Signing “Eat”

This sign was always a life saver for me. See, when we go visiting friends or family I tend to lose track of time. The great thing about this sign is that Cody could tell me when he got hungry. Without pulling on me or whining and crying. Definitely a sanity saver!

Baby / Toddler sign for “Help”

Some resources for learning how to sign with your baby:

• Signing Time – My favorite resource for signing. If you’ve never seen the videos, I highly recommend them! Not only are they fun for young ones to watch, but they have catchy songs that really keep them interested. They also have a couple of “Baby Signing Time” videos that are great for a lot of those firts signs. Just make sure you watch it with them, otherwise you’ll be in the same boat as before – you won’t know what they’re talking about!
• My Baby Can Talk – Has a nice dictionary of signs to browse through. I’ve found it helpful to teach signs fro things that really interest my kid and they have videos to show each sign.
• You Tube – So easy to put in a search for a certain sign you can’t seem to find online! It’s also great if you don’t have any other signing videos so your little one can see another little one actually doing it. A lot of times (especially with toddlers!) it’s so much “cooler” if another kid does it first!
• Babies and Sign Language – Has a good signing dictionary as well, but uses only photos.

Baby / Toddler sign for “Thank You”

Just a few of the benefits of signing with your little ones:

• Allows them to accuratley communicate their desires and feelings.
• Reduces frustration, especially when they are just beginning to talk! Having a way for your child to communicate with you decreases the amount of tantrums.
• Becomes a great bonding experience as you can “talk” with your little one.
• You can figure out what they are trying to say, by what they sign. My little guy said the word “ba” for about 5 different things, each very different! Since he knew the signs for each one, we could easily figure out what he wanted. No more playing the guessing game.
• Signing actually jump starts language skills and comprehension.

Baby / Toddler sign for “More”

“More” was one of our first few signs as well. This one is not only easy to learn and use, but beneficial during dinnertime. It’s also so nice to see that during the toddler Sunday School class, while the other children are yelling and hollering for more crackers, my little guy just sits quietly and signs for more. (plus I think he’s learned he gets a few more crackers from a couple of the teachers doing it that way!)

Baby / Toddler sign for “Milk”

Quite a few moms I know in real life and in the internet world here, use the sign for “milk” for nursing as well. Very small infants have been known to be able to both understand and use this simple sign. Although we didn’t start signing when he was this little, we started using it to differentiate between milk and water. (nope, no juice over here!) And even though he can now say milk, he still uses the sign quite often when I can’t hear him due to a kitchen appliance running, or the dog, or some other type of commotion that always seems to happen around here.

Our first Sign “Please”

I’ve been meaning to start this series ever since I did a guest post about it way back in August over at Keeper of the Home. I know….I’m a bit of a slacker! But teaching my kiddo to sign has been one of the best things I’ve done so far in the area of “teaching”.

Awhile back I was chatting with a friend, who also uses some basic signs with her young ones, about how great it was for communication. Both of us came to realize that as soon as a baby learned a sign, it seemed to open up a whole new world to them. All of a sudden they could comprehend better, follow instructions better, and communicate without crying and screaming!

You see, before sign language all my little one could do to tell me what he wanted was to yell. And then it was a guessing game to figure out what he actually wanted! If he wasn’t pointing directly at it, the yelling could go on forever. Plus theres the whole fact that you don’t want to teach your children to yell and whine every time they want something. And if you allow that behavior from the get go, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Teaching them that it’s o.k. to scream.

I actually put off teaching any signs until he was about 14 months old. One because I had no idea where to start. Two because I thought it would be to much work. And three, my husband thought it was silly. So if your fears tend to be the same as mine, let me put them to rest.

• One: All you have to do is start! You don’t need to be fluent in ASL in order to teach it. Begin with just one word. When you master it, move on to the next.
• Two: It really isn’t that much work. The younger the baby, the longer it may take to get them to sign it back, but they will. Take just a couple minutes out of your day to learn your first sign and use it every time you say that word.
• Three: Don’t care what anyone else thinks! Todd was easily won over as soon as he realized how well it worked. Just be sure to clue others in to the new signs you’ve learned. We had an issue once when we learned a brand new sign and I had to leave for a few hours. Todd knew he was trying to say something, just didn’t know what! Whoops!

Our very first sign was “Please”. And he learned it very quickly (at about 14 months) as I was munching on some chocolate chips. If he wanted one he needed to ask.

To teach a baby, use the sign before you give them something. Eventually you can show them using their own hands and they will in turn start using the sign.

To teach an older baby, show them how it’s done and then, patiently, take their hands and move them where they are supposed to be. Then hold out the object they want and have them ask using the sign. It worked very well with snacks for us!! Although he got a bit ambitious and started using both hands instead of just one! Which leads me to one more short point; it’s not imperative that they move their hands exactly how they need to. You will know what they mean, and as long as you keep using the correct sign, they’ll pick it up.