My 11 month old already signs back to me.  So far Ben can sign: mom, dad, eat, more, up, all done, dog, and bed.  When he starts to get a little fussy and I’m not sure if he’s hungry or tired I just ask him while signing, ” do you want to eat”, or ” are you tired, do you want to go to bed?”  And it’s amazing at 11 months old he’ll tell me.  Sometimes when I didn’t even know he was tired he’ll sign bed to me… and what do you know I put him in bed and he’s happy.  It always surprises me at how smart babies are, and most of the time the parents have no idea how much their child understands. 

I love baby sign language!!!  I hope parents with little ones don’t miss out on this, because it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done as a parent by far.

Andrea Ploehn

I’m so excited about some new videos  we just finished filming… they’re being edited right now.  I’ve developed an amazing program that has 13 lessons in it.  I decided to put this program together so that parents don’t get overwhelmed and they know exactly what to do and when to do it.  I’ve been teaching baby sign language classes for years now and I tend to get the same questions from parents over and over.  So I took the most common questions and I’ve given you straight forward answers. 

Each lesson contains new signs to work on,  research about baby sign language, skill development tips, personal stories on how the signs worked for me, video clips of babies in the stages of signing, how to implement the new signs, and much more!

I haven’t seen anything else like this anywhere.  This is the ultimate parents guide!  I feel it’s so important for the parents to learn how to use sign language so that they are the primary influence on the babies learning experience.  If the parent isn’t giving their child added attention and interaction, then many of the benefits that are connected with baby signing don’t tend to happen.  The key is the added involvement and connection that the parent has with the child.

I know you guys are going to love this, I’ll let you know when we have everything together!

Andrea Ploehn, www.signing4baby.com

Ben started signing up at 8 months and more at 9 months old.  Here are some great video clips so that you can see some examples of the very first attempts of a baby using sign language.

My son Ben is now 5 and a half months old.  He has become a lot more aware of his mommy.  When I leave the room he’ll start to whimper until I pop my head back in and then he smiles.  He reaches for me when I walk past him and he’s constantly grabbing for everything.  I can tell when my 2 year old walks in the room because Ben will let out a screech even before the toddler comes near him.  He’s already learned that Brandon usually means trouble.  It’s amazing how early they recognize cause and effect patterns.

When you start to notice your baby reaching some of these developmental stages, it’s a good time for you to engage your infant in learning new things.  They are extremely curious and their minds are like little sponges, ready to absorb the world around them.  This is an ideal time to really start using sign language consistently.  Some of you may have already been using signs here and there with your baby already.  If you haven’t started yet, don’t wait any longer.  Your baby is just itching to learn new things and he trusts you to give him the information he needs to continue to develop.

Many parents have told me that after their child reaches this stage in development they can tell that he picks up on the meaning of the signs they are using very quickly.  I personally agree, I noticed my children have become intensely aware of the signs I use right around this point.  Up until now they had been in the first stage, Entertainment. It was very clear to me that they were moving on to the second developmental stage of baby sign language, Comprehending. After the child reaches this stage you can be sure it wont be long until they progress very quickly through the remaining stages and will be signing back to you very soon.

I’ve decided to post the developmental stages for you again so that you can easily track your child’s progression.

Developmental Stages of Baby Sign Language: helpful answers to questions

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

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

Andrea Ploehn, Signing 4 Baby Founder