baby sign language

MrsG071809 · September 2013

Has anyone started this with their LO? DD is 6 months and I want to start trying to teach her some signs. Does anyone have any recommendations for books or websites or resources?

MrsWindyCity · September 2013

We just started with DS2. We did this with DS1 and it was great. I think we started signing to him around 6 months and he started signing back around 9-10 IIRC.

We have a baby signing book but it's definitely not necessary and you can just google signs you want to use/learn. The main ones we did with DS1 were eat, more, milk, all done, please, read.

saraenns · September 2013

Trying some with 6 month old...milk, all done. Why not try to communicate to reduce frustration for baby!

MrsG071809 · September 2013

I have been googling today... so far it sounds like starting with a limited number of signs is advised, and ones like mom, milk, eat, more are best. Several sites online, and also on Pinterest, have pictures of the different signs, I have even found a few apps. Gotta love technology

so, another question, for those who have started, what were the first signs you used?

Raggedy1 · September 2013

My nieces knew milk, juice, eat and more. It was awesome! They could easily communicate their hunger/thirst! It cut way way down on frustration crabbiness. I want to teach my DDs milk - so we can avoid any potentially embarrassing requests to breastfeed!

MrsWindyCity · September 2013

MrsG071809 said:

I have been googling today... so far it sounds like starting with a limited number of signs is advised, and ones like mom, milk, eat, more are best. Several sites online, and also on Pinterest, have pictures of the different signs, I have even found a few apps. Gotta love technology

so, another question, for those who have started, what were the first signs you used?

We started with eat, more, milk with DS1. This time I'm starting with the same, but also adding "mom" to milk for nursing (so sign for mom + sign for milk).

PepperBug · September 2013

The book I read said to start with 6 signs, 3 practical ones and 3 fun ones. I started my son with all done, more and drink (practical) and cat, fan and mom (fun -choose ones baby is excited about). Within a month, my son actually started saying all done and cat and started signing all done with it a few weeks later!

Monkeybutt80 · September 2013

We started with just a couple, mommy, daddy, milk, more, and dog (we have two dogs so I thought it'd be useful). I am curious to see when he will start understanding them! he's only 3 months now.

MagickalNarwhal · September 2013

We took a class with our son when he was about 5 mo. We learned a lot of signs for songs that we sang. Then we learned a lot of useful ones too. I disagree that you need to start with only a few - esp if you are using them well before your kid would be able to sign back anyway. That just seems like only talking to a baby with a few words, which we would never do! I guess I saw it more as using signs some times, instead of *teaching* them per se. Just like spoken language.

Help is one of the first signs he used which was INCREDIBLY useful! My son is now 19 mo and signs way more than he speaks, so we have continued to learn signs. There is a great short video on YouTube - baby Einsteins first signs. It covers a lot of the basics like mommy, daddy, baby, eat, drink, sleep Etc. There is also a good series on DVD called signing times (I think).

I am SO glad we did it w our older kid and will definitely continue it w our younger one when she is ready!

watermellens · September 2013

We've been watching the Baby Singing Time series with my older DS since he was a little younger than a year (he's almost 3) - he has autism and his communication is a struggle. Signing helped a bit in the beginning. It's a great series - he still watches one before bed every night, so our little guy sometimes watches too.

I've been doing milk whenever we nurse and sometimes I'll do all done, but I haven't really made a good effort yet to do it every time.

MrsG071809 · September 2013

thanks for all the info! I have started with milk when we nurse, and am just going to keep adding more in every few days. DH thinks the sign for milk is hilarious...he is such a 12 year old some times 8-|

HarleyKins · September 2013

LO is 4.5 months and We do some signs, like Mom, Dad, more, eat, dance, fly... Really anything I can find. We do kindermusik too and will be taking the sing and sing classes. My local hospital has mother-baby groups and one of the topics is sign. Looking forward to having LO sign back to me!

kmornelas29 · September 2013

I have done sign with my LO since 3 months even though she can't do it back yet, she understands when I do it to her now.

She knows milk, all done, mama, dada, and were working on help, more, and thirsty.

Whenever I do the milk sign she gets a huge smile and leans to nurse. When I do all done when she starts to get full from solids she smiles if she is full and wants to stop eating.

capstone52501 · September 2013

MrsG071809 said:

thanks for all the info! I have started with milk when we nurse, and am just going to keep adding more in every few days. DH thinks the sign for milk is hilarious...he is such a 12 year old some times 8-|

wow our husbands must be twins, although mine acts 12- 90% of the time.

MrsG071809 · September 2013

MrsG071809 said:

thanks for all the info! I have started with milk when we nurse, and am just going to keep adding more in every few days. DH thinks the sign for milk is hilarious...he is such a 12 year old some times 8-|

wow our husbands must be twins, although mine acts 12- 90% of the time.

haha - by some times, I meant all the time...

pantsarella · September 2013

I used to teach a Baby Signs class, so I can't wait to start this with DD. She's 10 weeks and I'll probably start in the next 2 weeks or so. You can definitely start with just a few words until you're comfortable adding signs into your routine and then add them. Your LO is learning them over time and when they're ready to sign, you'll be surprised how many they know!

egman · October 2013

theres a tv show called signing time that is fun for both the kids and i to learn together. my 3 year old has actually learned more than i have.

MrsEnright · October 2013

MrsWindyCity said:

We just started with DS2. We did this with DS1 and it was great. I think we started signing to him around 6 months and he started signing back around 9-10 IIRC.

We have a baby signing book but it's definitely not necessary and you can just google signs you want to use/learn. The main ones we did with DS1 were eat, more, milk, all done, please, read.

This for us also.

Our son is 15 months now and regularly uses milk, water, eat, more, please, all done, book, potty, diaper, and I love you (that one was just for fun!). At this age, he's been learning new signs easily and remembering them well.

BabySignLanguage.com has many signs that are clearly drawn and most of them have simple, clear, short videos showing how to correctly do the signs.

gooteefamily · October 2013

my son never caught on to juice, water, or drink. He uses milk for drink. and he points to what drink he wants. He does "all done" "eat" "milk" "sit" "more". The order he learned them were "more" "eat" "milk" "sit" "all done" "cat" now he is 2 and says half of what he signs and he says and signs them together.

gooteefamily · October 2013

don't forget as long as you and your child know what the signs mean, the signs do NOT have to be perfect. for milk, my son just squeezes instead of squeezing and alternating hands up and down. but everyone knows it's milk or drink.

Lolalipsy · October 2013

We started with milk, more, all done, eat and drink. Now we have started with mummy, daddy, please and thank you.

I second that they don't have to be perfect. My LO is 4.5 mo and she starts smiling when I do the milk sign.

MrsBWG · October 2013

My sister did signs with her DS (he's now 2). She said that signing with him had saved her many a melt-down in the grocery store even after he had started talking but was too frustrated/hungry/cranky to come up with the right word. I plan on doing it when my LO gets older. Good luck!

MrsG071809 · October 2013

Lolalipsy said:

We started with milk, more, all done, eat and drink. Now we have started with mummy, daddy, please and thank you. I second that they don't have to be perfect. My LO is 4.5 mo and she starts smiling when I do the milk sign.

My DD has started doing this as well

As an update, we started with milk & all done a few weeks ago, and are now adding in drink & more. I'm not great at being consistent with them, but I'm getting better, and I am pretty confident she now understands Milk, and am undecided if she gets 'all done' or not.

Erinkathleen21 · October 2013

I took a baby sign class along with my other American Sign Language classes and the few that were recommended to start with were milk, more and all done. a couple that I like once they get those figured out are please, change(for change diaper) and pain

aibrean · October 2013

Our daycare uses baby sign language so we've got a pamphlet on the signs.

EarthMamaTX · October 2013

We also just started introducing signs with our 3 month old. I don't expect him to sign back anytime soon, but it couldn't hurt to expose him early on! I try to use signs like change, diaper, milk, bath, and toys. He seems entertained when I do it. I have also been using the website babysignlanguage.com. It is very helpful and the videos are great!

sk0330 · October 2013

My DS is 4 months old and I have started doing 'diaper' every time we change and he'll smile for that one. I try to do 'eat' but my hands are usually full or he's crying so that one doesn't work well yet. I also started with 'more' for tickles etc. and 'all done' for nearly everything.... later I started using 'help'

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