My little 11 month old got a few of his signs mixed up… which happens, you just have to connect the reasons why this happens sometimes.  I used to nurse my son to sleep right before bed, so a lot of the time when I was about to put him in bed I would say “time to go night night” and I’d sign bed.  Without realizing it though I would go to feed him first.  Then after awhile when I would ask Ben if he was hungry he would start signing bed or night night.  At first I thought he was tired so I’d go to lay him down and he would cry and look at me like I was making a mistake.  After a few time of this happening I quickly put the pieces together and realized how I had confused him.  After that I started differentiating eat and bed and correcting his signing if he used the wrong one.  It only took a couple days and he understood the difference, and that was at 11 months old.  I can’t believe how observant they are!

So if you’ve noticed your little one has gotten a sign mixed up make sure to differentiate between your signs and then correct your little one by showing them the correct sign.  If they still aren’t getting it, try to be more consistent and even take there hands and physically show them the sign you want them to do.  When I’m teaching my son signs for the first time for a few days I while take his hands and help him mimic the sign correctly, it helps them to feel what they are visually seeing.

Good luck and have fun!

Andrea Ploehn