Baby Sign Language

Eager & Ready to Learn

Recently I had a friend ask me about baby sign language. I taught both Zander and Gavin when they were between 6-9 months old. I'm currently teaching my 8 month old twins. I find it "tougher" to teach the twins because I have so much competition...their loud crazy brothers for one.

When you teach a baby sign language you start with one sign, such as "more" "milk" or "please." I'm starting with "more." You simply put your thumb and fingers together on both hands then touch fingertips together repetitively. When I sign to them I also vocalize the word I'm signing. When you teach your baby to sign you must have their full attention, TV off and not a lot of background noise. That's why it's good to start with food related signs...they're hungry and looking at you to feed them. Before I give them a bite I say their name, they look at me, I say "more" and give them the sign, then I give them a bite. Every few bites then I say "more" and physically make them sign. The babies usually get distracted halfway through their feeding...don't push them...just be consistent. You'll notice after a week or so they start to open their mouth when you give them the sign. At this age they are little sponges and can learn very fast, it just takes awhile for some babies to start "talking" back to you. It took my boys a couple of months before they finally signed back to me. After only one week of signing to my twin girls, Camille has sort of started signing back. She puts one hand in a fist and the other hand is open and she claps them together. I know Maya understands, she opens her mouth every time she sees the sign...even when she's not in her highchair! Does this mean girls are smarter then boys?! LOL.