I just bought the book Baby Signs... I had seen something about this method on tv and decided to start learning myself before I have a baby. I find it really interesting... I heard someone here mention that their baby signed, so I was wondering who has used signing with their babies. I read the reviews the book gives but I trust you moms more I also wanted to see if someone used it on one child but not the another. How would you compare them. Is it true that the signing baby learns to talk faster and has a higher IQ?
My mother-in-law is a sign laungage interpretor and I've picked up a lot from her. I taught my kids basic signs, which was easy for me because I tend to talk with my hands anyway. It made it easier to communicate with them before they were able to really express what they wanted. I think it's wonderful that you're considering signing with your baby!
my friend signed with her child and it really helped. even now he can talk veyr very well he still occasionally pats his chest when he says help and puts his hand to his chin to say please its great
I know of one child where the parents taught sign with her, but she didn't speak until she was 3 years old and now has trouble with reading, being 7-8 years old and still unable to read. I think it's fine to teach, but also making sure not to emphasise it so much that you don't help round the child out educationally.
.well , i always got a bit of an odd view on babies and language . it's my experience that babies sign quite naturally , just as they intelligently 'speak' with babble . one common sign is basically the high-five with the fingers spread wide and has the feeling of directness toward the person of their attention . it means 'we are one' . the babble word b'duk would be equivalent in meaning . i know the vocal language better than the signs . another sign is one a kid used when we were conversing babble in the park and speaking of his mother and how she didn't understand . he pointed up with an index finger then with fingers and palm of the other hand cup-shaped he motioned over the index , sorta like one might put out a candle - covered , un-covered , covered - back and forth . in context i took it to mean that i should relate something directly to the mother , and she was in fact holding him on her knee all this time . so i talked english to her about the natural language of babies .
I did some baby signs with Dakota when he was preverbal. Since he spent the first 5 1/2 months of his life in a totally Spanish speaking environment. Then the next two years hearing Spanish all day in day care and English at home at night and on weekends, he was delayed in his speech. When he did start to speak he used words in both languages as well as his own made-up words. An example would be ganah. Everytime he wanted milk he said ganah. That's not a word for milk in English or Spanish. But it was his word every time. Anyway, he used signs for things like More and All Done. Also Thirsty and a few other words. Once he began using English words most of the time, he stopped using signs. It helped though before he had sorted out the two languages. Unfortunately, he has been in a total English speaking environment for the last year. He's lost almost all of his Spanish now. My neice also uses baby signs. She has some serious speech delays. However she has picked up the signs very quickly. She uses them to express most of her needs. She is now putting words with her signs. She is two years old. Kathi
I taught my son Aden the sign for "more" so now when we are at resturants or the dinner table he doesn't scream for more food.. he just does the sign for more...
I have a deaf neighbor, and a few family members that have hearing problems. So I taught my daughter basic ASL signs from birth. She had a signed vocabulary of about 50 words at 6 months, and 150 words by her 1st birthday. It was great, because she could tell me what she wanted much younger than she would have with words alone. BUT she became dependent on the signs & refused to talk. I had to stop responding to her signs to make her speak, and she didn't actually SAY her first words until she was 17 months old. She is almost 6 now & still retains about 50 ASL words, and is just now picking up new words that we'd never covered as a baby. And now she never shuts up... I can't win! I did not do this with my son... I didn't know enough signs myself, and hadn't heard of the practice yet. He began speaking in complete sentences at around 10 months. I don't know if the difference is just in who they are, or because of the signing. But I did notice a huge difference. love, mom
i've been signing with joey - he's 18 months now and starting to talk, although he's been able to understand most of what we say to him for a while now. i love it. he can tell me 'all done' when he's finished eating, or if he wants out of the bath or whatever. signing eliminates the need for crying his wants! we've only learned basic signs, like eat, more, sleep, bath, all done, gentle (for when he pets animals) and a few more. i'm a yapper, so i'm always talking to him too - not baby talk either cuz i think that's just an extra language for a baby to have to learn, then unlearn. as for him being smarter than his brothers that i didn't sign with, i don't know yet. my favorite sign site is http://www.born2sign.com - it was recomended by another hip forumer. it has short videos of people doing the signs, so it's easy to learn.
We have been signing with my 1-year-old since he was four months old. It's very helpful. He told me he needed to potty for the first time today! (We're doing infant potty training) And he doesn't have to cry when he wants to nurse,he just signs for millk! I never bothered with a book, I just use ASL signs and do them whenever I say the word. That's basically all the books say anyway. They have some good tips, but I say get it from the library and save your money. Good luck!
My son Xander spoke no words until after he was 2, and signing helped him tremendously. When he was able to communicate his needs and wants he was not as frustrated as when he couldn't. He will be turning 3 on tuesday and now speaks in complete sentences,he really had a burst of verbal learning after learning signs. He will still make the sign for "more",especially if his mouth is full of something yummy like carrot cake.
i love baby talk of the babble sort , and i spose it's mostly universal . the sign-language dialect that most closely represents our children's natural language is Lakota Sioux . ASL seems to have evolved into gestures that are more abstacted , more specific , though it is still relational to the root . i'm pleased to know that both children and parents are happier with the simpler languages that create words of immediate association with reality .
