Baby Signing - Has anyone taught their baby to sign?

[RGPargy]

I am very interested in teaching my baby some basic and simple signs to help us communicate. Has anyone done this before? If so, what is a good age to start teaching them and do you have any links to sites we could learn from? Is it necessary to go to the classes or will books/internet do the job just as well?

Yes i taught my son (about 9/10 months old at the time iir) some basic signs milk, biscuit, grapes, apple, cake and although i did take him to a few signing classes i don't really think it's necessary unless you want to go for ages and get them to learn loads of signs. Someone gave me a great book with all the basic signs you would need and that was just as useful. He picked them up fairly quickly and i definitely think it helped lessen the frustration when he wanted to communicate. He was an early talker and at 2.3 has a massive vocab and rattles in big long sentences non stop, so don't ever worry that it will interfere with them talking!

Yup. We've done signing classes once a week since dd was 6 months old.

To be perfectly honest, I never really went into it with the intention of having a super-communicative uber-signing baby, I was more interested in finding a fun class that we both enjoyed and having a bit of a sing with actions. I have been quite lazy about signing at home, particularly in the early days.

She's now 20 months and signs beautifully. She also talks more than she signs though, so it's still more of a fun thing than a communication thing for us. We still go to classes because she loves them. Also, I must admit that the signing is useful and stops her getting frustrated when she doesn't know a word or when her (stoooopid) mummy can't work out what she's saying.

She picked up the signs easily. I would really recommend it. I have friends with less talkative babies than mine who swear by it to help the frustrating stage when they know what they want to say but can't. Also it's brilliant for helping them to understand concepts.

Big thumbs up from the Spears household.

Also, it's not just about them communicating with you, but also them understanding what you are saying to them.

Before she could tell me that she was hungry or understand me asking if she was hungry, she would recognise the 'hungry' sign when I did it and would respond.

Ooh, I'm interested in this too. My hairdresser (!) is a professionally-trained signer (he learned so that he could talk to his deaf boyfriend) and has taught loads of mums/babies.

Here's what Amazon has to offer - he recommends a DVD! If you go ahead, will you report back?!

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=baby+signing&Go.x=15&Go.y=9& Go=Go

Umm, don't know if that link will work...

I did this when I was still in that PFB daze of madness. I went to sing and sign and spent over £100 on classes.

To be quite honest, to get babies signing takes a lot of commitment on your part. You have to constantly do the signs to get them to sink in. The only one I ever consistently remembered to do was the sign for "finished" at the end of a meal. This is the one sign my son will do.

The problem for me was that I was too tired/lazy to remember to do the signs. Plus, I went back to work so my son was with my husband, grandparents etc who didn't know many of the signs and weren't overly enthusiastic about doing them.

The other thing with the class is that I found it just a little bit boring, as we sang the same songs every week.

I liked the idea of it all but I just don't have the staying power to go all the way!

Hi there. I'm a Speech and Language Therapist and I've just started running my own baby signing classes. I also sign with my children, and 19 month old ds2 is still using loads of signs to get his message across (as well as sounds).

It's a fab thing to do, I can't recommend it highly enough, but as others have said, you do need to do it regularly. But you'll find that some signs "stick" in your daily routine more than others, and also that it becomes slightly second nature to you after a while, and you don't even realise you're doing it. And when your baby makes their first sign, it's a wonderful moment, brings a tear to your eye!

By the way, whereabouts are you? My signing class is in Chelmsford, and it's two quid cheaper than sign and sign, plus we have excellent cakes!

Meant to say, (in answer to your OP) you can sign with your baby from birth, but they don't really take too much notice till 4-6 months, and won't start signing back until 6-8 months at the earliest.

Wow, thanx for all your replies!

I know it's a commitment on my part and i'm prepared to put in the hours and as i'll only be going back to work 2 days a week, I reckon it should still work. I've got quite a bit of time to go yet as DD is only 8 weeks at the moment lol.

Jammy - I'm in Kent, so not too far from Chelmsford, although i reckon a little too far for classes tho. Shame, as I'd come just for the cake!

So basically, it's best to start them at around 4-6 months but dont expect them to sign back for a bit.

Out of interest, if the sign for food is putting your fingers to your mouth, what is the sign for a boob feed? Would i leave the hungry sign for when they're on solids or use it with mummy milk too?

The sign for milk is one hand doing a squeezing action (it's based on British Sign Language). Hold your hand next to your breast to indicate boob feed, or away from your body for other types of milk! The sign for eat/food/breakfast etc is tapping bunched fingers next to your mouth. Actually if your baby is only 8 weeks I would just start with milk, rather than thinking about the sign for hungry etc..if you sign just before and while you're feeding (making sure you say the word at the same time and try to get eye contact too), then baby will soon make the connection.

Shame Kent's a bit far isn't it! Like someone else said below, classes aren't really necessary though, as there are some great books around. Joseph Garcia's Complete Guide to Baby Signing is great but expensive (30.00), but comes with DVD. You can usually get it out of the library though, and it's worth doing as it's all you need (I should be on commission!)

Good luck, let me know if you want any more info.
x Jammy

i taught ds to sign - but he'll only ever sign to me, not dh or my parents. i'm going back to work soon and i know the nursery doesn't do it, so i'm wondering if he'll remember!!

IIRC, the sign that your baby is ready to learn signing is that they start waving hello and goodbye, but then i've also known 6 month old babies who sign along to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, so i might be totally off with that...

I used basic signing with my son from being about 6 months old. I didn't go to any classes as I already knew lots of signs, I used to work with a child who communicated through sign-a-long (a simplified version of makaton). I loved the fact that my son could "tell" me what he wanted before his speach developed. The problem I had however was when I returned to work and he began nursery. The staff didn't understand some of his signs (most are pretty obvious) and he would get frustrated. I explained the more confusing signs to them and they were fantastic. The nursery has now adopted signing in the baby room and they have a list of signs on the door for parents to look at. If it is just for you, your child and your family to use together then it doesn't really matter what signs you use as long as you all know what a particular action means. I stopped using sign as his speach developed as it had served it's purpose when we needed it.

I started a few simple signs from DD being a newborn. According to my blog here She started signing 'milk' at 6 month old !!!

We didn't have the money for classes so I just taught her from an online BSL dictionary I found at the time(link is in the blog entry above)

We still sign at 17 months, milk, food, more, finished, toilet, bed, home, maybe a few more. But she is talking more and more and I assume the signs will drop off at some point.

I have a small basic sign language book if you are interested for free? I was going to learn with my son but never got round to it and now he is almost 2.5 yo he is going to a special nursery where they use some signs and has picked them up really well. (He is going to special nursery as he is suspected as having autism, not so sure myself though!!)

we sign, but rarely make the classes. ds does do some signs - milk, all gone, rabbit and a couple more - but most interestingly he has made up his own signs for bath, food, and horse. i think it has taught him that we try to understand what he is trying to tell us.

the ones he has learnt are the ones we spent aaaaagggeeess signing to him. it does take a lot of persistence - he still doesnt sign 'drink', but can get the message across without it.

If you are serious about it, go to a couple of classes, and get a book to followup for yourself.

Am not an expert, but does anyone know anything about the other side of the argument? I have heard some people argue that teaching signing can slow spoken language development in some cases, as babies don't need to use their voices to ask for things. Any thoughts?

Also not an expert Sycamore, but in my experience I have found the opposite to be true. Signing has encouraged my little girl to communicate, and she was definitely not a late speaker.

Mostly, I would have thought that children want to learn and want to do it like mummy and daddy, so by teaching a child to sign you are not going to take away their desire to speak, just give them (and you) a useful tool to use where their speech isn't developing as fast as their need to communicate.

I think it's important never to sign without saying the word - no mime artists need apply!

Again, not an expert at all.

Appologies for coming across as a real signing zealot here - I'm not really, it's just something my little girl and I have done and enjoyed.

Just wanted to add, particularly after reading bunnyhunny's post, that it's not just about your baby learning to do the signs. It's also about them understanding when you do them. Even if your baby doesn't sign 'milk' it is likely that they get your drift straight away when you do it.

I think it really helped my little girl realise (earlier than she otherwise would have done) that communication was an option.

ST I am training to become a Makaton teacher, this is a simple form based on BSL.

With Makaton it is really important that you say the word at the same time as signing.

There was some information/study (iirc) which was negative about signing for babes, but this was based on signing unnacompanied by speach. The retention of new words/signs has proved to be higher for babies who hear and see the 'word'.

I learnt for use with my DS who has SN, he could sign before he could speak. Now his vocab is improving he doesn't sign as much unless he is a bit cross with me - eg if I am ignoring his request for a biscuit! I use sign as a secondary form of communication - a back up if you like. It helps get his attention (particularly in a busy/noisy environment) and the message across.

I agree with broccoli, I think signing helps with communication and perhaps more than just the words I think. My son is a late developer and is actually going through the process of tests for autism however within the speech therapy and special nursery that he is attending they use signing (as well as saying the words at the same time) and he has come on leaps and bounds and is now saying alot of words which I think comes from him realising he can communicate and get himself understood. I can't see that it can delay speech at all.

benfmsmum - that would be great, thanx very much! Do you want postage? I can paypal you. Please email at rgpargy at yahoo dot com and i'll give you my address.

There are some really interesting replies in this thread. I think it's deffo something i want to do as i know with DS that it was frustrating when he couldn't tell me what it was he wanted etc.

Jammy - thanx for the milk sign.

It's a shame that alot of nurseries dont do any signing. I think it's a great way for little ones to communicate and there might even be alot less tantrums because of the lack of frustration, thanx to them being able to sign. I deffo dont believe that it stops them from developing their speech.

Chubby - how wonderful that the nursery was so supportive of your signing.

Babies - am just reading your blog now.

Have emailed you rgpargy!

I did try some signing, i went to a short course run by hv and salt (3/4 sessions) where they taught us the signs and recommended ways of using them, introducing signs through books etc.

dd did sign milk and finished consistently from i suppose 6 months, as she was def signing when being weaned. She doesnt sign at all now at 20 months but all the words she signed she now can say, with many more new ones, and i think it has helped interest her in communication as she will have a go at pronouncing any new word she comes across and likes. She now can reel off sentences, the majority of which start I want to xxxxx or I no want to xxxxxx. We are aiming to teach her two languages (i had hoped perhaps signing would help her identify that there are at least two words for everything!) and she has learnt both words for fav objects, like my tummy (am pregnant and you cant miss it).

benfmsmum - replied!

can i also add that we went through the things that ds can communicate with us. we found that
he will say things (like noises for things), and sign things he doesn't say.

all in all he can communicate about 12 - 15 things and he is 12 months. I dont know if that is good or bad. but I think signing helps him realise that we will try to work out what he is trying to say. hth

We had some friends to stay last weekend, and her youngest ds was great at signing! It's not something I did with my dd, but I certainly will if I have another.

www.chelltune.co.uk has lots of signing stuff.