What's it all about?

Baby signing involves using simple hand gestures and signs with babies and toddlers before they can talk. At some time around 8-9 months, babies start to naturally use their hands to help them communicate, like when they point or wave, so by showing them some signs, we're simply helping them with this process.

So, if your baby sees you make the sign for "milk" everytime you give him his milk and say the word, he'll quickly learn what the sign means, and then, when he gets to somewhere around 6-9 or 10 months (or a bit later, depending on his development, and how consistent you've been with your signing!), he'll start to make that sign to you when he wants his milk! It's amazing to see a little person who can't yet talk getting his message across in such an effective way...and of course it makes life so much easier for your baby and for you. Fewer tantrums are always a good thing!

And don't worry about it hindering their language development - research carried out over the past 25 years in the USA has shown that using signs alongside speech is extremely beneficial for language development.  We know that it's great for comprehension, spoken language (particularly vocabulary development) and also because when you sign with your child, you tend to use many really useful communication strategies, such as increased eye-contact, slowing down your rate of speech and keeping your language simple, which all help to enhance your little one's language skills. 

If you have any queries about baby signing at all, then please contact Liz on 01565 872010, or email liz@babysigntime.net, and I'll be very happy to help.