Baby sign- one deaf parent one hearing

[Tiredandlosingit]

Hi all,

Dd is 4 months old and I was looking for advice about baby sign, sign language etc.

I'm hearing but dp is deaf and wears hearing aids. He mostly relies on lip reading as his hearing aids can be painful. He was not born deaf and therefore did not grow up learning BSL (British sign language) as dd gets older I want them to be able to communicate well together.

I wanted to ask whether anyone in a similar situation if we should all try to learn 'official' BSL or go with something like baby sign or makaton?

Thanks 😊

I think the first question is does DP want to learn BSL?

Depends on whether BSL is something your DP wants to learn. Baby sign is based around BSL, albeit simplified signs, and I did it with my children as babies and found it reduced frustration as they could sign for certain things they wanted before they could speak. It was also just a fun activity to do - we went to Sing and Sign classes. That said, we are all hearing, so it was just useful for a short time. DH was already fluent in BSL, having worked with deaf people for years. If you're all as a family going to learn something to facilitate communication between your DP and the rest of you (and your DP is willing to) I would opt for BSL though.

Yes agree it depends on what your DH wants to learn. Although one thing I would say about Makaton is that a lot of nurseries use it, and I put my DD in nursery at 11 months and she could sign for wanting to eat, milk, drink, nappy change, play, music, sleep etc. All her basic wants were covered and the staff could understand her. It really helped her bond with them and settle quickly.