One of the more frustrating things as a parent is being unable to understand what your baby wants. Sure, when they’re a newborn, baby’s cries mean one of three things: hunger, tiredness, or a wet diaper. But once they’re a few months old, they can help take the guesswork out of interpreting their wails by using basic gestures. Baby sign language is a way to communicate nonverbally with your infant or toddler.
“Baby sign language uses signs from American Sign Language simultaneously with a speaking language to communicate,” says Lori Taylor, who runs Uptown Sign and Sing in New York City. For instance, as you look at baby and say the word “milk,” make the sign for milk - squeezing your fist and opening it, as if milking a cow.
Most experts believe signing can begin at age 6 months or even earlier. When baby is able to wave bye-bye is another good indication he is ready to learn.
There’s a wealth of resources for learning baby sign language. Search online for local classes, or use one of many DVDs and books. Taylor, who is also a musician, teaches signs through music.
“Songs are a great way for parents to practice using signs and then continue to sign during interactions throughout the day,” she says.
The song “The More We Are Together” teaches such signs as “more,” “happy,” and “together,” for example.
The trick is to reinforce the signs each time you talk with your baby.
“It’s important to practice in between classes, and even though you might not see progress in class eventually it seeps in,” says Brooke Emery of New York City, whose older daughter used the signs for “milk,” “eat,” and “more” before she could speak.
Julie Loose started signing with her sons, now 8 and 5, when they were each six months old.
“I think signing helped empower my sons to communicate,” says the Chicago resident. “It taught them that they weren’t just subject to everyone else’s wants and needs but that they could be heard, too.”
She says her older son never had tantrums, which she ascribes in part to his being able to communicate.
“Whenever I see a kid pointing and screeching, I think that that kid - and that kid's family - could benefit from sign language,” Loose says.
Research has shown that it can benefit speech-delayed children in their efforts to communicate, too. But can signing do the opposite - delay speech? Taylor says if practiced properly - that is, by saying the word along with the sign - “there is much research showing baby sign language enhances verbal development.”