Communicating Through Sign Language

Baby signing seems to be relatively new. Probably within the last ten years or so, it became popular. It is simple and a really gratifying way for your baby to communicate before she can talk. Mary Abilene can tell us when she wants a snack, a drink, to nurse, when she needs to go potty, that she wants more, and that she's all finished through signing. She can also sign "airplane", "moon", "hot" (she does the sign for "hot" when her food is too hot, or when her bath is too warm!), and she is working on "friend", "flower", and "butterfly"! Despite the fact that she can only say "mama", "dada", and "ball" out loud I feel as if she is communicating with me all throughout the day through signs.

I highly recommend teaching your baby to sign. We started signing around 7 or 8 months, but she didn't use her first sign until around a year. At first she would sign "all done" for everything. Even if she wanted something she'd wave her little hands in the air signing "all done"! But soon after she picked up all the important signs for her to communicate her needs and now she is learning other signs for objects. She learns so fast these days!

There are quite a few books on Baby Signing but we really love the "Baby Signing Time" or "Signing Time" DVD series. Mary Abilene only watches about 5 minutes of it, but she loves it. If we start singing the "signing time" song she runs to the tv and turns it on. She sits in my lap and I will shape her hands for the signs as we learn them (until she gets tired of sitting and runs off to something else!) She doesn't learn much from the DVD's right now, but Patrick and I really do. We learn signs really fast by watching the videos and then can teach her. The series was created by a woman whose daughter was born deaf. It uses American Sign Language (ASL) not "baby signs". I prefer this because then Mary Abilene is learning a real language that she can use even later in life. Using "baby signs" is perfectly sufficient for a goal of just communicating with your baby or toddler, but learning ASL is a bonus.

It is really satisfying for me to know what my daughter wants or needs without her throwing a fit or screaming. She simply does the sign when she is hungry, when she wants a drink, or when she wants more of something. For her to walk up and do the sign for "drink" and for me to know "Oh, you are thirsty! Here's your cup." Is incredibly rewarding as a mom. It also gives her the ability to show us what is going on in her mind - that she is learning and is so very smart!