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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder if baby signing is a waste of time?

117 replies

autumnlights12 · 20/09/2012 19:13

I'm signed up to a class which begins tomorrow; seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, I'm sat here idly wondering why I signed up. Slightly empty diary at end of week, so wanted to start filling it up, probably.
So baby signing Mnetters, is it worth it? Does it help? Is it fun? Does it help them to communicate? This is my third baby and a friend made a comment today that she thought baby signing was: 'for keen first time parents who are in a rush for the next stage'. And frankly, if I'm to walk into a room full of people I've never laid eyes on before, god help me it had better be worth it!

OP posts:

Original poster

autumnlights12 · 22/09/2012 14:59

bottom line for me is: will this be fun? And yes, it was. We really enjoyed it.
I wish we'd done it with dd1 who didn't say a word until she was 3. (and now speaks better than most 12 year olds, top set English etc.) She was very very frustrated and signing might have been our salvation.

OP posts:

MainlyMaynie · 22/09/2012 15:00

Someone once mentioned on here their 14 month-old signing for milk. Mine just comes over and pulls my top down, so something more discreet might be useful...

Tanith · 22/09/2012 15:04

We do it with all our minded children. My own daughter signs almost as much as she speaks (she's 3).
It does mean that communication with any child who has special needs is much easier.

It's also a 2nd language for them and helps develop their fine motor skills.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 22/09/2012 15:16

MrsDV I really want to sign with ds but there are no baby signing classes near me. If I do it at home with BSL or Makaton are there any baby friendly dvds or books you know of? I don't know if it will help him communicate ss a baby but it would be a great skill for us both to learn :)

Hopandaskip · 22/09/2012 15:54

But the faddy middle class 'lets invent a new class as a way of persuading anxious middle class mums to part with cash' is pretty pointless IMO.

Didn't cost me a penny. DH and I just started signing things as I said them at home. "Do you want some more" (while I signed more several times) or Where is your hat (signing where and hat) Some signs were BSL that I knew or looked up, some were invented ones that made sense for us. My kids both stopped signing once their speech was up to speed.

One thing that signing really helped with was understanding early speech. DS would say something and I would have no clue what he was saying. He would try again more emphatically and I would guess again (usually wrongly). Finally he would say it and sign it and I would get it and then know what he was saying.

OrangeandGoldMrsDeVere · 22/09/2012 16:09

english I think it's hard to learn sign from books because they are 2d iyswim.
I would go for DVDs.
Lots of the Deaf orgs have clips on their websites and links to good signing sites.
I have an app on my iPad and my dcs love it. It wasn't expensive.

Best to pick a few signs for words you use a lot. Milk, more, hungry, finished. Are good ones.

If I get a chance to get on the laptop later I will see if I can find any good sites. It's a faff on the iPad.

For those that are worried about signing delaying speech, the rule when signing with hearing children is to always use the word AND the sign together.

Signing with deaf children is different because you are not signing single, English equivalent words. BSL has a complex structure and grammar distinct from English. It is does not translate directly into spoken English.

valiumredhead · 22/09/2012 16:18

You're right, it doesn't translate, I LOVED the fact that it was a completely different language - made it so interesting to learn.

I agree about learning from books - nigh on impossible imo. When I was learning there weren't clips on the web - at that point we didn't even have a computer!- must be much easier now.

For those that are worried about signing delaying speech, the rule when signing with hearing children is to always use the word AND the sign together

YY!

HoratiaWinwood · 22/09/2012 16:31

The dynamics of BSL fascinate me - I get my "fix" by watching sign-interpreted tv programmes wherever possible. It's the layers that get me, that your facial expression plus direction of sign plus position of sign plus precise shape of hand changes "oh look, it's raining" into "ah fuck, it's pissing it down again, isn't that bloody typical".

besmirchedandbewildered · 22/09/2012 16:49

English if you're happy just to do baby signing rather than BSL I'd recommend the Sing and Sign DVDs available at www.singandsign.co.uk. My 2 DDs absolutely loved them both.

valiumredhead · 22/09/2012 17:04

Many many moons ago I was chatted up by a man who signed - I was utterly swooning not because I fancied him but because it's so beautiful to watch, I suppose it the same way people swoon at French/Italian accents Horatio

KitCat26 · 22/09/2012 17:13

I did a taster session, kept up the sign for milk for a week then gave up (lazy). DD1 was about 7mths at the time. She talked pretty well early (not at 7mths though ) so in the end it all worked out for the best. It also seemed expensive for something essentially the babies would learn then outgrow pretty quickly.

I do know other people who have gone and enjoyed it and found it really helpful though and its a nice way to get out and meet other mums with similar aged babies.

HoratiaWinwood · 22/09/2012 18:57

A signing man, you say?

nokidshere · 22/09/2012 19:09

I can't see the point of it but can't see that it would do any harm particularly. I use BSL (for work) but have never signed with my boys and neither of them had "terrible twos" or had any trouble communicating what they wanted. All babies and toddlers use hand and facial expressions to some degree to make sure they are understood.

Its one of those things that you will never know if it was the signing or not that helped with communication. Your child may well have been a great communicator from an early age, or not had tantrums regardless of whether they signed or not.

OrangeandGoldMrsDeVere · 22/09/2012 20:29

English try this site (its BSL)
www.bslforkids.co.uk/

EnglishGirlApproximately · 22/09/2012 20:31

Thank you! I'll bookmark it and have a good look tomorrow

OrangeandGoldMrsDeVere · 22/09/2012 20:58

I have had a look and it has some clear picture resource but not so much video stuff. However you can end up finding stuff if you just keep following links.

That is how I find the most interesting stuff - going from site to site.
:)

MummytoKatie · 23/09/2012 08:43

I am a firm believer that necessity is the mother of invention so wasn't convinced by te idea.

Also dd was a very early talker and my only child so I was able to understand her from very young. By the time my friends were talking about it, it was too late.

It might have more use with a 3rd child where you can't obsess about their every syllable.

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