Baby Sign Language

I just got back from a trip visiting by Brother, Sister-in-law and niece in Oregon.  While I was there, I was amazed at how well my17 month old niece was able to communicate with her parents and how many words she already knew.  Come to find out, our little niece loved to watch signing time.  This explained why she had such a large vocabulary at a young age.  Not only was Baby Sign Language educational but it was also adorable and fun.  Here's how Baby Sign Language could help you and your baby.



She's Saying "Please"

Bonding: Baby Sign Language helps you bond with your child as you are able to communicate with them better and teach them something new.  It is always exciting to see your child learn something new especially when you are the one who taught them.  Research on baby sign language has confirmed that signers enjoy a stronger parental bond. In fact some early childhood education programs have started teaching baby sign language to infants and their parents to help get their relationship off to the best possible start.

Reduce Fussiness: More often than not, your baby is being fussy because they are frustrated.  Put yourself in their shoes, you are hungry, thirsty, hurt or have a dirty diaper but you can't tell anyone or do it yourself.  Often times, parenting becomes a guessing game and if you can't guess correctly, discouraging. baby Sign Language allows your baby to tell you exactly what they need.  Parents have an easier time with terrible twos if they have a signing baby.

Development: Baby Sign Language is a stepping stone for full speech and gives your child the opportunity to exercise communication earlier.  Studies have shown that babies who have early exposure to signing have larger speaking vocabularies earlier.  This maybe because as you are teaching the signs, you are more likely to spend more time repeating the word and showing pictures to them earlier than you otherwise would.

Learn how to get started by watching this video.

babysignlanguage.com offers free resources to help you teach your baby sign language including free tutorials, video dictionary, flash cards and wall charts.