Baby Sign Language

mshepherd20 · December 2011

Today's BabySteals is Baby Signing Time. Just wondering... do you plan on teaching your baby sign language, and at what age will you start?

I just watched an interview with the creator of Baby Signing Time and she said that it's never to early to start signing to your baby. The program is designed to start at the age of 4 months, so I think I'm going to buy it and start in a few weeks! Being a teacher, having Jacob learn at such a young age is so exciting to me!!

FYI...the creator did say to start as young as you want to start signing to baby to make them familiar with the fact that signing is a form of communiciation, but it won't be until baby reaches about 7-8 months before he/she is able to sign back because of fine motor skills.

TheFannins729 · December 2011

i think it's cool, but don't plan on using it. Shane was a really early talker and never had any issues communicating to me what he needed. we never went through that screaming on the floor because he couldn't tell me what he wanted phase.

aveeh · December 2011

I'm not going to do sign language. I only know 2 kids who have so I don't have a lot of experience with it, but both of them were very late talkers. And while they could communicate with their parents, no one else could understand them and they got very frustrated.

mshepherd20 · December 2011

aveeh:
I'm not going to do sign language. I only know 2 kids who have so I don't have a lot of experience with it, but both of them were very late talkers. And while they could communicate with their parents, no one else could understand them and they got very frustrated.

Wow, that makes sense...something that I never thought about!!

Pips09 · December 2011

I definitely plan to do baby sign language. My niece and nephew both did it and it was great! (no talking delays, either). I already have a book and dvd to teach us the signs.

ETA: I plan to start around 4-5 months. I think it's going to be fun!

MsCrispy · December 2011

We've been reading a baby sign language book and have started with a few basic words so far. Studies have shown that it actually makes them talk earlier since they see how nice it is to communicate...obviously this is in general, so there are always exceptions like the pp mentioned.

BritClen · December 2011

I used it with my first, was very great for communication we started about 4 months...

I thought it was nice for manners and her telling us what she needed.

I didnt push everything just the basics like: thank you, please, more, hungry, and milk.

once she started talking she still would use the sign but now she doesnt anymore.

it does take allot of practice and persistence, so just keep doing it if you try, most babies dont pick it up till about 8 or 9 months

and I guess I should say DD#1 didnt have any delay in speech either, she was actually always ahead.

TheFannins729 · December 2011

BritClen:
I used it with my first, was very great for communication we started about 4 months...
I thought it was nice for manners and her telling us what she needed.
I didnt push everything just the basics like: thank you, please, more, hungry, and milk.
once she started talking she still would use the sign but now she doesnt anymore.
it does take allot of practice and persistence, so just keep doing it if you try, most babies dont pick it up till about 8 or 9 months
and I guess I should say DD#1 didnt have any delay in speech either, she was actually always ahead.

this is what makes me think its the kid, not the sign language or not. Shane was/is always significantly ahead in speech compared to other kids his age. you hear it go both ways both with using SL and with not using it. It's a crapshoot.

boxtonmom1014 · December 2011

TheFannins729:
this is what makes me think its the kid, not the sign language or not.

I do think this is true.

My understanding is that the benefit of the sign language is that *most* kids are able to sign significantly earlier than they can speak most words. The reasoning makes sense- the fine motor skills involved in speaking are much "finer" than those involved in signing. So it is developmentally easier for an 8 month old to sign "cookie" than to say "cookie".

boxtonmom1014 · December 2011

Oh, and I plan to sign with Gabe, but I don't plan to spend $70+ on a system. I did purchase a book ("Baby Sign Language Basics") but a sign language interpreter I met who uses baby signs with her daughter said you can find every thing online for free- you tube it!

T&HLove · December 2011

tinshee:
Oh, and I plan to sign with Gabe, but I don't plan to spend $70+ on a system. I did purchase a book ("Baby Sign Language Basics") but a sign language interpreter I met who uses baby signs with her daughter said you can find every thing online for free- you tube it!

Same! I want to teach her but won't be buying anything expensive to do so

ShannonSky · December 2011

If I didn't already have half this program, I would totally be buying it for Bea for Christmas. I love, love, love BST! When Ellie was about 4-5mos old, I started signing with her, but since you don't see any pay-off for months, I got bored quickly and stopped. Figured I wouldn't need it, blah, blah, blah. Then right around 1 yr old, a friend babysat her and did "more" with her own kids and Ellie picked it up right like that! I just thought it was adorable to see her signing, so I went online and found some rave reviews for BST, so I decided to buy one. Within one week, she could sign about a half a dozen words, and she picked up on more over the next month or so. She's always been right on track verbally, but the signing helped her to communicate her needs. Even now, if she really wants to emphasize something, she'll sign and say the word (usually "more", "eat", or "all done"). I've been doing it a bit with my youngest already, but more because it's second-nature to me now, and I definitely plan to introduce her to BST, probably around 9mos.

Mereou12 · December 2011

First -- LOVE the Baby Signing Times collection. Not sure that anyone needs ALL of that, though. We have 2 of the BST DVDs and 2 of the regular Signing Times DVDs, and that was plenty.

We signed with DS1 and had a fabulous experience. He was a late talker, so teaching him to sign helped us to avoid so many massive tantrums. Like PP said, most babies/toddlers have the ability to use their motor skills before their verbal skills, so signing can be advantageous.

Experts have found NO correlation between signing and speech delays. In fact, it's the opposite. Signing helps to make kids aware of language, even if they're not yet able to express it verbally. Some kids are early talkers, some kids are late talkers -- that would be the case whether they were signing or not. Just like some kids are early walkers and some are late...every child is different and does things on their own timeline.

Like I said, DS1 was a late talker, but signing in no way delayed his speech. He hit his language explosion (literally -- blurted out about 10 new words a day) in the last 2 months and is now so far ahead of the game. We signed ALL the time, and at his peak he had around 50 signs. As he learned to speak, he'd sign along with the word. As his speech improved, he eventually dropped the sign.

hisaak · December 2011

We didn't buy a program but taught DS basic signs. He was a late talker and signs were incredibly useful for us. Most make logical sense as well, so with only a little help, most everyone can understand them.

There are actually still a few signs he uses at the same time as saying the words ... or if his mouth is full, or if we can't hear him.

We will probably start signing again with DD, but same sort of easy going approach with her. If she does it, great. If not, no worries.

AmyLaurel89 · December 2011

mshepherd20:
aveeh:
I'm not going to do sign language. I only know 2 kids who have so I don't have a lot of experience with it, but both of them were very late talkers. And while they could communicate with their parents, no one else could understand them and they got very frustrated.

Wow, that makes sense...something that I never thought about!!

I babysat for a little boy who used sign and his mom had a sheet of signs he used in with her emergency contact and other info. I found it really helpful and didn't have any trouble communicating with him since she had prepared the info for me. That's just my $0.02

manda26 · December 2011

I have a DVD about it that I haven't seen yet but I would like to teach it to him!

tracey007 · December 2011

I plan to do this. If it is possible that it will help to reduce frustration later, I am all for it and don't think it will hurt anything. I do a little now (one more, all done).

babyAutumn · December 2011

With DD I started using basic signs at 4 months and by 6 months she was able to sign some things (more, milk, done) which helped immensely at meal time. The signs weren't perfectly mastered by any means, she had her own way of doing them and we were able to adapt to it. I started with DS#1 right from birth given that DD was already using a lot of the signs and was able to communicate with him easier. He started signing back about 6 months as well. I started with my new LO a few days ago and he looks at me very intently so I wonder what he's able to actually understand. What I liked about it is that they were able to communicate with me long before they could actually say the words. By the time my son was 9 months he could speak in sentences using words combined with signs. It was pretty amazing.

VitaminC · December 2011

I loved signing with Elliott and plan on doing it again with Garrett. Elliott had around 20 signs that he used. He even made one uo for pizza. He started signing milk and more around 7 or 8 months. At 10 months he finished his bottle and signed "all done, more milk". That's a whole sentence. We used it mostly for food. But he used to sign sleep when he was ready for bed and all done when he was done with whatever he was doing.

I think it helped his speech. He was an early talker. By two I couldn't even count how many words he had, well over 200. At three he speaks like a 4 or 5 year old.

He used to not be able to say "more" without signing it too. Even when he was like 2 and a half.

I sometimes quiz him to see if he remembers them. I tell him he's going to have to help me teach Garrett how to sign.

and for fun here's elliott signing milk around 8 months

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCBEoNYx7PM&feature=g-upl&context=G2597422AUAAAAMgAfAA

mshepherd20 · December 2011

VitaminC:

I loved signing with Elliott and plan on doing it again with Garrett. Elliott had around 20 signs that he used. He even made one uo for pizza. He started signing milk and more around 7 or 8 months. At 10 months he finished his bottle and signed "all done, more milk". That's a whole sentence. We used it mostly for food. But he used to sign sleep when he was ready for bed and all done when he was done with whatever he was doing.

I think it helped his speech. He was an early talker. By two I couldn't even count how many words he had, well over 200. At three he speaks like a 4 or 5 year old.

He used to not be able to say "more" without signing it too. Even when he was like 2 and a half.

I sometimes quiz him to see if he remembers them. I tell him he's going to have to help me teach Garrett how to sign.

and for fun here's elliott signing milk around 8 months

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCBEoNYx7PM&feature=g-upl&context=G2597422AUAAAAMgAfAA

Oh my gosh!! He's so stinking cute!

tblauvelt · December 2011

we plan on using it and have been since she was about 6 weeks. way early I know but I wanted to get myself familiar with the signs before she turns 6 months.

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