) that the whole thought of teaching my daughter that makes me want to vomit. Sorry!

 

LOL - I LOVE these videos!  I got 2 as a gift.  I never played them with ds but I tried doing sign language with ds (my friend is deaf so I know some ASL).  It never caught on with ds so I gave up.

Then my dd loved looking at babies so I put the Baby Signing Time videos on one day just to keep her entertained.  She learned sign language so quickly.  She loved the babies too! 

I found that her knowing sign language really helped when it came to wanting something she couldn't express.  Not just the basics of milk, food, diaper, etc, but she learned signs for tired, sad, happy, scared, etc. and it helped her express how she was feeling.  Even after she could talk, she would continue to sign the words while talking.  It's only now, at 2 1/2, that she has cut back on that.  But until recently, it has been the best thing! 

I highly recommend the videos as a way to teach the sign language.  They learn through songs and having fun.  I found just teaching the signs not as effective - but that was just my experience.

 

Agree 100. We found the videos and great resource.

amandaleigh1

My daycare is supposed to be teaching them simple sign language. I see no evidence yet of him picking up on it but I definitely will want him to learn milk, more, and done to help with feeding time.

TJ1979

amandaleigh1:

My daycare is supposed to be teaching them simple sign language. I see no evidence yet of him picking up on it but I definitely will want him to learn milk, more, and done to help with feeding time.

Mine is supposed to also, but I have not actually seen them do it. I'll have to ask.

LnR70707

I was originally against it because SIL's kids didn't use actual words to ask for things until they were like 2.5, but done right I think it is great.   DS knows the basics, but he didn't really pick up anything other than milk until after a year.  I just googled ASL and used those hand signals

This website is great:

https://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

dizzycooks

We have been doing 'more' (she started doing it a month ago), 'please' (not happening yet!),'all done' (she sort of does this), 'milk' (tries, but will nurse more often than she signs it), and 'potty' (so far she watches me do this while she sits on the pot...I'm hopeful this will be helpful in the future!).

She picked up on milk fast, the others have taken time, but I think it it works it will be well worth it.  Just seeing her say 'more' is worthwhile.  Milk has helped me to avoid some melt downs in public.  I think potty will be equally as useful.

I just have her fingers do it (I help her) before I give her something or I show the sign before doing something.  Good luck.  Just choose signs you want to work on.  I wouldn't do more than 2 or three at a time or you'll be overwhelmed and she'll be confused.

OceanBreeze1

We didn't really use the videos, just repeated the signs as we were doing whatever the sign was for. For example, doing the milk sign as I said milk and handed her milk.

It helped tremendously! She was less frustrated because she could easily communicate with us months before she could talk. She mostly used the signs for milk, eat, please, help, more, cup and all done. Some of them were far from what they were supposed to be, but we all knew what they meant.

Assembly_Reqd

www.mysmarthands.com has a nice video dictonary of signs as well as a good FAQ section.

We started signing with Nate when he was 8 months old and he produced his first sign at 12 months old. Just like speech, the sign needs to be repeated to be learned. The average age for the first sign is 12 months old. Deaf babies usually sign a lot sooner because that is the language they are exposed to. It would be better for your child to learn sign as an interactive experience. Plopping them in front of a video will not get you results very quickly. Meals are the best times to work on it.

Nate has mild-moderate hearing loss and is also apraxic (speech sounds are difficult to produce) Sign language has been awesome for our family. I am proud to say that our son can produce over 175 signs!

Happy Signing! 

 

 

 

BabyKsMommy

I do know some baby signs as I used to use it in a past job. I didn't teach DS ay because he is bilingual already and I just don't want to confuse him. At 17 months he points to things when he wants them. Its usually pretty easy to find out what he wants. But its still hard when he can't have it.

I looked at the responses and didn't see anyone list it, but I believe the sign for milk is the motion of milking a cow. HTH! 

kbeach82

DS actually picked up several signs from two Baby Babble DVDs starting when he was about a year old. He learned to sign more, please, milk, thank you, and all done. When he was able to, he started pairing the words with the signs. It has definitely been helpful. 

I'm not sure if  anyone has answered this yet, but the sign for milk is just a squeezing motion with the hand. Like you are squeezing a cow's **THIS IS SPAM**

angela2004

I plan on teaching my DD when it comes time.

RoseHQ12

We started out with great intention's to teach our LO's sign language.  I was very consistent with signing, unfortunately DH kept forgetting & I felt it only worked if both parent's were working on it.  I finally gave up, but there are day's when one or the other will make a hand jesture & it make's me think that they might be signing, who know's

austenreader85

Here's a link to the website I used to learn the signs.  https://www.babysignlanguage.com/dictionary/first-signs and yes, the word for milk is like you're squeezing a cow's ud.der.

I do agree that it is easiest if everyone works together on it.  I even taught the babysitter some of the words because DS was trying to do them and she's like "What the heck does that mean?"

TJ1979

Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to go ahead with a few signs and just see what happens.