Baby signing and stress in mothers

[ovumahead]

Just read this interesting review of some recent research in to the connection between maternal/parental stress and attending baby signing classes.

Discuss!

It doesn't surprise me. If you spend a lot of time with your baby you are tuned in anyway and work out your own communication-you don't need classes.

I intended to say that mothers who join the classes will probably be going to lots of classes and may be competitive mums.

I attended baby sign classes when DS was 9mths old, was the first class we'd ever been to, only thing we ever signed up for, apart from the odd soft play session before we started a regular play group when he was 18mths. I loved our classes they were such a lovely mix of social interaction / singing / signing etc. However I didnt really like that fact that there were 3mth old babies there who just wanted to sleep or feed and from the sounds of it baby sign classes were just one activity the little ones were taken along to in a very busy week. Some had two different classes in a day and they were less than 6mths old!!!!

For the most part I think these were Mothers who knew they had to go back to work when baby was six months so they were cramming in as much baby sign / swimming / yoga / soft play etc etc as they could just so they felt they had 'spent time' with their baby before s/he was full time in nursery.

I think it's because they are the mothers of PFBs, and most of us are more stressed with the first child, who gets yogad and massaged and swum and signed like buggery, while subsequent children lie in their prams and stare at their siblings acting the goat and their mother's drinking coffee.

I agree with the general consesus that the mums were prob already stressed out for whatever reason.
We did baby signing with both our DCs, really helped them communicate before speech, and the classes were great fun. I fail to see how going to the class could turn you into a stressed parent, much more likely that if you're worried about spending 'quality time' or worried/stressed about child's development then that could lead you to be there in the first place.

I'm really considering doing baby signing with my DD, but I am a very laid back Mum. I just think it would be great to be able to communicate with her in another way! This hasn't put me off :)

I agree it's got everything to do with going to structured, and potentially competitive groups...and nothing to do with baby signing!

We're signing with DD, but haven't done any classes whatsoever. I learnt some signs, made up a couple to fit us, and am teaching them to DD as we go. No stress, no pressure. ust a daughter who can communicate a little better than if we hadn't done it.

Yes I'm guessing that the study should have looked at mothers and babies attending classes in general, rather than just baby signing.

I just found it interesting, as baby signing was the only class we've ever done, and we found it really useful - it helped my ds's speech development a lot (I think) but we could have learnt all the signs from a DVD rather than going to classes. Most of the mums seemed a bit uptight and competitive which is why we didn't sign up for a second term, but I'm sure not all mums that take their little ones to baby signing are stressed. I think classes can be a lifesaver for some mums who need some structure in an otherwise very unstructured existence. And some contact with other adults - very important for me when I was on maternity leave!

The link hates me (I'll try again shortly) but I'm not one to let a slender grasp of the facts stand in the way of me having an opinion I Heart MN

Our baby sign class is great. Very laid back and relaxed but then it's free at the childrens center rather than an expensive pay-for-a-block-up-front job.

Agree with others that the study should have looked at other classes aswell.

As for 3m olds being there, well ime they don't really care where they are and surely the point of baby sign classes is for parents to learn the signs so they can use them at home day in day out. No one expects a baby to learn the signs in one session a week or whatever, regardless of age. However it can be fun for parents and lo's.

AS for PFB no doubt there is an element of this for a variety of reasons...new parents are building support networks through things like classes etc, second time around these are probably in place.
Maybe second time parents are quite likely to take a baby along to what ever and older child wants to do as it ensures at least one of them should be engaged. ALso if you want to sign with your baby surely you only need to learn the signs once (not to diminish the social aspect of classes)?

I love signing with DS and know that even if he nver signs back I am happy that it has probably aided his understanding. [hsmile]

Article was a load of old tosh - they took no base line surveys before people took the classes so have no way of knowing if they were stressed before they started!

I did baby signing with number 3 - had just mucked about with signing at home with the other 2. We did Sing & Sign and it was great for 3rd time lazy mum! Got to sit on the floor most of the time - sing a few songs and have a play! Much easier than Tumbletots or baby gym or all the other stuff I did with dc 1 and dc 2! Plus meant dc3 could understand Mr Tumble when he got parked in front of Cbeebies!

We use sign language with DS however he is profoundly Deaf and this is his first language.

I wish people would remember signing is a language for some not just an amusing short term hobby. I think it should be taught in schools as a genuine language option.

I used to take my ds baby signing.

For us it was a nice way to spend a Friday morning, meet some new people and learn what is a very useful skill to have.

We stopped a couple months back as I was heavily pregnant and too tired but we start back again after the half term. Not only am I reallymlooking forward to meeting some more people but looking forward to expanding ds's signs as my best mate has a ds whom is deaf and I want the boy's to be able to communicate with each other.

(not that it makes a dot of difference as they already love playing together and seem to get by quite happily)

I'm not more stressed because of it. In fact it takes a lot of the stress away as I can now communicate with my ds even though he can't talk yet and neither of us are getting frustrated anymore.

I never bothered with classes, just watched Something Special every day with DS. We picked up hundreds of signs and still use some of them now (he's almost 3)

I don't go to a class but love signing.

I suppose it has increased my stress levels a fraction as although DS doesn't use signs, he understands many, and now cries every time someone says 'all gone' to him.

We sign with DS as well. He had developmental delays but seems to have caught up. We started because of this just in case language delay became apparent. No classes used our countries online link. At 22 months he has around 100 signs and about the same amount of words. Its been fantastic as alot of his words are difficult to understand especially at daycare...he now teaches the teachers to sign :o

Agree with mamalino re second language option

We use Makaton with DS who has Autism and was bloody stressful at the start - I dont know if that is connected to his condition though. He now knows about 50 signs.

DD has picked up the signs very easily just from seeing us teaching DS - no stress there.

I think it depends on expectations.