Articles and Stories

June 4, 2015

By Amanda Scott

Babies start using their hands and arms to communicate around nine months of age. Often first learning to wave, clap, or point. Now, some babies are also learning sign language.  Sign language is giving parents a way to communicate with their babies well before they are effectively able to communicate through conversational language.

Sign language is said to promote brain health and encourage parent-child bonding.  Parents can start signing to their babies as early as birth, but comprehension will usually take place sometime between 4-6 months, and babies will typically not begin to sign back until between the ages of 7-9 months when their coordination increases. Consistency is key when teaching an infant to sign. Infants learn through repetition. Every time an action is performed the parent should use the appropriate sign for that action.

Since baby signing has become so popular in today’s culture there are many ways to learn how to sign. There are workshops that utilize play in order to teach parents and children to sign. A program called Baby Signs is based off of gestures babies already make. The very popular program Sign with your Baby uses basic signs from American Sign Language, such as milk and more, to teach signing. In addition to these programs there are many books, DVDs, and websites demonstrating different forms of sign language to use with babies.

If you prefer to forgo the fancy classes, it is easy to teach your baby to sign at home.  Professionals suggest to start by teaching 3-5 signs. Use signs that are easily connected to an object such as “ball” and say the word out loud while making the sign. Repeat these same signs frequently until your baby shows an understanding.

Signing is about enhancing communication, not replacing verbal communication. Babies understand language and are able to make gestures in order to communicate far before they are able to speak. Some studies showed that babies who were able to express their wants and needs through sign language were overall more content. Research has shown concerns that using sign language may delay babies’ speech is not true and that babies naturally switch over to speech when they are developmentally ready.