I just had a new baby and my 2 year old has started to act up.  I know he’s not getting quite as much attention as he used to.  So I decided to find activities that he’s good at that can make him feel important in a short amount of time.  When he was a baby I taught him American sign language.  He learned over 200 signs.  When he started to talk more and more, we just didn’t use the signs as much.  But now, as a positive reinforcer, I’ve brought back the signs when we are watching a cartoon, reading a book, sitting down to eat, or learning about colors.  I can tell he is already starting to respond, because he feels cool (probably because he’s doing something the baby can’t).  I’ve also tried to involve him in teaching the new baby signs.  He loves this!  I can tell it makes him feel so important and it allows him to interact with the baby in a positive way.  If my toddler starts to get rough with his new brother I distract him by asking him to teach the baby another sign.  He’ll grab his brothers chubby little hands and try to make him do the sign.. it’s pretty darn cute.

Andrea Burton Ploehn, www.signing4baby.com

The other day I was in the store and Brandon was signing, “Sad baby”. I looked around and there was a baby in the other line crying. I hadn’t even noticed him crying, but Brandon was really concerned. I thought it was amazing that at his young age he connected a baby crying with the baby being sad. Insights like this have let me know that I can teach even more advanced things and give him a jump-start.

Researchers Acredola and Goodwyn show in a study that “signing babies scored higher in intelligence tests, understood more words, had larger vocabularies and engaged in more sophisticated play. Signing Babies were followed until they were eight years old and on average scored 12 points higher on intelligence tests”.

Using baby sign language is such a great tool for parents, it really does help you tap into your children’s emotions.

Andrea Burton Ploehn