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Original poster

Baby signing/ toddler talk questions

42 replies

Josefgeorjallen · 14/12/2019 19:30

Hi everyone, my first time posting here.

Me and my partner are after some advice or to hear your experiences with baby signing.

We have a 4 month old girl, and a lady at my work does baby signing. I think it sounds like a really cool thing to do with her but my partner has concerns that it might affect her development of spoken language.
Does anyone have any experience with this?
Thanks!
Joe

OP posts:
ThePug · 14/12/2019 19:37

Sing & sign classes were hands down the best class I did with my now almost 4 year old. He could sign SO much by the time he was 12-18 months and it helps hugely with cutting out frustration as they can tell you what they want, as well as what they’re interested in (animal signs were a favourite here). My 15 month old uses signs now too that we’ve been able to reach him at home. My eldest didn’t speak for a while but he was pretty slow on all milestones so it wasn’t attributed to signing at all, and the fact he could sign was really beneficial. My youngest is saying words already so it definitely hasn’t held him back. I’d really recommend the classes Smile

Rufffles · 14/12/2019 19:39

I did Sing & Sign with DS from when he was about 5m through to 13m. We only stopped when I went back to work and could no longer make the sessions.

At almost 22m now, DS' speech is noticeably better than many others his age. People comment on it (unprompted) frequently.

It could be a coincidence - who knows - but that's my experience. If you do sign* up, I expect the teacher will talk you through the golden rules; one of which is that you should always speak the words as you're signing them.

I really enjoyed the classes, and will remember them fondly. Enjoy!

*accidental pun

Rufffles · 14/12/2019 19:40

Total asterisk / bold fail!

Interested in this thread?

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hels71 · 14/12/2019 20:44

We did sing and sign.it was the best thing we did. At 20months dd speech was maybe behind her peers, by 24 months way ahead! She was also less frustrated as she could sign

AllTheHippos · 14/12/2019 20:50

I'm a speech and language therapist. I did simple signing with my babies/toddlers.

All research states that signing only promotes language development. It doesn't stop children talking.

Rainallnight · 14/12/2019 20:51

I think baby signing is kind of nonsense. If you’re attuned to your baby (as the vast, vast majority of people are) you’ll understand them and know what they want. You don’t need makeup-uppy nonsense-peddlers to help you.

I’ve not done it with my kids (obviously). DD’s speech was extremely advanced, DS is a little speech delayed. Makes no difference.

TreeTopTim · 14/12/2019 21:03

I didn't do it with my first but I would definitely do it with my next.

Does anyone have any books that would help? Not sure we have any sing and sign classes near me.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 14/12/2019 21:06

Rainallnight totally agree and I say that as someone who signs (or used to, bit rusty these days)

Selfsettling3 · 14/12/2019 21:09

Signing helps spoken language development. It made life easier for us and DD’s language skills are above average for her age still at 3.5 yrs despite finding out at 2.5 yrs that she has a very mild hearing issue.

JuneSpoon · 14/12/2019 21:09

We just googled "baby sign language more" or "again" or "milk" or whatever. But classes would be nice. Definitely didn't slow down spoken language development. Definitely did enable communication of baby's needs earlier. Have your DH do some research if he's doubtful

Selfsettling3 · 14/12/2019 21:09

TreeTopTim sing and sign have DVDs of their songs that you can buy.

ellesbellesxxx · 14/12/2019 21:10

We didn’t do any signing classes but I did a little makaton with my twins... “help” “drink” “food” for example and it really helped take away some frustration.

onlyoneoftheregimentinstep · 14/12/2019 21:12

Made up nonsense? The baby signing classes that my DGD went to taught British Sign Language through singing. As a toddler she was able to express herself in whole phrases through signing and her acquisition of spoken language was excellent. She was also able to communicate with a hearing impaired child when she started school.

Expressedways · 14/12/2019 21:13

I think it’s supposed to encourage language development? Our daycare did it but all DD ever learned was ‘more’ which she used a lot for food. Her toddler Spanish lessons are going just as well and the only thing she’s picked up from that is ‘guacamole’.
I don’t see what harm could come from trying it though!

Newmumma83 · 14/12/2019 21:18

Hi op, I have done a few classes with my son but we did it later on ... it is meant to help bring speech and communication along quicker.
At one years my son says mum dad nan grandad plugs ( cats name .. a weird one but hey no ) no and yeah ... which I believe is average so not negatively impacted by it

At worst he had a blast at the classes playing with instruments, singing songs and interacting with other kids

At best with 4 classes he learnt to sign hat 🎩... that’s all he learnt but we didn’t do tons as he is now at nursery ... but they do the sign language thing there too.

I think it’s a fab and there was tea and biscuits for parents at the end when the kids played so it was good interaction for the adults too.

My brother did it Religiously with my niece and nephew he learnt the sign language inside out .. they are at school now and were always pretty forward with speech my nephews first word was geese ( when a flock of geese flew by ) and they are both top
Of their class. So
Wouldn’t think it is a negative thing at all.

Newmumma83 · 14/12/2019 21:19

Makaton sign class was the ones we attended by the way not full sign classes

Vanillaradio · 14/12/2019 21:26

We did Tiny Talk with ds from 4 months and it was fab! He very quickly learned to sign milk and food which removed a lot of frustration.
I feel the signing really encouraged his language development,especially between 12 and 18 months. It became really common for him to do a sign for a few days, then try the word with the sign then switch to just the word.
It was also extremely helpful when he wanted me to sing a random song he had heard at nursery, but could only say one or two words, he was usually able to sign enough of the rest that I could figure out the song preventing huge tantrums!

PowerslidePanda · 14/12/2019 21:26

We started signing classes at 4 months. DD signed for the first time at 6 months and could do a good number of signs by age 1. I found it really useful in communicating with her when she was too little to talk.

However, at her 1 year health visitor check, the one area she was behind on in terms of development was her speech - to the extent that she was referred for hearing tests (which came back clear). It was obvious to me that there were no issues with her comprehension, nor her ability to communicate - the problem was specifically with talking. I felt that she was relying too much on signing and had no incentive to talk, so I made the decision to stop signing at that point. Fast forward to now - she's recently had her 2.5 year check and is now smashing her speech milestones and using long and complex sentences with ease.

So to summarise: I'm glad I did signing with her - I think it created a really strong foundation for her communication skills. But I'm also glad I stopped when I did, as I feel that continuing beyond that point would have done more harm than good.

Muddlingalongalone · 14/12/2019 21:35

I did TinyTalk with dd1 & it certainly didn't inhibit speech with her. (Full sentences at 13-14 months)
Dd2 is hearing impaired & aided the recommendation was not to sign to encourage her speech. I still did basic signs with her though & sing & sign coz it seemed bonkers - she had no words at all at 18 months & only spoke at 2 so glad I did.
Now she's 5 I'm looking at learning BSL...

patchworkelephant123 · 14/12/2019 21:42

From a professional point of you, we advise not to as it can actually delay speech due to them signing instead of learning the words

Mskatonic · 14/12/2019 21:43

I did sing and sign with dd1 and I feel it massively helped with her language acquisition, learning how to communicate when she didn't have precise control of her tongue and lips but could make simple hand movements gave her a huge boost and she has very advanced language at less than 2.5 yrs old. I'm definitely going to do it with dd2.

EleanorLavish · 14/12/2019 21:48

When you sign you say the word, you don’t just sign it. So you are constantly saying the words. I’d be amazed if it slowed language.
I did it with my second and theirs children.
Forget even about language/skills etc. It’s a really lovely class, and I met such lovely people at it. I didn’t like mums and tots groups, but found my folk at baby sign. Both my son and I made friends we still see now 10 years later.
Give it a go, I say.

NewName54321 · 14/12/2019 22:03

Patchwork elephant - what profession?

sohypnotic · 14/12/2019 22:24

Have done TinyTalk for about 18 months. DD gone through flurries of picking up signs, milk and food being useful ones early on. I also enjoyed the learning to sign and picked it up quickly. The classes were like any other baby group in their set up, just with more signs/actions during songs. No delayed speech here, DD is 2, knows about 30 ish signs, which isn't a huge amount but we still go as enjoy the class, but by contrast uses almost 700 words correctly and in sentences

FagashJackie · 14/12/2019 22:41

I did it with my middle child as something to get us out and about whilst I was on maternity leave. It was fun and child centred.

She did, and still does have some problems with language, I don't think at all due to a little baby makaton, she's actually had quite a complex linguistic background.

Anyway one day I was reading her one of those books, that's not my rabbit, his nose is too shiny and she signed the sign for signing. So to her shiny sounded like signing.

I would recommend it as a fun thing to do, a chance to meet other mums and a reason to get out and about.