Baby sign

[brittneyvand]

Didn't see anywhere to talk about signing so hopefully this is a good place.

We purchased the Baby Signing Time DVDs when our daughter was 10 months and by 11 months she was starting to sign. We started showing our son the Baby Signing Time DVDs from the time he was brought home from the hospital. He is now 6 1/2 months old and has started signing milk in the last week. It is amazing! He has understood the signs "change diaper" and "milk" for a couple months. He will be upset and I sign milk and he would get excited.

I believe it is never too early to start teaching your baby sign, I loved that my daughter could tell us what she needed, there was no frustration once she could sign, and I am excited for my son to be able to communicate with us.

[LilyTiger]

Glad they've worked well for you.  I personally wouldn't use the DVDs due to current recommendations on screen time for children under 2.  Babies learn better from watching people in their environment.  We just started signing with our five month old.  I agree that signing is a great tool!  I've watched my friend's one year old and it's amazing how well he can communicate in sign.

[brittneyvand]

Just for the record, I do not plop my child in front of the tv for hours. I let him watch signing time,for example, when I am making dinner and need both my hands to cook to keep him out of danger of kitchen hazards and he gets some extra learning. I also do not rely solely on the DVDs, we sign to him whenever we can, this is how he learned "change diaper". Not trying to be defensive but I don't think a small amount of tv time when it is educational like this is a bad thing.

[LilyTiger]

The most recent American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations indicate that videos have no educational value for infants or toddlers.  We both agree on the importance of signing.  Since your post appeared to endorse or suggest a particular product, I just wanted to call into question its efficacy and/or safety.  I think it's likely that your son and daughter learned sign language from your loving efforts to teach them, and not from the videos.  Either way, signing with babies is awesome and makes life a lot easier. 

Here are a few articles that discuss the AAP screen time recommendations. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/health/19babies.html?_r=0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/aap-reaffirms-no-screen-time-for-young-children-even-though-few-parents-listen/2011/10/18/gIQAZvpkuL_blog.html

[brittneyvand]

You know, I am new to this community and I did not join or post about the happy moment with my child to have my parenting style criticized. I do not care whether you believe what people you do not know say about the efficiency of videos, as they have indeed helped my children to learn to sign. I would recommend and have recommended the Baby Signing Time DVDs to anyone and everyone. My 3 yr old has been watching them since she was 10 months and other shows and is doing fine. She is smarter than any other 3 year old I know and this is not just my opinion, it is the opinion of many people she knows. She is in preschool and is doing really well. I grew up watching TV, educational and not, and I feel that I have no bad side effects from that. All these 'professionals' who have to put in their two cents and make mothers question their upbringing or instincts should realize that parents have been raising kids for generations and they have survived and thrived. Sorry I will not be looking into the articles you posted since, as a mom, I know what is and isn't good for my child.

[LilyTiger]

I'm sorry you took my post to be critical.  I had hoped to make it clear that I was merely questioning the product you mentioned, not your parenting (which,  from one short post, I know very little about). 

However, if you are completely uninterested in evidence-based practices, I think you will find Mothering a challenging community to be part of.  Best of luck with your babes, and hopefully someone else can weigh in whose opinion you find more palatable.

[FarmerMomma]

So glad you had luck with the videos. I didn't have much luck signing with my first. I think I tried when he was too young and got burned out on it. I had hoped to have little to no screen time with my little one but life happens. I don't live in a bubble. Not everyone here is going to criticize you.

[element2012]

I never used a DVD, but did occasionally sign "milk", "more", etc with my DD for some months now.  The other day we were out shopping and she started fussing and signing "milk" very deliberately at me. It was very exciting as my MIL was with us, and though she had never said anything, I had gotten the feeling she thought it was silly that we were signing to our baby.  But when she saw DD able to clearly communicate what she wanted, she was amazed.  DD does now sign "milk" and "finished", and I wish I had been more consistent so that she could communicate more.  So yes, keep it up!  I am also of the camp that your LO probably learned it from you and not the DVDs as it's very doubtful that a LO can process what's shown on a screen, but the DVDs taught you and gave you the confidence so I would say that's pretty valuable. Hurray for signing babes!

[brittneyvand]

I actually took sign language in high school so I knew from about that time that when I had kids that I wanted to teach them sign. I do believe the DVDs have helped him. As soon as we turn them on he is completely content and watches, my daughter was the same. I also agree that we do have a big part in him learning.

[clairebear3]

I'm really glad this thread got started as I started signing to DD about two weeks ago.

I am using information I found on babysignlanguage.com

At the moment I am only doing signs for water and food.  Is it best to wait until she starts signing these before adding any others?  I don't want to bombard her with too much info.  She is 8 months, do you think that's a good time to start or should I wait a bit?  I'm just not sure if I'm being repetitive enough for her to get it...

[sageowl]

Signing is invaluable for that pre-verbal period when the baby is old enough to want to communicate, but frustrated that he or she can't. 

Some people swear by those videos, but I personally can't stand them (the singing drives me over the edge of sanity), so I found some great books at the library and used those instead.  I taught my son a bunch of very practical signs, so he could communicate with us (he was a very late talker).  That helped him a lot, and cut down on the amount of whining, and frustration.  When he got better at talking, he started phasing them out.
 

[ananas]

When would be a good time to start implementing signs? DD is only 2 months old right now. I believe I once heard/read that 4 months is a good time but I'm not quite sure.

[brittneyvand]

We started showing our daughter signs from the beginning, as I said in my first post we got the DVDs at 10 months and she started signing at 11 months. We have shown my son the DVDs and done signs ourselves to him since he was born and he is now 6 1/2 months and has understood the signs "milk" and "change diaper" for a couple months. He would be crying and I would sign milk and he would get excited. A week ago he signed milk! I believe it is never too early and any way you feel best to show them is good.

[sageowl]

You can use signs from day one if you want, but kids can't generally imitate or produce them all that well until at least 6 months of age, and some of the more complex ones will take a lot longer.  A lot of times, kids will create an easier version that they can do (an approximation) that it's easier for them to produce.

[element2012]

A book I picked up at the library recommended to start at 6 months and expect the child to start signing around 9 months.  I was very inconsistent with it, but DD picked it up anyway so have fun! Just pick like 2-4 signs that are useful to your LO like milk, eat, finished, more, etc and use them as much as possible.

[LionessMom]

i love the signing time dvds. my kids love them too. i get the songs stuck in my head. my older girls will watch them all day long if i let them. my 6 mo old will watch them too if he is close enough. but he doesnt watch very long. not one of his interests i guess. my kids end up only caring about a few signs. play, eat, the one we use for nursing, drink. sleep. and potty. when they get older they love learning all the others. i think they watched the zoo one 5 times that one day.

also welcome. 

[fayth2012]

Question: Do any of you think it would still be useful to try teaching a one year old sign language by yourself? I used to try to make the signs for milk, hi, bye, mama, dada, tired, sleep, etc, when I said them to her, but I was usually the only one doing it, so eventually I just stopped doing it. Now, I want to try teaching it to her again. Any other useful tips? I don't allow her to watch tv, so no videos. Thanks!

[element2012]

Fayth I think this is a perfect time because she will pick it up quickly now. Even if you are the only one signing, as the babe is likely with you most of the time. Just use the signs a lot and she will probably start signing back within days I would think.