Baby sign language - anyone had any success?

[Sbena]

Baby is almost 10 1/2mo and I first introduced one sign about 3-4 weeks ago. I've not really been forcing it, but we do the sign for "finished" after every meal. He loves seeing me do it, and he loves when I hold up his hands to make the sign but he has never done it independently.

Has anyone had any success with baby sign language? Would love to not bother, but I feel that if he could eventually use it and communicate a little it would make everyone's lives easier!

Yes has really helped my son. Being able to sign more/finished/drink/ etc has been really useful. We just taught him through the sing and sign online lesson. He was slightly slow to learn to talk and signs really helped him to communicate. He now is just two and has lots more words but he still signs words he can't yet pronounce. Would recommend.

DD was born Deaf so BSL is her first language so picked up sign v quickly - had 25 signs by her first birthday.

Yes ds learnt lots of signs and it really helped before he could speak clearly.

Yep, my daughter had about 10 signs we used regularly, it's decreasing as she has more words. Although she still signs & asks for "more" together which is cute

It helped us as well but we started around 3 months old.

Yes it was great for my son from about a year. He'd 3.5 now and we still sign some things.

Yes, we did Tiny Talk classes from when DD was about 3mo and got to about 25 signs or so I think. I found that they came in spurts, so you'd have nothing for a while and then one week she'd suddenly do three new ones out of nowhere. Duck was her favourite!

Yes, we done tiny talk classes and she picked them up really well! Still uses some signs at 3 like please and thank you.

Yes, really helpful, I bought flashcards to help me learn. We still use the sign for toilet and thank you if we're trying to be subtle and my girls are 4 and 8.

The good ones were milk, finished, home, nappy, more but also lovely 'conversations' with bird, cat etc.

I have three kids so did many baby classes, I have to say baby signing was the most tedious waste of money I ever did. Most of the group felt the same as by week four we had all ditched the class and met for coffee instead.

Yes we did a little with my first.
He was born with a cleft and part of that is he had glue ear from birth. Didn't pass a hearing test until about 2 years old and had grommets. Anyway, he took to it well and picked up a few bits quickly which helped him and us understand

We did baby signing. It was fun and our daughter picked it up quickly. We used it alongside speech and I think it really helped her to communicate before her speech had developed. She was signing in sentences before she could speak!

We did Tiny Talk from around 3mo and still do their toddler talking classes now (2.5yo). DD had loads of signs, it really helped when she couldn't talk. Now she doesn't stop talking and rarely signs but it filled the gap. The classes are still nice because she likes the singing and they have an emphasis on saying the words as well as signing them. Also the teacher brings us tea and biscuits so it's win win would definitely recommend a weekly class if you have any near you!

Yes I did baby signing and moved to Makaton as DS got older - highly recommend it. DS still uses it now and he's 4 they also teach it in a lot of school settings now.

Yes we did. I think the trick is to focus on the most crucial signs - the ones that can meet their needs, like drink/milk, food/eat, more, pain, sleep, change nappy.

Its alright singing the songs but actually think about if its really necessary for your child to know how to sign horse or aunt or whatever....

I think the trick is to do a few signs but consistently and often.

When dd was about 11 months she woke up one morning and i asked her what she wanted for breakfast. She signed food and cold - i asked if she meant icecream and she nodded super enthusiastically. So that day we had icecream for breakfast! Just because i was so amazed that id asked a question and got an actual answer.

Now my dc are lots older, the only signs we use are 'time to go home' when i dont want to holler across the playground.

Yes. Our daughter learned by watching the Sing and Sign videos online. Although she doesn't need to sign anymore, she still loves the songs.

Yes I did sing and sign with DD and concentrated on signs that got her needs met. It meant when she went to nursery at 1 she could sign for more, drink, milk, food and change nappy. Keep persevering OP and try an easy one like milk or more.

We did Tiny Talk. DD is 14 and we all, plus my DM and DD still sign 'toilet' when in a big crowd!

It was so handy to be able to tell DD what to do or ask her if she wanted a drink
without shouting to her across a crowded room or in soft play!

Try a different sign 'milk', 'eat', 'drink', 'more' and 'home' might encourage him to sign more.

I took Dd to TinyTalk and found that signing was brilliant for Dd, she was signing sentences before she was a year 'more biscuit please' to be exact and massively helped her speech. She barely cried as a toddler because she could communicate her needs and this massively reduced the frustration many toddlers feel. For it to work you need to use the sign everytime you say the word. I would sign whenever talking to Dd or singing nursery rhymes, as a toddler when on the bus we would sign to each other instead of talk as it was noisy.

Ds had infantile epilepsy so his development was significantly delayed, didn't actually talk until he was nearly 5.

Baby signing was a lifesaver for us as it allowed him to communicate his needs - his preschool leaders and reception teachers were all trained in Makaton especially for DS for which we will be forever grateful.

Dh and I both learned and our 2 older kids picked it up as well - I can remember being in France for a family wedding and walking across a car park at the services to look at a livestock trailer (we're farmers!) and signing "pigs" across the carpark to dh! It was just a completely normal part of our life by that point! 😂😂

This sounds amazing. We don't have Tiny Talk here in Ireland, is it something we can practice ourselves at home or would you need to go to classes?

@shivawn Tinytalk is just a franchise baby group where you learn new signs, a bit of free play and sign along to nursery rhymes. There are lots of videos on YouTube of signing with toddlers. Once a baby has control of their hands to clap they can start to sign, 'milk' is an easy one just open and close your fist. We used a mixture of BSL taught at Tinytalk Makaton from Something Special on cbeebies and the random ones we made up as a family. You need to persevere but they do get it and it makes life much easier.

There are some books we had for DD with signs to learn in this series. There's an animal one too. Nice and simple ones to get started! You can definitely do it yourself., Tiny Talk is just a baby class that incorporates it but the bulk of the learning is does at home anyway.

www.amazon.co.uk/My-First-Signs-Baby-Signing/dp/1904550045/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1Z9D5Y1GUJ4FB&keywords=baby+sign+language&qid=1654983261&sprefix=baby+sign+languag%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-5

@Singleandproud and @Hugasauras Thank you!! My baby has just turned 8 months and isn't clapping yet but I'm going to get started practicing a few signs with him! Thanks for the advice x

Single, She barely cried as a toddler because she could communicate her needs and this massively reduced the frustration many toddlers feel.
This.
We did Sing and Sign dvds from about 8-9 months and it was incredible to see how DDs signing vocabulary built up over time.