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Signing with baby
Does anyone do this? My sister did with her son and it was a great way to help him communicate. It seemed to really cut down on his frustration. If you do sign, did you have any kind of system for introducing or using signs, or did you just start learning a few signs and jump in? I'm thinking of just doing the latter. I've already started trying to use "more" and "all done" and "help", as well as a few nouns (cat, fan, light)
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Re: Signing with baby
Jump right in! Starting around 6 months is best. (Too far before that you'll get discouraged/bored.)
It really did cut down on frustration. The ones she used most often were more, milk, potty, eat, drink/water. *very* useful.
And don't let anyone tell you that it will hinder her speaking. That's not true in the majority of cases. DD said mama (with meaning) at 5.5 months. Dada at 7... dog at 11. And just took off from there. She's got well over 1000 words in 2 languages right now. Maybe even 2000. I have better conversations with her than I do adults some days.
Rated "L" For Life Blog
Signing is the best parenting decision we made, well, at least one of them
We started off just with MILK, from about 4 months. I would sign milk everytime he nursed, and I would ask if he liked MILK, etc. Once he signed milk back (don't remember when that was, have to check the baby book!) I signed MORE, ALL DONE, EAT(hungry), CHANGE(diaper), BATH, WATER, SLEEP. Once he signed those I started signing all sorts of things - whenever he says whats that (wa da?) I tell him and do the sign. He'll look at me very intently and do the sign back. It's funny, because they don't have the dexterity to differenciate between some signs like sleep and phone, more and cracker - but you can figure it out in context. I was the only one who signed to him for the longest time bc he's in DC and that DCP (different one now!) didn't believe in sign. You bet your boots she liked it when he started to tell her he wanted water, or a nap!
On a funny note, every gesture becomes a sign, so you have to watch yourself. J is addicted to snapea crisps and was pointing and asking for them one day. My DH said ok, you can have one more and put a finger in the air (which is actually UP) and J picked right up on that and now finger point = snapea crisps!
My DS just started signing "more" "eat" and "milk" all within the last week! It's so exciting after working so diligently on it for so long!!
(cute pic, Hula
We're actually taking it farther than just the signs mentioned above. My older sister (and we suspect my father) has a hearing impediment and so we'll be using sign language as a "just in case" communication method. It's not hearing loss - it's a processing issue and therefore can't be fully tested until the child is well into adolescence.
We plan to start learning ASL now (I've already started) so that when S arrives, we use signs as second nature during conversation.
We'll emphasize the most-used signs, like those above, in the same way that you emphasize those words without signs.
The other bonus is when we're in France and we're all speaking/learning French (I know a bit, but am by no stretch of the imagination fluent) the signs will help S to understand that "Leche" and "milk" are the same thing because they have the same sign.
This interview was actually very inspiring for me. Because if she can do something this ambitious, certainly my own meager ambitions will be a snap, right?
https://signingbaby.com/main/?p=151#more-151
PS - I like the Signing Time board books the best so far. I haven't watched a DVD, yet, so I can't say how well those work.
https://www.signingtime.com/
HTH!
Thanks everyone.
And Emmie, have a great time when you're in France. Fwiw, milk is lait. But you're all set when you take a weekend trip to Spain
See what happens when I post before coffee? I get my languages confused. I think it's because I was doing BF research and had a tab open to my local Le Leche League...
BUT - Husband wants to cycle in Spain, so I'm sure a side-trip will be in there somewhere.
I have signed to my son since birth. ASL is my first language, so it's second nature for me to sign. I have to remind my self to sign AND talk.
And the poster who says not to start until 6 months is innacurate. The receptive language capacity for signs is there before 6 months.
Yes, the capacity is indeed there. I just got that advice from a friend who started signing with her son right away. Obviously, there was little overt 'payoff' for several months. She basically gave up. But at 8 or 9 months she started a little again and a few months later he joined in. For her next two children she started at 6 months instead.
I guess it depends on a parent's personality. I don't think I would have stuck it out if I would have started too soon, KWIM? It also depends on a person's goals. Fluency in ASL? Then definitely! Start right away. If it's just so the child can learn a few signs to avoid frustration before verbal? Meh. Didn't kill us to wait until later.
That's a fair point. I do, afterall, have to remind myself to speak to the baby and not JUST sign. Sometimes *I* forget I'm not deaf..LOL (Mom, Dad, and both my brothers are deaf)