In my own opinion, I think it might make them too lazy to speak if you give them the sign language option. what do you think moms?
I don’t feel the need for sign language, my baby’s cues and babbles are pretty easy to read. I think as long as we are truly connected to our babies and really know them we can skip sign language. I have quite a few moms talking me into sign language so I just wanna find out if most of you moms out there do it?
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i think its awsome in some ways but as you said, if they have that as a communication then they may take longer to learn to speak well…
If it is ASL, that is great. Any “foreign” language that I child picks up is beneficial. Now if the time for them to learn these types of things and retain the information almost instinctual.
My mother-in-law is a speach and language pathologist. We talked alot about baby sign language. I asked her the smae question about making the child lazy. She said language development could be compared to learning to walk. Just because your baby learns to crawl before he learns to walk doesn’t mean he is not going to want to progress to the walking. Same with language. The signs is like crawling and gives the child an extra tool to express himself. She said ti actually encourages talking. I got a baby sign language kit for my baby shower and am really excited about it!
My opinion is that by the time they learn to sign what they want, they are already showing/telling you what they want, just in there own way. For example, instead of signing to be picked up, a five month old will look pathetically at it’s mom and whine (same “sign”=pick me up, mom). So, I think it’s a waste of time. Besides, by the time they master signing, they are already using words (hopefully!). Therefore, I think it’s unnecessary to teach them to sign. And I do think it makes them lazier when it comes to trying to talk and talking earlier than 2.
Baby’s will still learn to speak. Most of them don’t start speaking as a means of communication. They do it because of a curiosity about words and they like to learn how to make different sounds.
I think sign language is great. It gives the child an ability to communicate even before he or she can speak. It also gives the child a good skill to have in life. It is just like teaching a child Spanish and English together. The younger they learn to speak multiple languages, the easier it is as they get older. (Sign language is acutally considered another language)
I’m enrolling in a sign language class next year and plan on teaching both my baby and my toddler as I learn.
Well it definitely was beneficial to my neice. She always whined when she wanted something so we taught her the sign for “more” “please” and “thank you” it was MUCH better than hearing her whine. She is now two and can speak just fine.
in my experience, as long as you say the word of the object every time you teach them the sign for it, then they are less likely to become dependant on sign language rather than talking. My foster sister and also my neighbor tought their children to sign language, and never made them say the word of the thing they wanted and they are both in speech therapy because one is 4 and the other is 3 and still not speaking very well. So as long as you make him/her speak along with the signing you should be ok.
It all depends on who you ask. They will be slower to speak because they won’t have the necessity to. But at the same time you will avoid a lot of heartache trying to figure out what they are screaming about. My son is not trained in sign language although I took 3 years of it. I want to wait until he is at least 5 before he learns a new language.
i decided not to teach my son how to sign because my sister’s boyfriends twin sisters (who were born shortly before my son) were taught and it took them many months after my son before they started speaking. they’d rather use their hands. i do agree, its amazing how children grab the concept but i myself wouldn’t do it.
I think it’s great. My 14 month old knows some signs and it’s really helpful (and exciting) when he can express what he wants. He’s learning to speak as well, but as someone else said, it’s not so much as a means to communicate (yet) but more just trying to figure it out and excitement about being able to mimic the words he hears. I’ve heard that sign language really helps them with speech and even with reading skills earlier than usual. I’m sure that you have to repeat the word of the thing you are referring to- they wouldn’t learn it otherwise.
by the time my son was 9 months old he could tell me he wanted to eat, if he wanted more, if he was all done, and if he wanted milk. I think it is great when your baby can tell you what he wants. There are also studies that show babies that sign talk sooner and have a larger vocabulary by the age of 2.
My 2.5 yo nephew signs. He has a speech delay, so it’s been very helpful for him.
Sign was recommended after his speach delay was discovered and it’s helped him relieve his frustration with language and it’s helping his mother help him as well.
We started to teach my son “more” when he was 7 months old, he would scream in between bites in restaurants and teaching him “more” gave him a way to tell us what he wanted, much less frustration for both of us.