Has anyone used sign language with their baby? I'm really curious about it and might start trying to teach my LO some basic signs. Any success stories? Tips/tricks?
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Several of my cousins use it with their LOs and we could talk to one of them at me and DH's wedding even though he was way too young to talk. IT WAS SO CUTE! (And, apparently very helpful to mom and dad).
We definitely plan to do it. Everyone in my family who did it is very very pleased with the results.
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@pastemoo: How young was their LO when they started? I guess it's never too early to try and teach the basics. Milk? Eat? Mom? Dad? I'm not sure where to start, my baby is 8 weeks old today.
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We use baby sign alot. Lala has dropped a lot of hers since she's now fluent in English
but we're continuing to use it for Maisie's benefit. With Lala we started at about 4 months and she was using signs at 6 months. I think it saved her a lot of frustration. Maybe I'll blog post about it since the topic keeps coming up on the boards.
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I taught LO a couple of things. She signs for more and all done!
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DH and I plan to with our LO. From the books I've read (if I'm remembering correctly) they can start signing back anywhere from 6-9 months (keeping in mind that all babies will be different). But that wouldn't mean they aren't comprehending before then.
We're planning to start as early as we can under the understanding that LO wont sign back for some time and are going with the basic "needs" signs first, like eat, milk and more.
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I have a lot of friends and family members who have used baby sign and everyone has loved it so we definitely intend to use it.
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We taught DD sign language; she first started signing at about 9 months and still sometimes signs a word, even though she speaks well now. We'll keep it going for DS. I think it was really helpful in those early ages when DD couldn't talk yet.
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I'm an infant sign instructor, and though I don't have kids of my own, I can speak to the huge benefits of sign. Not only does it help kids express themselves before they can speak, but often times it helps their language develop sooner.
Big advocate of baby sign over here, haha! -
We have been doing it since he was 2 months old. At 6 months he started signing "all done". At 12 months, he can sign "more", "please", "milk" for nursing and "cup" for other drinks. He also uses extensive body language to convey meaning. He poits and gestures and definitely communicates. I think this is because we respond to it. I would highly recommend it.
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@redsmarties: cool! when do you start with them?
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I want to try it... There are conflicting studies as to the benefits (if there really are any) and whether they are only a few months or longer or whatever but there doesn't seem to be any risk, so the worst that could happen is that it won't be helpful!
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@pastemoo: The first class age starts at 6 months - its a Signing and Music class. That being said, if a parent wants to come at 5 months or so, I'm not going to say no. But developmentally, from a class perspective, 6 months is just about right.
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I never knew this really existed and it was too late for my first. but maybe i'll try it for my second.
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@Mrs. Jacks: I would love to read about your experience with sign! I hadn't seen it on the boards before, I'll have to do some digging.
@redsmarties: What are some of the more common words to teach him early on? As @brownie said, "more" "milk" and "all done" could be some good ones. Any other suggestions?
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@mrs. jacks: I would definitely love to read about your experience with signing. It's something I'm definitely considering for our future LOs.
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@obxwife: More, milk, all done - those are awesome ones to start with. The program I use teaches up to 100 signs, but the first ones are the ones that you think your child will use most often. This could include sign names for certain people or places or activities. 'Hungry' or 'food' is a good one for children who have started on solids. Mom and Dad are good ones, as are 'sleepy' or 'hurt'. Hope that helps!
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Started signing to my LO at 6 months. She uses about 6 daily ( more, all done, milk, bathtime, hot, and help) but understands about 15 others. I tapered off teaching new signs when LO started to learn how to speak words.
Definitely helpful, especially during eating time.
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All of my nieces and nephews started signing as babies - around six months or so. I have deaf siblings, so I could sign before I could talk as well and my mom said it was SO helpful. She loves to tell the story where I was a toddler trying to tell her something (speaking) and she wasn't understanding me at all. Finally I just rolled my eyes and signed it so she could understand. We are definitely planning on signing with our LO!
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I'm interested in doing this, mostly to help our LOs explain what they want without crying or getting frustrated. I would imagine "hungry," "sleepy," "help," etc. would be great ones!
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We're planning on it. I've seen several friends use baby signing very successfully...
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YES! Baby sign language is fantastic; it takes a little time to learn and teach it to your LO but the results are so heartwarming.
If you're in Los Angeles or plan to visit, I know about this great baby parenting and sign language center owned by a sweet lady who I'm sure could answer all of your questions.
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I plan on doing this, my friends 6 month old does 'All Done" and it is adorable. I will just use it when talking to my LO and hopefully he/she will pick up on it!
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I think we tried too little. LO does a few signs occasionally but she doesn't seem all that interested in doing it even once she knows a sign. It's probably because we're not consistent with doing the signs when we speak to her so we may try a little harder for consistency soon because she definitely has opinions and it would make it easier if she could express those opinions.
but we're continuing to use it for Maisie's benefit. With Lala we started at about 4 months and she was using signs at 6 months. I think it saved her a lot of frustration. Maybe I'll blog post about it since the topic keeps coming up on the boards.
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