Many parents, especially mothers, say that they can interpret their child’s cries and respond accordingly. As a new mom, I thought it was automatic… and for me it wasn’t. That stressed me out. Plus, even when I could generally distinguish from my baby’s cries what he needed, it was more guesswork than actual science, more contextual thinking than actual understanding.
Worse, I had a boy, and everyone kept saying that boys talk later than girls. Talk about more anxiety on my part. How does one become an intentional parent to a child she cannot respond to properly?
That is where baby sign language came in.
About Baby Sign Language
Baby sign language is actually not much different and mostly derived from American Sign Language (ASL), with an emphasis on what is relevant to a child, like signs/words for feeding, feelings and everyday routines. Where necessary, parents can also use gestural signs or invent their own. The important thing is to use the signs regularly until the child makes the connection and starts using the signs himself.
My Experience with Baby Sign Language
My husband and I started just looking up signs on the internet. We started with milk, sleep, and Mommy. There are no words to describe how it felt when my son first signed milk when he was upset one night. It wasn’t the first time we communicated, of course, but it was the first time he initiated communication knowing I will understand and respond. That got the entire household learning signs to teach to him. Everybody just enjoyed that he was initiating conversations and being very specific.
So, what are the important things about baby sign language that one should know about?
- Baby sign language will not delay speech development, unless you also stop talking to your child. Your child will talk when he is ready and able, and not before. But that does not mean that he has nothing to say until then.
- Learning signs is easy enough but using them and teaching them to a child will require patience and vigilance. A lot will depend on a child’s age and hand dexterity, as well as his interests. The more relevant the sign, the more likely he is to learn it so he can use it.
- You don’t have to spend on seminars and videos to learn but if you have the means, then go for it for they can be very empowering. And fun.
- You can start as early as six months, when your baby is already really sociable. You need not stop once your baby has started speaking. Just teach him other signs for hard to say words to keep his vocabulary expanding.
- Signing allows your child to be as specific as can be. Given the right signs, he can tell you what toys he wants to play with, what things he wants to eat, how he is feeling and what he wants from your desk. That is very liberating for them and helpful for parents.
- You can use sign language across distances and during formal gatherings, promoting intimacy as well as communication.
- An upset child, even if already verbal, will be incoherent when he talks. Signing transcends that limitation.
- Teaching sign language exacts creativity from the parents which is training for all the years they will be helping with homework. It also provides an early opportunity for instilling a love for learning in a child.
- Signing parents claim that it has helped reduce frustration between them and their babies; shortened their reaction time; and empowered their babies to learn more about their environment and initiate conversations.
- Other benefits of baby sign language include communication in families of unique circumstance (as in the case of deaf parents to hearing children or parents to special needs children); increased creative thinking and accelerated literacy skills in hearing babies.
- Studies have shown that baby signing can boost IQ up to 12 points because it stimulates both the right and left hemisphere of the brain. Verbal communication only uses the left side of the brain.
- Baby signing enriches parent-child relationships by establishing and nurturing communication as early as possible. This is particularly beneficial in the long term as communication plays a big role in discipline.
My son, who is two, talks in sentences now but still signs. In fact, he recognizes the letters of the alphabet more when I fingerspell them. Signing has also made bedtime reading more interesting for the both of us. Thus, for me, baby sign language is one of those parenting tools where you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
We taught our first two kids some simple sign language and it was remarkable. It cut their frustration in half and moved them forward in learning a general level of self-control. It was fun too! My third child is mentally handicapped and she didn’t talk until she was five. I would have loved to have been able to teach her the same things! Great post!