Teaching Baby to Use Sign Language

The Signing Time for babies and children videos are great! They see little kids using signs and they usually attempt to sign, too. my friend is using them with her 1 year old, and she is signing already.
My cousin signed from the get-go with her son, who is 4 now, and he can sign a whole conversation now.
Sometimes kids are signing, but it doesn't look like what you think the sign is, so you may not recognize it. Or she is just stubborn.

I used the Signing Time DVD and reinforced it by signing outside of watching the video. I also will point to food and bring it to my mouth then sign it to her. I say it as I sign it just as you do. My kids signed over 15 words by 1.5 years old. The DVD did most of the work I swear:)

Amy, As a yougster I taught my daughter to sign. She got to be so good that at the pool an interpeter thought that she was deaf. Be patient. All of a sudden she will. B. G

We just did the basics like: More, Eat, Drink, Sleep and all done. She wasn't getting it for the longest time and then one day it clicked. I'm not sure how old she was when she got it though. I thought it was around her first birthday. Keep trying!

Not to worry. As you know all children are different. Be glad that she understands :) SOme kids may not even be that far yet! I know it can be frustrating to listen to crying but soon it will get frustrating for her too .... so much so that she will start signing or talking more! Think of how frustrating it would be to not be able to communicate! :) I know it is easier said than done but have patience....she will come around :) I realize how different kids are becuase although my son who is 9 months is condidered advance with his motor skills and built like a rock (90th percentile for weight and height) he still has NO TEETH! Geesh! :0) But, just goes to show that we all have something that takes a little longer :) Good luck!

We use sign language with our son also. What we did was sat down when he wasn't hungry, tired, or thirsty. We would do the sign for water and then instantly give him a drink. After doing this a few times he picked up on it right away. I also think it helps them to speak words faster. My son is saying alot more words than most of the kids in his daycare class and he is one of the youngest. just keep practicing and do it when she is calm and has patience not when she is hungry and can't wait to eat. P.s Cudo's to you for teaching your daughter sign language.

Hi Amy -
We signed with my daughter, and although she definitely understood us, she also only used about 10 signs back with us. Interestingly, she continues to use those signs to this day, seemingly unconsciously. Then again, I do the same thing.

There probably isn't a need for her to use the signs since she is having her needs met and she is communicating her wants and wishes to you. If you are determined to make her sign, then you might have to wait until she responds to your questions via sign before meeting her needs or stop asking the questions and waiting until she makes the effort to ask for herself.

I wish you luck - signing was such a blessing for our family!

Hi Amy, I have a 2 year old boy now, but I have been using basic sign language with him since he was just under a year old. He didn't actually use it himself for a few months. I think you need to just keep it up and with the signing because it will catch on. Your child will want to communicate with you more and more and signing just comes more naturally to a young toddler than speaking. Don't be discouraged, some children just communicate more than others. I saw this with my neice who is 7 months older than my son. She started signing when she was only 10 months old! I do have to remember, though, that both her parents are fluid in sign-language!

Ok, I have a question to all of you young parents. Why has sign lanquage at such a young age become so important to teach children when they can hear? I understand if there is a disability, but other than that why aren't you making them learn to speak instead of sign everything? My youngest was born in 1980, so I haven't had young children for a long time. Just wondering, because I think you begin to worry about things like this more than you need to when the child doesn't progress as you think they should. I, myself, would be more concerned about their hearing and vocal skills; then worry about signing later on. Signing would be another skill that they could learn, but I don't think so much pressure should be put on it right now.

Sorry, my "old" 2 cents worth. I am a grandmother of 2.

Hi Amy!
YEAH!!! I am so excited to hear that you are using sign language with your baby. It is so good for her brain and language development! I used sign language with my son and found that he understood me earlier than he would use the signs himself. Some things that worked for me were: use hand-over-hand with your daughter to show her what you want her to sign before giving it to her; wait for her to copy you before you give her what she wants; always repeat, verbally and in sign, how you want her to respond. Good luck!!
B.

Hi, Amy

I started teaching my daughter sign language when she was about 15 months old because she wasn't talking. She started signing back to me after a month or two. She learned a lot of signs and even made up a few of her own. She is now a chatterbox at 3 years and doesn't sign anymore. Signing really helped her communicate before she started talking. I would keep signing to your daughter. Soon she should be signing back to you.

H. G.

Hello! You say you work outside the home - is that 4 out of the 5 days? Do the daycare providers use the signs? And do you use the signs every single time you say the word? Is she pretty agile with her fingers? Some signs are harder to do than others - I learned my kid was doing a harder sign and I had no idea most people didn't teach their kids that version.

I have only started signing about 11 months old with both my kids and they both started to sign at 12 months.

Good luck! :)
E.

Keep doing what you're doing and be patient. We signed to our son from about 6 months and he didn't start making any signs until about your daughter's age. Even then it was a modified version of the sign and it wasn't very frequently. He slowly started using some of the signs we had taught him and around 15-16 mo he got into the phase of wanting to know what everything is called and we added 2-3 new signs a day with us running to the dictionary to look up new signs. He eventually learned over 100 signs (we stopped counting) and now loves fingerspelling his alphabet. So, don't give up, be consistent and repeat, repeat, repeat. I think it's just an "aha" moment for them and it will be at a different time for every child.
One tip: Our son was not into videos at that age, but we did find some nice board books with signs at an educational toy store and he loved those. You can also just learn the signs for whatever books you have: opposites, animals, Goodnight Moon, and sign while you read.

Let me add to the praise--Signing Time rocks! They have over 13 DVDs now. When we first were introduced, there were only 3 and we bought them. When they updated the original 3, they replace our old version at a minimal cost. They are great people who are doing this because they believe in it, not because there is money in it.

As far as frustration, we started signing with my oldest, but he would only sign "all done." He is a perfectionist by nature and he will only do things if he can do them perfect, so he would not sign because he could not say the words like we were doing. So when our second son came along, number two started talking early and never saw the reason to waste his time signing. I tried to do the right thing for my kids, and they were the opposite extremes of the exceptions.

However, determined as I was and having already purchased the DVDs, I continued. And, on the plus side, my oldest learned his colors BECAUSE OF the Signing Time shows. We were getting frustrated with his lack of desire to memorize his colors, but given the actions to go with the verbal and the visual, he made a huge leap. (He was the only kid in Kindergarten he already knew all the colors of the rainbow!)

Signing Time reinforces through song and we all learn better that way. (Even though we view it as a younger kid thing.)

Amy,

I taught my first three babies to sign until they could speak. You have got to be REALLY consistent to make it work. The more kids I had, the busier I got, and I could read my baby's nonverbal cues well enough it wasn't really necessary with baby #4.

If your girl hasn't done any signs yet after 9 months of work, I would just move on to verbal communication unless you have deaf family members or close friends and it is really needed. Sometimes the benefit of things like this are overemphasized by our society. Yeah, it is nice to teach your baby sign, helps them to communicate early on (6-12 months old,) but it won't make the difference between whether your child goes to Harvard or not.

Good luck,
S.

Hi Amy,
I have 2 stories for you.
1) Our almost 5 year old has Down syndrome so we started sign language very early. He used his first sign (eat) at 1 year and then signed eat for everything. He couldn't understand that they all meant something different. At almost 2, I was ready to give up when a teacher suggested that because he is a very visual learner, we try a movie. I got the first signing DVD by Signing Time and within a month he had 10 new signs. So: if you child is a visual learner, you might try a video. Signing Time is a fantastic series. It is sometimes on public TV (go to signingtime.com for a local listing) and you may find it in your local library. If you're interested in buying one, feel free to email me.
2) When our daughter was born 18 months after Joe, we were well established with the sign language. She did not do a lot of signing. Maybe 5 to 10. We still continued signing because of her brother. One night, at about 14 months, we were reading an animal book in her room. I would ask "where is the horse? Where is the zebra? Where is the tiger?, etc. and she would point them out. Well, I suddenly realized that she was signing them, too! I even went downstairs and checked to see if she was signing them correctly and she was. To this day (she is now just over 3) she signs and amazes me with what she knows. She even taught some signs to her schoolmates (she taught them I Love You on Valentines Day).

So, just keep at it. Kids have an incredible ability for learning second languages at this age. She is just absorbing it all right now and when she is ready, she'll use it. Don't think because she isn't signing that she shouldn't or can't learn more. Keep expanding on those signs.

Have fun! What an incredible way to communicate!

K.

We used sign very successfully...but it was through very consistent use of the same signs over and over. We started around 6 months and around 9 months, he signed "more" for the first time...I could hardly believe it because it feels at times that you are doing it for no reason, but they truly are paying attention! By a year old, he used signs for "all done", "please", "thank you", "moon", and a few others. Over time, he probably knew about 40-50 signs for various things, feelings, and actions. He used them a ton until he started talking more and it really cut down on his frustration because he could communicate with us. He talks a lot now at 21 months, but every once in a while he'll say a word and use the sign that he used to use :) The key is repeat, repeat, repeat ad nauseum. Mealtime: Give baby one bite. Put spoon down. "Would you like <more> sweet potatoes?". Pick up spoon and give another bite. "You had <more> sweet potatoes!". Put spoon down. Ask baby again, "Would you like <more> sweet potatoes?" and so on....it's all about whether the parents are willing to put in the work and use a sign what seems like a hundred times in a day when presenting a new one. Don't give up if you think it's something you really want to try...it will click and one day she will do it back.

I signed to my firstborn a couple signs. He started using done before he could talk, but didn't start signing more until he could say it. I thought it just wasn't sinking in, but as soon as he could say more he would always sign it as he would say it. So keep trying. You never know when they will start using it.

Signing usually comes along with being able to wave bye-bye. My daughter made her first sign at about 11 motnhs old. Some do it earlier, some later. Just keep signing. It is definitely good for your baby to be able to communicate. Good Luck!

Hi Amy, I teach a parent/baby called Sign and Sing which is an introduction to ASL in a musical setting. We group signs into two categories - SEE A LOT DO A LOT - these are signs parents like their kids to learn: please, thank you, milk, hungry, bed . . . and HIGHLY MOTIVATING SIGNS - these are signs kids want to know: ball, bubble, mommy, daddy, toys, cracker . . . We find that when babies receive signs for things that motivate THEM to sign the others follow.

H. Peterson, Director
Kindermusik of the Valley

Continue doing what you are doing by using the signs and speaking the words at the same time. Eventually, your daughter will suprise you by using the sign herself. Also, sometimes children use the signs before the parents realize that's what they are doing because their gross and fine motor skills are far less developed than adults are so they mirror the sign to the best of their ability and don't parents don't always recognize it right away. I used sign language with my son and was very successful with it, specifically with bird, more, milk and eat, and I am also a sign language interpreter and have seen and heard about many results from other parents who have used this method of communication. It can be a very successful tool if you stick with it and are consistant; it can help to eliminate a lot of confusion and frustration on both ends. Given her age she should start to show the signs clearly to you. Do not overwhelm her with signs for everything but for a few simple things, such as the above mentioned, until she starts to use those and then you can add additional signs. Good luck!

I rented Baby Signing Time from my local library. My daughter (now 16 months) loves it! She started signing that she wanted to watch the movie! She would watch it over and over, and started picking up a lot of the signing. We stopped watching it for about a month, and although I would continue to sign to her, she quit signing back. I had her start watching it again, and she started signing again! They sing lots of songs and have kids sign. I think it's more fun for her to watch and learn from that, than from me just signing. Be warned though - the songs get stuck in your head and you can't get them out!! LOL We have tried a few other signing videos (Baby Einstein and others) - but this is by far our favorite. We both like the 1st one the best. The 2nd one didn't live up to our expectations. Let me know if you can't find it and need all the info - I could call the library and find out.

I signed with both of my children. They started to sign back when they were around 10-11 months old. All children will do it at different times. Just ensure you are using the signs as frequently as possible. Also, pay close attention to what your child is doing. She may be signing, but it may not look like you're sign. Their coordination is much less than ours, so some of their signs look drastically different. But if she is making the same motion every time she does something, it's most likely a sign.

Good luck!

As others have stated...your child will when developmentally ready...and you yourself will feel so elated when they do!

I do home childcare and swear by Signing Time! My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE Alex and Leah! We have almost all of the DVD's and watch at least one daily. I am learning right along with them. Could I carry on a conversation with a hearing impaired person...no....but I can add this form of communication with my young charges....I believe if you use it, it can eliminate some of the frustration related issues you can have with a child (behavior, etc that can stem from frustration and communication issues at a young age).

Denise Meyers (local instructor and "guru" of teaching baby signs) is supposed to be coming out with a book soon about more of the benefits of teaching other languages, not just sign, to very young children.....about bridging languages...bridging learning...how it all works together....how having a visual (a sign language sign) to go with a verbal word can make it so much easier to learn other languages...something along those lines....intriguing stuff!!!

I have seen baby signs in action and used the SIGNING TIME materials for years now....LOVE them. Its also on PBS tv now....I think early Sat mornings? like 7am...you could DVR or Tivo it if you have that option....its a fun way to learn!

Hi Amy,

I think it is great that you are using signs with your baby!I know you are not seeing results now, but it will pay off in time. I am a speech pathologist and I also sign with my kids (ages 7, 4, 7 mos). Just like with talking, your baby will understand signs before she uses them. It sounds like she is on her way with that, so you are on the right track. Keep signing to her, and use repetition. So when it is time to eat, sign "eat" every time you say it and say something like: "Its time to eat. Eat! We are going to eat. Come sit in your chair so we can eat!" Then when you sit with her food, say something like: "Eat. Time to eat. Eat peaches. Eat cheerios. Yum." This kind of repetition helps to cement the meaning with the sign and the word.

You can encourage her to sign when she is hungry. Ask "time to eat? Tell mommy 'eat!'" and model the sign for her. She may or may not and that is okay. Praise any type of response (lifting her hand, touching her face) as a good try. The more you sign to her, the more she will get.

If youa re worried that she should be doing more, contact your local school district or your pediatrician and a local pediatric outpatient speech therapy clinic. They can give you a feel for her development and more specific tips to guide her language development.

Good luck and keep signing!

I've signed with all four of my kids. Some picked up signs more than others. For us, I started signing when they were 9 months and it took at least a month for them to start doing signs themselves. We did very basic signs that the child would use often: please, thank you, more, eat, drink, all done, dog, diaper, sleep, icky, banana, cracker, light, etc. The trick is making sure you do the sign EVERY time you say the word so the child gets the connection. For us, the whole point is communication. Even the kids that didn't do many signs, they still learned them but didn't do them. I could do the sign without saying the word and they would get it. That's what we were after. We just wanted to make sure a level of communication was there.

We have been doing the same thing with our daughter who is now 14 months and she can now sign maybe 20 signs however she will only sign about 5/10 or so by herself the rest she will do once we do them (Does that make sense? Basically, she mimics us) I think it helps when you make it fun (Sing silly songs with the signs). We have the Signing Time DVD's and the Baby Signing Time DVD's and she absoutely loves them because of the other children signing and all the fun songs. Check out www.signingtime.com if you don't already have them.

We just started signing at 11 months old. It works well. We started by doing the sign and then giving her or showing her what we meant by the sign. Eventually once we knew she got it..we wouldn't give in unless she signed. If they really want it..they will do it but it takes patience and you really have to have the whole family in on it to reinforce the signs.

I just recently heard of PBS's kids show called Signing Time. If you haven't heard of it, you can find links online. They may have some advice for you.

Amy, yes amy i signed to all my kid, i am a mother of 3 boys, when they were babies, i would sing the alphabet to them and while doing so i would sign each letter, my oldest by one and half was able to read them, i could spell something and he could tell me the letter, it was a bit early for most kids, all my kids learned it when they were young, but i am not a deaf person, so there was not a need for the child to sign to me, if you are communicating well, with words there is no need for her to sign back, so if you want her to sign for you , you will probably have to quiz her, or ask her what is a tree? etc`, play a game with it, or lets have 10 minutes of no talking except with hands or whatever time you desire, youd be surprised what she has picked up, just enjoy teaching and watching what she knows, i was not that fluent in alot of words, in sign language so they did not learn alot of them, nor did they spell things much , there was not a need for it, so create a need to do it, create, a time where you do it, or when you use flash cards so to speak, now this is a..... and what is the sign for it ? .... but keep on teaching her its a great skill to have, and one that give her jobs later in life also, they are always looking for interpreters, enjoy D. s

Did you start with hand-over-hand assistance? "more" is an easy sign for kids to learn because they get an immediate response. Give your daughter one bite of something you know she will want more of. When she starts to fuss or reaches towards it, ask her if she wants more. "Do you want more? Say more." (then help her sign more while saying it again) Give her the item then wait for her to react again to get more. When she makes it clear she wants more help her sign it and say more again. Then give her the item. Praise her for signing it, although you are helping her. Lots of practice and repetition is how kids learn. After a few days you start to phase the physical assistance by holding her arms vs hands, then her elbows, then maybe just touching her arms, and finally you stop touching her and just model it for her. Eventually she will learn to do it on her own. Good luck! It is so exciting when they pick it up and do it on their own. Pick one sign to really focus on at first. This will teach your daughter that signing gets her something in response and she will learn to imitate you. Have fun with it!

I have a 16 month old son that I have been teaching baby sign language to since he was 9 months old. He did start to sign at about 10 or 11 months but it was very slow and only when he wanted to. I just wanted to say that if you want him to sign they say to stick with only a few signs to start with and do them over and over until they start to sign it. Since I am sure that you have done this the other suggestion I have is to find the things that she loves like her dolls or toys, certain foods, and that sort of thing and just do those over and over and maybe that will work. My son started with signing light. He loves lights so he responded to that right away. Hope this helps.

H.

I was the same way with my son. I was showing him signs since he was about 6 months old and I think he was 13 months old when he finally did his first sign..."more". I would just say keep at it. Maybe just focus on one or two signs. Some babies sign at 9 months and others don't sign until much later. I'm sure she'll pick it up soon. I was very excited when my son finally did his first sign! Good luck!

Amy-
My husband and I have also been working on "baby" sign language with our 13 month old daughter. We found that she didnt start responding to our signs or attempting to make her own signs until she was about 11 months old. We not only showed her the signs and said the word out loud, we also formed her hands into the signs we expected her to make. In addition, we tapped her hands when we wanted her to make a sign, so she knew what we were asking for. She is doing quite well now and can sign several words (in the correct situations).

We use the baby signing time videos. My 18 month old has been seeing me sign basic signs to her since about 9 months and never caught on until a month ago. Now she is learning them pretty quickly and using them accurately. I LOVE the videos!!! I initially used the sign language because of all the benefits that I learned it provides...but my daughter has decided to wait to really learn how to talk so this has been immensely helpful! I say, be patient...just like talking...she has to catch on to this as well!

Our son was a preemie and so his language was delayed. He will be 3 in July and we still use sign language. We started with the baby signs videos, and just practiced, practiced, practiced!! We also have a speech therapist that works with him 2-3 times per week. Our son loved the videos and would only watch those for the longest time. While his speech has improved tremendously, we still use signs on some items. We always repeat the sign and words that go with it each time. He understood us long before he would respond back. Most of the time it felt like it was one-sided conversations, but then he developed more and would repsond. Hang in there. Kids develop differently, and your daughter may just take a little longer.

M.

I would not worry if she is not talking or signing.As long as you know she is understanding you. If shes past 2 years old and doesnt talk or sign I would look into this. I think its pretty normal for a one year old to respond this way.

Hi Amy- Definitely keep signing! We signed with both of our kids and it was wonderful!! It helped curb the frustration of them not being able to tell us what they wanted. You might think that she isn't using it yet, but really really watch her. Our daughter had come up with her own sign for pasta!! Always be sure to say the word and sign it at the same time. I agree with the other mom - "more" is usually one of the first signs, the kids also seem to understand the sign for milk right away too. Give lots and lots of praise for the signing!! But be sure to go with the single word and she is sure to take off on her language skills!!! Good Luck!!

S. (mom of two now very very verbal kids ~ 6 yo son and a 3 yo daughter, and a wonderful husband of 9 years!)

Hi Amy - There are also Baby Einstien signing Dvd's that my 16 month old grandson loves. We also starting signing with him when he was younger and he is just now starting to repsond with some of the signs. I practice with him when I am babysitting, and developed a little consistant ritual or habit when we are together. I make a game out of it and we laugh alot. Sometimes he just watch's the dvd and doesn't respond at all. He will still process the information. He usually will display it later in the day or the next day. It just takes some time & practice. Just keep doing the actions with her that you've been doing and she'll catch on. For me, being consistant with him seems to working for us. Good Luck

The authors of _Baby Signs_ recommend not beginning to teach sign until around 9 months to a year, because most babies just aren't developmentally ready to begin signing until around then. I ignored that advice and started around six months, but my son didn't start signing back to me until close to 16-18 months. He was a somewhat late talker, so the signs were a big help. He understood many and had many of his own, but we really only needed "more" and "all done" (helpful for all sorts of situations, like "put me down (I'm all done being held)" or "no more food" or "I don't like this situation.")

With my daughter, I started around 9 months and she was signing "more" by 11 months. She was an earlier talker and never really got beyond using "more"

Long story short (too late) is that when your daughter is developmentally ready, the signs will come. Think about why you're teaching her to sign, too - if you're able to communicate better, the signing is worthwhile. If she's choosing to communicate verbally rather than signing, that's ok - signing is often just a bridge to verbal communication, and a big help for toddlers who aren't developmentally ready to speak.

ALSO - for KIM:

Most babies are able to process communication long before they have the motor skills needed for speech. Using sign language allows them to express themselves and allow their communication abilities to develop during this time when they're having the thoughts but aren't able to verbalize them. Sign language doesn't delay speech at all - if anything it speeds it up because they've had that practice communicating while waiting for their tongues to catchup with their brains. For most kids, they have far fewer tantrums if they can sign because they don't find as much frustration from wanting to say something and not knowing how.