Baby Sign Language

To sign or not to sign? Those are becoming increasingly common questions to new parents or parents to be these days. I'm truly amazed how the act of signing to babies has been such a "new" concept to many families. Back when I was a child, long and far ago, it really was not an issue or something of importance to new parents. Or, at least where I was from and the area where I grew up, no one signed to their babies.

During my pregnancy I received two books on Baby Sign Language. One as gift from my mom and another from my sister.

With barely any research and our littlest Chef approaching 4-months, I decided to give signing a try. At first, it was literally a try. Not only did our little cupcake need to learn the signs, my husband and I also had to learn sign language. This was a whole family process and we all learned together. Once I became a full stay-at-home mom I was able to be more consistent with the signs and she slowly began picking them up.

However, it was not easy. Is anything with little ones? I'm not talking about grueling out of breath hard, but the kind of hard that mentally makes you want to give up. I did not think I was making any progress and Little Chef wasn't picking up and reciprocating any of the signs.

I gave up ... temporarily.

After about a month and as she approached 7-months old, I tried again. This time I was more serious. I looked over all of my books, flashcards and purchased a sign language DVD. Consistency and repetition, right?

Well, right is right. Now at 15-months old, I can officially say that Ms. A is signing and doing very well indeed. She knows: eat, milk, more, sleep, binky, daddy, baby, ball, play, please, thank you, bathtime, drink, and a few more that I'm probably forgetting. We are working on: all done, water, mommy, and several more.

What was her secret? I'm not sure. I do think she picked up on the signs because she isn't talking much. She will say mommy and daddy with meaning, but her other words are simply baby babble, which I love, but makes actual communicating very difficult.

With Ava's signs and actions, she is able to semi-communicate with our family, which I love! For example, if she's hungry, she will walk over to her high chair and sign, "eat." If she is ready for a nap (still napping two times a day), she will find her bunny or blankie and sign, "sleep." So, it's working. Signing is truly working. Especially since we aren't getting many real words out of her yet. But, that's another story.

I also must admit that every now and then I will plunk her down in front of the television to watch her Baby Einstein DVD's - My First Signs and Baby Wordsworth. Baby Wordsworth is a little advanced in the signing for Ms. A, but we will still occasionally watch this as well. Most of the signs she has learned come directly from My First Signs and from watching the Iron Chef or myself sign directly to her. However, Ava will watch the Baby Einstein DVD's and sign along and mimic the children in the video. Watching her is quite entertaining and amusing.

So with our pediatricians recommendation and a few books from my mom and sister, I began to sign and it has been wonderful.

Here's an example of Ms. A doing her signs. Just remember, her signs have been adjusted to what she has interpreted at the sign. ;)