One time my daughter and I we we’re waiting for daddy to come home. We heard someone at the door, but it wasn’t dad. She started crying and signing dad, dad, dad. My daughter couldn’t verbally say dad yet. So if she hadn’t used the sign for dad I wouldn’t have understood why she was crying. I didn’t think that she would get upset about something like that. I would have been clueless about her reaction.

Research done by Joseph Garcia (sign 2 me), explains that “Babies are born with intelligence and they learn faster than their muscles develop which allow them to speak using verbal language. As infants learn signs they can begin the foundation for “mutual understanding” and this manual communication can contribute greatly to the “bonding process.”

I’s so glad that doing something as simple as signing with my child has so many amazing benefits.

Andrea Ploehn, Signing 4 Baby Founder

There is a lot of confusion on when it is a good time to start using sign language with your baby.  Some of the studies say that you shouldn’t start until they are at least 6 months old, others say that you can start when ever you want, and many of them say you need to look for developmental stages to know if they are ready.  As a baby sign language teacher, I have noticed that it is different for every parent.

For instance, if you are already familiar with using sign language, and it’s not something that you have to learn, then it may be very natural for you to use sign language in every day situations.  This parent would be less likely to stop using the signs consistently or to stop using the signs if they haven’t noticed results quickly enough.

On the other hand, if the parent is just learning the signs and it doesn’t feel as natural to use the signs in every day situations, then it becomes more difficult to maintain continuous use of the signs.  Many of the parents I’ve taught get so excited to start using the signs with their children that they begin when the baby is really young.  After a few weeks or maybe a months of signing with their baby, they tend to forget about how important it is to use the signs on a consistent basis.  Most of these parents end up not using the sign language for a few months and then pick it back up when they notice that their child is a lot more interactive… and at this point, the baby usually starts signing very quickly with them.

So with this information in mind, I believe that it is okay to start using sign language with your baby as soon as the parent is ready to use it consistently.  I think what happens is a lot of parents start using sign language with their children early on, months before the baby will actually be able to produce a sign.  Then when the child hasn’t started signing back to them, they don’t see the results and they tend to give up, or just forget to use the sign language.

I tell parents that if they are ready to use the signs everyday (and for those who are just learning it only has to be 1 to 3 signs, it’s very simple), then they can start signing any time they like.  The truth is, if you are watching your child closely, there are many others indicators to let you know that your baby is picking up on the signs and comprehending this visual form of communication.  I’ve mentioned before that my daughter didn’t start actually producing the signs back to me until she was almost 11 months old, but she was most definitely comprehending the signs before she was 6 months old.

I hope that this information has cleared up any confusion about when to start using baby sign language.  If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Andrea Ploehn, Founder Signing 4 Baby

I know that sometimes it can be confusing when you first start to use sign language with your baby.  It’s hard to know if you’re doing it right, or if the baby is responding how they should.  One thing that I found was helpful was to look for the different stages of signing.  We like to call it the baby sign experience.

The stages to look for are:

1.  Entertainment- at first your baby will just watch you, he thinks it’s fun to see your hands moving, and your facial expressions.

2.  Comprehending- your baby will begin to understand your signs, even though he wont be able to imitate the sign himself.

3.  Sign Success- your baby will be able to produce a sign on his own.

4.  Sign Trials- your baby will experiment with signs, using them in different contexts.

5.  Signing Feast and Fun- your baby has gotten to the point that he fully understands that using signs represents other objects, emotions, actions, etc… He will then look to you for more signs so that he can continue to more fully express himself.

These are the basic 5 stages of baby sign language.  If you want more details and specific examples of the stages you can visit the signing 4 baby home page at www.signing4baby.com

I would love to hear your stories and answer any questions you may have about your baby.  Write in and ask questions about what stage your baby may be in, and let us know the things you have noticed in that stage.

Remember to be consistent… and I promise the results will be amazing!

Andrea Ploehn, Signing 4 Baby Founder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(October 2007)

This article is about the usage of sign language to communicate with infants and toddlers.
Contents

1. Development
2. Purpose
3. Vocabulary
4. Need-based
5. Highly motivating

1. Development

In the United States, teaching sign language to non-signing families to communicate with their hearing infants and toddlers was developed by Linda Acredolo, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and Susan Goodwyn, professor of psychology at California State University, Stanislaus.[citation needed] Their research began in 1982, and produced a 1985 article in Human Development titled “Symbolic gesturing in language development: A case study.”

Joseph Garcia, an ASL interpreter and a leading proponent of use of ASL in communicating with infants and toddlers, began with his graduate thesis in 1986, an analysis of the role sign language could play early childhood language acquisition. His research indicated that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently at six to seven months of age can begin using signs effectively by the eighth or ninth month.

2. Purpose

These proponents believe that while infants and toddlers have a desire to communicate their needs and wishes, they lack the ability to do so clearly because the production of speech, which requires coordinating the lips, tongue, breath, and vocal cords simultaneously, lags behind cognitive ability in the first months and years of life.[citation needed] This gap between desire to communicate and ability often leads to frustration and tantrums.[citation needed] Proponents believe that hand-eye coordination is possible in advance of the acquisition of verbal skills, and that infants can learn to express their needs using simple signs for common words such as “eat”, “sleep”, “more”, “hug”, “play”, “cookie”, “teddy bear”, etc., before they are able to produce understandable speech.

3. Vocabulary
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (October 2007)

Proponents have identified two main categories of words used, those which are “need-based” and those which are “highly motivating”.

4. Need-based

Need-based signs include such signs as “drink”, “food”, “sleepy”, “hot”/”cold”, “change me”, etc. “Drink” or “thirst” can be expressed by mimicking drinking out of a bottle. “Eating” could be expressed by making a similar motion, or by rubbing one’s stomach.

5. Highly motivating

Highly motivating signs focuses on items of interest or entertainment to the child, such as signs for “doggy”, “toy”, “friend”, etc. A parent can encourage growth in the child’s vocabulary by teaching them signs for items that the child desires and seeks out.