Baby Signs | Imamother

Log in / Sign Up

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following My Posts Bookmarks

Private Messages Advanced Search Rules New User Guide FAQ Advertise Contact Us

Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

Baby Signs

1 2 Next

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

Do u use baby sign language?

yes

17%

[ 4 ]

82%

[ 19 ]

Total Votes : 23

baby's mom

Wed, Jul 06 2005, 2:40 am

I heard that it helps a child communicate without frustration and I plan on giving it a try!

Its quite easy you just need to remember to keep doing it. Basically you say the word and do the motion each time. (there are books with what the motions are) for example hat, you tap your head twice)

My friend did it with her baby she can almost always understand him and he doesnt get frustrated cause she knows what he wants.

proudmom

Wed, Jul 06 2005, 10:21 pm

my aunt used it, and it really worked for her.

miriam

Wed, Jul 06 2005, 10:23 pm

I don't do it but I think it's great. I love teaching children to be bilingual. Signing is another language.

stem

Wed, Jul 06 2005, 10:25 pm

I don't but I wish I did. My son is almost 16 months and does not talk at all (besides dada, mama). Oh well, maybe next time.

proudmom

Wed, Jul 06 2005, 10:33 pm

Stem, you can still try.

baby's mom

Thu, Jul 07 2005, 12:13 am

stem, its not too late. parents use baby signs without realizing it, like waving... its just a matter of adding some more!

queen

Thu, Jul 07 2005, 12:56 am

do you mean: creating a signal that the baby would use giving over the message that he wants something to drink vs. making undefinable motions and cries until he is understood?

baby's mom

Thu, Jul 07 2005, 1:33 pm

queen wrote:

do you mean: creating a signal that the baby would use giving over the message that he wants something to drink vs. making undefinable motions and cries until he is understood?

yup.
There are universal signs for babies.

At about 9 months, you can even start earlier, you introduce these signs to your baby.

You say the word and demonstrate it ex. eat and bring fingertips to lips.

each time you say eat you show the same sign and eventually your child can show you when he wants to eat, for example.

there are baby sign books, where they tell you different signs for your child to be able to communicate

for ex, shoe, sit down, love, airplane, big, ice cream, gentle, hair, diaper, cookie, baby, bird, bike..and the list goes on and on. you can invent your own, its all about being concistent. always doing the same mmotion for the word (and saying the word so the baby makes the connection.

Its so cute to watch a child communicate before they can talk!!
This has helped so many babies!

nicole81

Thu, Jul 07 2005, 3:42 pm

dd is 3 months. I didn't think I was going to sign, but now I'm rethinking...

smile

Thu, Jul 07 2005, 4:28 pm

Any examples to list. I would love to try it.

baby's mom

Sun, Jul 24 2005, 9:07 pm

There are so many. Here are a few:

Drink: bring thumb to lips
Hat: pat head
Big: raise both hands high
Book: open and close palms
diaper: pat hip
Hot: blow, blow, blow
hurt: touch index fingers together
sleep: rest head on hands
car:make steering motion
noise: cup hand behind ear

Check out Baby signs book "how to talk with your baby before your baby can talk" by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn

Motek

Wed, Jul 27 2005, 7:26 pm

IF you think it's marvelous to have your child learn sign language and consider it as their being bilingual, then I agree with those who say you should teach them REAL sign language.

Personally, I find it creepy to teach a hearing child what one would teach a deaf child and if the idea behind baby sign is to lessen your child's frustration and gives them a way for them to tell you, I'm thirsty, I want a drink, I am hungry, I see a dog, please read me a book and so on, whatever happened to mother's knowing what their child means and needs?

Granted, mothers don't ALWAYS know what their child wants and needs, but don't they know most of the time?

And if takes a lot of effort and patience to keep repeating the signs until the baby catches on and uses it, couldn't the time be spent on actual WORDS?

what I write above is for normal children, I can see where sign language could be helpful if a child has an actual language problem

baby's mom

Wed, Jul 27 2005, 8:26 pm

Quote:

[quote="Motek"]IF you think it's marvelous to have your child learn sign language and consider it as their being bilingual, then I agree with those who say you should teach them REAL sign language.

How is sign language billingual? Do u put that on your resume as another language?

Quote:

Personally, I find it creepy to teach a hearing child what one would teach a deaf child and if the idea behind baby sign is to lessen your child's frustration and gives them a way for them to tell you, I'm thirsty, I want a drink, I am hungry, I see a dog, please read me a book and so on, whatever happened to mother's knowing what their child means and needs?

Granted, mothers don't ALWAYS know what their child wants and needs, but don't they know most of the time?

thats just the point mothers do not always know what the child wants, and that is frustrating to both mother and child. This is teaching communication skills.
You cannot make a child talk at a certain age, you can talk to your child and that helps them learn speech but until they actually master language there can be a lot of communication through sign language.

Quote:

And if takes a lot of effort and patience to keep repeating the signs until the baby catches on and uses it, couldn't the time be spent on actual WORDS?

being a mother takes a lot of effort and patience. What about manners, dont you constantly need to remind your child to say please and thank you?
Besides we humans communicate and speak using a great deal of body language. So without much effort you're teaching your child sign language. ex, be quiet, finger to lips or just waving good bye.

Mandy

Wed, Jul 27 2005, 11:20 pm

I think the idea is that once a brain is trained to remember symbols and use them to communicate, it is easier to do it with another set of symbols. Like a Hispanic kid who knows Spanish well will have an easier time learning English than a Hispanic kid who doesn't know Spanish well. With babies, it is easier to teach signs b/c it is "hands-on" . So if they learn that system of symbols first , then it might be easier to learn words.

hisorerus

Wed, Jul 27 2005, 11:26 pm

Their hands are more developed and able to sign far before their mouths are developed enough to speak, even though they can understand. They say not to JUST sign, but say the words as well- when they can start speaking, they will.

mommy2

Thu, Jul 28 2005, 9:21 pm

baby's mom r u signing?

baby's mom

Thu, Jul 28 2005, 10:09 pm

I will G-d willing introduce some in a few weeks Exclamation

baby's mom

Sun, Jan 15 2006, 9:57 pm

So I gave the signs a try and BH was very successful!!
At 10-11 months my daughter was able to communicate to me that she wants to eat, wants more, "hot", bird, book..and many more. I also found it very easy to teach the signs. I repeated them over and over for 5 minutes while doing the sign and saying the word and she got it!
Definitely makes my life easier. When we were at my in laws, she wanted to eat and my mil brought her to me becuase she understood the signs. No tears, no screaming, no frustration!

Last edited by baby's mom on Sun, Jan 15 2006, 10:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

Meema2Kids

Sun, Jan 15 2006, 10:12 pm

We used sign with my DD since she was 9 months, and she had over 30 signs by the time she was 14 mos old. It did cut down on the frustration. When she did start talking, her vocabulary exploded. We used it with DS#1 from about 17mos because he wasn't talking and was so frustrated. DS#2 understands signs but doesn't do them himself (except for a few he made up himself - like "tickle!"). We always used ASL because it was easier for me to remember the signs if I could look them up in a book.

IT was pretty amazing!!

Frumom

Mon, Jan 16 2006, 11:24 am

I've never heard of that before. It sounds really interesting, the thing is, after the baby learns to sign when he/she needs or wants something won't that get them to start talking later because they realize that they are already communicating and can get what they want just by signing? Just curious, I'm not arguing- just asking.

Page 1 of 2

1 2 Next