My daughter is 6 months and I’m very interested in starting baby sign language with her. I read two different sources: one that said I should start at 6 month and one that said I should start at 10 months. I’m not sure which one to go by. Shaould I try at 6 months? Has anyone actually had much success with it and can you give me some resources to help me get started?
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just use some of the signs as you are talking to her now, such as the more common ones “more” “hungry” etc, and she will pick it up on her own.
Hi I dont have any experience with baby sign language – but Im interested too!
I don’t know why u cant start early though – I mean whats the harm? Some babies listen to several different languages and they pick them up just fine – just takes them a little longer to string an understandable sentence together! But they end up being able to speak 3 or so languages perfectly by the age of 3!
You can start early,she may not pick up on things too quickly to start but she may surprise you! as long as you’re careful not to expect too much and try to see it as getting her used to it slowly with a view to the full on learning stuff it should be fine. good luck x
6 months is not at all too early. I practiced sign language with my daughter from birth. Of course, she didn’t really catch on until she was older, but it helped me to get in the habit.
Things to keep in mind : Don’t expect your child to pick it up right away. If you start now, she might not do any sign language til 10 months, there’s no set time line.
Keep it simple. I taught my daughter “more”, “milk”, “eat”, “drink”, and simple foods first (cracker, cookie, cereal, banana). As she grew older, I introduced more (night, day). But make sure to relate it immediately to something she can grasp. (say “cracker”, then sign it, and hand her a cracker. Say “eat”, then sign it, and take a bite of a cracker.)
My daughter is 2 and a half now, and still knows all the sign language I taught her, and still uses it occasionally, but she also talks extremely well. I think that teaching her sign language helped to reduce stress in her early days, because she could tell me what she wanted, and I didn’t have to guess. It also introduced her to the concept of language that she could really comprehend, and I think that it helped to bond her to her family more securely!
Start doing the signs now when you talk to her. We used some sign language with our twins and we started when they were about six months. Before they could talk they knew, and used, the signs for more, milk, hungry etc.
we started my son at 4 mos, but only with “milk” it took him til about 8 mos to do it but when he did we tried to introduce “eat”. my son is too much of an anxious eater to be concerned with it. we also tried “thank you” and “all done”. at now almost 14 mos he still only does “eat” ( which he also uses as hi/bye and i want). we still show him the signs and if he does them great, if not we know he’ll be a talker.
just start with one sign at a time. milk is a good one to start with and don’t get frustrated it she doesn’t pick it up right away. babies have a lot to learn is a little time. you can get a simple signing book at a store or online. the best is one with only one sign per page and explains the motion in words for you. when she starts signing, you can send the book with her to daycare, play-dates, or family for the adults.
P.S. babies can create their own signs. it’s better to let them do their way than trying to correct them. my son rubs his eyes when tired and refuses to do the actual sign. when your daughter gets older you can always correct the signs if you want to pursue ASL (american sign language) as a second language.