Am I doing baby sign language wrong?

[cww]

Our DD is about 10.5m old, and I've been doing baby sign language with her since she was about 8m, but so far she isn't signing.  I haven't been perfectly consistent all that time, so I know that is not ideal (how does anyone remember to sign milk every time - even when the baby is flipping out b/c she is hungry and it takes you some time to get your blouse open, or it is the middle of the night?)

I've used the milk sign all that time, and the sign for dog a lot also (we have a small dog, and the LO loves to chase her and try to pet her, plus there are a ton of other dogs outside when we go for walks).  I used to do the milk sign whenever she was actually drinking, but for the last week I've changed it to signing "milk", then putting her on the breast, then signing "more milk?", then switching sides.  I don't know if that is a better sequence. 

Once she did the milk sign right back to me, and once she did the dog sign right back to me, but both times I'm pretty sure she was just imitating me and not actually making the connection between the sign and the meaning. And she didn't do it again. 

Some other signs I have used pretty frequently, especially in the past month: more, eat, leaves, tree, sleep, water, boat, come, ball.  I have occasionally used other animals signs when we had a special opportunity.  

We speak three spoken languages at home because of family members and their different mother tongues, so I know that can delay spoken speech, but I was hoping that she would be able to sign soon to reduce frustration.  Could she have a delay in learning signing because she is getting too many languages at a time?  Right now she uses a specific and really loud irritating grunt/yelling sound to indicate when she wants anything from "put me down!" to "give me more food" to "I want to pet the dog." 

She otherwise seems pretty quick to catch on to things - she has been waving and clapping in response to us and on her own, and pointing, and following our pointing, since she was about 7m old (maybe earlier - I can't remember).  So are we doing something wrong?  Any tips for helping her to catch on?  Or is it normal for it to take them months and months to learn to sign at this age?

Thanks for reading my post!

[goldenwillow]

I do not think you are doing anything wrong.  All LO's are different.  I would just continue to sign as much as you can and she should catch on.  I remember when we were teaching our son, my husband and I had to remember to sign to each other while talking.  I think that helped DS to see it more.  When DS was interested in something, say a tree, ball, etc... we would learn the sign and continue to show him.  Also, our friends with children sign as well, so it is all around him.  He is up to around 200 signs at 28 months and his speech is awesome.

Try not to put to much pressure on yourself.  She will catch on.  What a gift for her to have 4 languages!  I am not sure if she could be delayed due to all of them though.  I hope someone replies on that here.

We are not too into DVD's but occasionally we do.  Signing time is a nice way to show as well (we check out from the library), at least for us.  Joseph Garcia has a "how to" show sign as well.  He is a local to us so we of course supported him.  Think he has some You Tube videos as well. 

Good luck!

[cww]

Thanks for the reply, goldenwillow!  I hadn't thought of DH and I signing to each other - we'll have to try that.  DH doesn't really sign, so maybe that is also part of it?  I think he will if I really stress it, but he doesn't tend to on his own initiative.  I think I will also work on that. 

If I know it will just take her some time, I can certainly wait - I just worry that maybe she isn't getting it b/c I am doing it wrong!  (And so continuing to do it wrong won't help her catch on...)

I'm looking forward to hearing from others who have had experience teaching their LOs sign language...

[behaviourmama]

Another way you could approach it is to really focus on the signs only during times when she wants something.. like "I want the dog to come here so I can pet it" and not "hey look, the dog". In other words, teach her to ask for things as opposed to commenting on things. It sounds like she is totally ready to learn! I bet all she needs is to make the connection for one sign, and she will learn VERY quickly after that. You could even try making a big deal out of an ALMOST sign, and help her learn to do it more accurately as time goes on (think, cheering your baby for a closed hand clap or a flap that turns into a sort of clap.. this turns into a proper clap eventually). We did that with DD.. she was just causally flicking her fingers together when she was sitting in the high chair, and I said "Wow, you're saying all done??!?!" and the shocked and amazed look on her face was priceless. She was a master at "all done" after that!

Good luck, it sounds like you are doing a great job!

[coldandsleepy]

Some kids really just aren't that in to signing.  I signed with my son from about 4 months on-- very consistently using about 30 signs every day with him (and more on an as-needed basis).  He recognized and responded to the signs in the same way that he recognized spoken language, but had very little interest in signing back.  He first signed back "all done" on a consistent basis from about 11 months onward, at exactly the same time that he started speaking words.  As his spoken vocabulary rapidly expanded, he stopped using even the couple of signs he had known/used for a while, despite me continuing to sign & speak everything.

[Buzzer Beater]

I'm sure you're doing fine, and I would hang in there!

We started signing late with dd and she didn't pick up much until after a year. Now she can learn a new sign quickly, and we find it very helpful in our case. She is not talking much at 18 months, only about 15 words, but she's got about 45 signs. It's been great warding off the tamtrums she's starting when we don't understand. She puts several signs together to make sentences now.

Just keep up with her and it will happen. Depending on how many words she is speaking, it could be well worth it. Most kids just don't have that many words around a year to a year and a half, but they can use many signs well.

[LiLStar]

10.5 months is still really young, and lots of babies aren't signing yet. My dd didn't sign until 12 months and I worked on it with her tons! by 15 months or so she signed like crazy

[cww]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!  Behaviormama, I've been trying to use your tips, and I think it has been more effective.  This week she has been signing back milk like crazy - I can't tell if she really understands what it means yet, but whenever she signs it, I try to immediately BF, and she often signs it repeatedly while BFing. :)  She has also imitated me a bunch of times when I have signed "more" and "all done," and I have praised her bigtime for that.  So maybe she is finally catching on!  Coldandsleepy, thanks for sharing your experience - it's reassuring to know that if she doesn't end up signing much that she's not the only one.  BuzzerBeater and LiLstar, thanks for letting me know that your kids took a while to sign - the book I have says that they can start signing back at 8 months (who knows how accurate that is) and I didn't have anyone else to whom to compare, so I wasn't sure when to really expect her to get it - your stories make me feel reassured that she is probably still right on track. 

Thanks again, all of you!

[behaviourmama]

Oh so glad that you are having success!! I bet she'll learn super quick from here! Enjoy, I love that age :)

[bandgeek]

DS didn't sign back until 14 months.  I wouldn't expect anything before a year.  Some kids sign that early, but it's not the norm I don't think.  Once it "clicks" though, you will be amazed at how fast they pick it up!  DS would learn up to 10 signs in any given day.  He had about 400 by age 2.

[cww]

Thanks for the replies, again!  I think she may actually be getting it.  She does the "more" sign a lot (her own version where she bumps one pointer finger against the palm of the other hand...) when we are feeding her and she wants more food, and tonight she actually did it without us prompting her with the sign first.  I think she gets now that if she makes that sign we will give her more food. :)  She also signed milk tonight just before bed, and then did it again whenever I tried to put the breasts away, so I think she has finally caught on. :)  Exciting!