Baby Sign Language
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Having a baby is expensive. Teaching your baby sign language is not expensive. All you need to spend is a little bit of time. While there are books and DVDs you can buy, and classes you can attend, none of this is mandatory. All you really need is a willing attitude and two hands. Baby sign language, unlike nearly everything else in baby-land, is completely free.
FREE also serves as an acronym that helps new parents teach their babies to sign.
Fun, Repeat, Encourage, Expand
There are many reasons to teach your baby sign language. Studies show that learning to sign accelerates speech development. This means that babies who learn to sign learn to speak sooner, and with more skill. Research suggests that the same parts of the brain are stimulated when a child speaks and when she signs, so doing one strengthens the other. Studies have also suggested that baby sign language can raise a baby’s IQ, and his future reading levels. Parents who know all this can be tempted to approach baby sign language as their first step toward getting their baby into the best college.
But this is dangerous. Parents have found that baby sign language doesn’t work unless it is kept fun and relaxed. Like most of us, if babies feel pressure, they just don’t learn as well. If your baby senses that he is disappointing or frustrating you, he will not attempt to sign. So, remember to keep it fun, for your baby’s success as well as your sanity! Because it really is fun. You’ll want to take lots of pictures.
Perhaps the most important thing to know about baby sign language is that repetition is the secret to success. You will soon get used to signs being a part of your everyday life and you will do them without even thinking about it, but at first, you will feel a bit like a broken record of gestures.
Every single time you say the word you are teaching, you need to make the sign. This means, if you are teaching the sign for milk, you will need to make the sign every time you say the word. For new moms, this can be a hundred times a day! But this is how we humans learn – through repetition. Before you know it, your baby will be mimicking your signs back to you, and then eventually, will be using them spontaneously in order to communicate on her own!
Most mothers don’t have a problem with the encouragement part. This comes naturally. When our babies do start to mimic our signs, even if the renditions are ridiculous, we still need to encourage their efforts! Again, if a baby senses a lack of support, she will be reluctant to go out on that signing limb! So, it is important to remind other people in the home to be supportive!
Expand refers to what happens once your baby does learn his first few signs. We don’t want to stop there! Once your baby learns that signing is a means to communication, it becomes easier to add more words to her vocabulary! Popular signs to start with include: mommy, daddy, milk, more, finished, and diaper.
It is also common to choose a sign to represent baby’s favorite toy, doll, or blanket. Many families that have pets also choose to incorporate the signs for their pets fairly early on.
Round two of signing can include signs like: hurt, help, hungry, book, music, bath, banana, please, and thank you. The expansion is really up to individual families. Different children have different needs, of course, and mothers shouldn’t be afraid to follow their instincts! If your child is particularly obsessed with the moon, then she should be able to sign for moon! If baby spends a lot of time with grandma, then it makes sense to teach him the sign for grandmother!
Baby sign language is one of many great things you can do for your new baby, and don’t worry, there’s no need to get started until your baby is about six months old, so you have some time to get ready! There’s no need to start in the birthing room! Be confident, and cherish every chance you have to bond with your new little one. Just wait till that first time she signs “I love you!” Your heart will melt!