Baby signing - yes or no

[cathshuck]

Didnt do this with ds 2.5 but really want to with dd nearly 5 months, any tips on how to start.Have bought amazing baby signing book. Is it worth doing?

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My friend had lots of success with this. I was too lazy to give it a go.
I did hear an acquaintance once say that she thought it delayed her dd's speech development though - but who knows.

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I did it with DD1 who is now 4 and she responded really well. I started with her when she was about 7 months but it wasn;t until she was around 1 that she signed back to me - she asked for water and it was fantastic when she knew that I understood what she meant (I think she'd actually been signing for a while but I didn;t realise as she didn't do the actual sign for water - just her version!) From then on she really got it and it didn;t affect her speech at all.

I now do it with DD2 (17m) and she has followed a pretty similar pattern though didn't start signing until a bit later. DD! also loves signing to her sister and finding out some new signs.

I'd definitely give it a go - just don;t forget to say the word at teh same time.

I didn;t go to any classes - I bought the sign and sign DVD which was OK but I found the Joseph Garcia book better - you should be able to pick one up fairly cheap on Ebay.

dp and I have both done BSL, and we did some signing with ds when we realised that he was not in any hurry to start speaking. He still uses certain signs, although he is now pretty good at speaking

Couldn't be ar$ed with dd, though ds did try to get us to use signs to "see what was in her head" . Might be a PFB thing, I suppose...

kids who sign can surprise you. boy suddenly signed ice cream at me at pudding, I was having ice cream, he was having at his request, yogart, hes been using english speech for both for ages.

I have signed with both my DDs. DD1 took to it like a duck to water. By 14 months, she had about 140 words and signs and she could sign some really complex things (like light, pain etc). DD2 is just lazy and can't be bothered. She knows about a dozen signs, but pretty much refuses to sign unless she wants to watch night garden on the tv. She can sign that one alright!

If they get with it, then it is an amazing experience - but not all babies are into it. Still, worth a try I'd say.

think i will give it ago with dd, have signed up so will wait an see. thanks x