For years I have heard about babies who learn sign language before speaking. I always anticipated that when we had a family, signing would be something we would also do with our children. It’s like learning another language. Being married to a bilingual husband with immigrant parents that would speak mostly Polish to our children I thought what the heck, let’s add sign language too!
After Olivia was born I was rocked with the change (aren’t we all?) and nearly gave up on the idea of teaching signs to our daughter. It just seemed like one more thing to add to my overflowing plate. We had a little book and began teaching her the basic signs round 7 months (Milk, all done, more, eat and drink) however I found it challenging to be consistent with the signs. Amazingly, she still managed to pick up on the “milk” sign (go figure!) but that was pretty much the extent of our signing. When she turned 12 months we decided to add the Baby Signing Time DVD that came to us highly recommended.
I’m personally not a fan of “educational” videos for babies so letting Olivia watch a video was a tough decision for us. We are generally a no TV family (except when NFL season starts) so adding a video at just 12 months was certainly not in my plans. Despite my reservations, Olivia’s signing exploded as soon as she began watching the DVD to the point where she now signs constantly. It’s been simply amazing to watch.
There were a few things that I liked about the video right off the bat: The signs are taught using fun catchy songs, there is a diverse group of babies & toddlers doing the signs in their own individual way, and the DVD’s were created by a Mom who’s daughter is deaf.
The other night while I was making dinner she was unusually fussy and hanging around my legs. I asked her to show me what she wanted. She did not show me a sign, so I figured the fussing was due to the 4 incisors she is finally pushing through. She continued to fuss, refusing any suggestions that I offered. Generally, she is content to play quietly during dinner prep so this was not her usual behavior.
She finally started to sign to me:
I saw “hurt ” and so I cuddled her and asked if it was her teeth again?
She continued to fuss and shake her head.
She signed again and I asked if it was “bear” she wanted?
Nope, she shakes her head.
She tried to sign again. Very upset and persistent.
“BLANKET??”
Her eyes lit up, and she grinned so wide.
I had overlooked how important the dinner prep time was for her to rest with her blanket. This is a new thing of hers lately. Her beloved blanket was upstairs and I was clearly messing up her ritual! We ran upstairs and reunited the two of them. She was giggling with joy the entire time. I looked into her eyes, signing “mommy sorry” and congratulated her for showing mommy what she needed. She was so proud of herself. It just melted my heart. She knew she could use her signing to tell me what she needed and she did not give up until I understood her.
We normally do not have communication breakdowns like this. I know the signing has made a huge difference with this. The signing seems to have seamlessly integrated a whole new level of understanding between us. Our sitter also has some signing experience from working with special needs children and we have found it to be an amazing asset for both of them. (The official website has many testimonials, including amazing special needs stories)
If you are considering signing with your baby but wonder if you can handle the commitment to see it through, I highly recommend the Baby Signing Time DVD’s Volume 1 and Volume 2. Although it’s great to start while children are around 8 months+, I have heard of many parents who began signing with their children at amn older age. The Baby Signing Time DVD series created for older children is perfect for this.
Looking back and remembering how close we came to giving up on the whole thing because it seemed like a lot of extra effort, I’m SO GLAD we didn’t. Even if it was a video that taught us how to sign.
Any other signing parents? What has been your experience with it?
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We started signing with our daughter around 6 months, using more, milk, eat, drink as the basic starters. Then we moved onto bath, thank you, please to work on manners. She picked them up so quickly and now at 16 months old, I think it’s contributed to her speaking earlier. She knows over 50 words now and I thank signing for it. She doesn’t sign as much now and I haven’t taught her new ones since she tends to use her words. However, I think it’s an invaluable tool for communication at the young age. She can tell us what she wants even without talking.
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We started teaching J around 9 months and she picked it up super-fast. We don’t have TV, but J watches a video for 1 hour every morning while she is on her feeding pump. We used the Baby Einstein DVDs with signs (mostly) with some supplementation from books I got from the library (and don’t remember now). I’m sure that many a “meltdown” was avoided because we had a wonderful way to communicate with her. Just like you described, it was so great to see her face light up with joy when we “got” what she was trying to tell us. As she learned to talk, she still signed words with the spoken ones until the signing gradually faded away.
She’s almost 3 now and her vocabulary is phenomenal. I’d like to hope that our encouraging communication early led to her incredible current vocabulary. I’d highly recommend signing to anyone considering it. It was definitely worth the effort for us.
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We’ve been signing w/ our little guy since he was about 13 or 14 months old. We love it and it’s helped immensely. I actually just did a guest post on Keeper of the Home (http://tinyurl.com/677be9) just this past week on signing! And I plan on starting my own series this next week on my own blog.
Even now that he is just starting to talk, he still uses it a lot for words he can’t quite say. And it’s even great when we’re places (like church) where he may be on the other side of the room and needs a drink. He just looks over and signs it and we meet halfway with the sippy!
We’re big signing time fans here. Although my son learned the signs relatively quickly, I wouldn’t say that it helped him communicate any easier. He had a hard time conceptualizing that the signs were a form of communication for a long time. At 17 months, he’s just now starting to realize that making a sign = getting a request answered. But he LOVES Rachel. We don’t watch it that often, but he’s much quicker to pick up a new sign when we do because he’s very auditory in learning, and the music helps him to learn easier.
I got to admit that I had a hard time teaching my kids anything structured. When it comes to learning, I’m not very disciplined. Word cards also did not work either because I could never stick to the regime. Thank goodness….school is helping them with all these now!
It’s great that you found sign languages working. If I’ve read your testimonial some years back, I might have just given it a shot!
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@Sara: Wow, 50 words at 16 months, your daughter certainly is a communicator!! That is amazing, thanks for visiting & sharing your comments.
@PsychMamma: That’s interesting about J’s vocabulary. Olivia is not yet using words, so I’m excited to see how the words will develop and how long the signing will stick around. Great to “see” you, thanks for visiting
@Donielle: That’s so exciting about your series, I’ll be sure to come and visit. Great post by the way! Thanks for visiting.
@Stacia: Rachel is pretty great. I actually love her songs and find myself singing them around the house which of coarse gets Olivia all excited. Happy to see you again, thanks for stopping by.
@Evelyn: I can totally relate about the schedules, the DVD’s kinda did save us from ourselves! ha ha. Thanks for your comment, as always it’s great to hear from you.
@Sara Wow! My little one is 19 m and her gross motor is amazing but her language not so great. As a teacher with a MA in Earlyc hildhood this worries but to some extent but she does talk and communicate so I’m not too fearful.
We used signing with my son and four years ago this was controversial. Everyone said he’d have language delays and guess what, he does. Is it connected to signing, I’m sure not. He has off the chart comprehension and vocabulary but his sound delay is the problem. This is a connection issue in the brain.
I’m not sure why we did not do sign with my daughter but maybe I should start it again with Monica having such great success. It sure is great to fufill your childs needs and have them be able to tell you what they are feeling and wanting. It makes things run smoother. Thanks for the recommendations.
Cute picture, too!
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