4 Benefits of Using Baby Sign Language

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Did you know there is a way to communicate with your child before he/she is able to speak?

As a person with a background in caring for toddlers for several years in an early childhood education setting, I will be the first to tell you how difficult it is to communicate with toddlers. Imagine having multiple toddlers yelling and/or screaming at you all at once trying to express their needs.

It is difficult for a caregiver (no matter how many babies they are caring for) to pinpoint what a young human needs at this age because of their underdeveloped communication skills. As a teacher, I learned how to communicate with toddlers through Baby Sign while they learned to develop their communication skills into verbal communication.

Prior to my experience working in a daycare setting, I had a small background in American Sign Language. This background including taking classes beginning in middle school and enhancing my skills here and there throughout the years.

My major in college was in speech pathology and audiology. Therefore, prerequisites for this major included basic American Sign Language. Due to this background, I learned the importance of Baby Sign long before I actually needed to use it.

As a mother, I sought out an early childhood education environment that would incorporate Baby Sign into my son’s education. Because of my background and knowledge for this skill, I thought it was imperative that my son learn to communicate through Baby Sign. This would ensure that he could express he needs at school and at home.

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What are the benefits of Baby Sign?

1. Baby Sign allows your baby to communicate with you before they are able to speak

What better reason is there than the simple fact that you are able to communicate with your son or daughter BEFORE they are able to actually say words? As many may know, most babies don’t really start communicating effectively until they are almost two years old. The keyword in that last sentence is “most.”

Yes, some parents get lucky to have a child who begins speaking earlier than most. But, this is not always the case. If you think about it, two years is a really long time to play a game of charades with your child.

2. It’s the beginning process of bilingualism

Many can agree that being bilingual is a skill that is great to have as a child and even into adulthood. Once a child develops the basics of communicating in sign, there is an opportunity to continue to have sign language be part of their learning.

This can occur by taking your child to sign language classes specific to their age group. Baby Sign Language tutors are also available!

3. Boost your baby’s self-esteem

When I am in an environment where everyone around me is speaking a language that I don’t understand, I tend to feel uncomfortable. I feel incompetent and begin to question myself.

This feeling is similar to what a baby might feel when they are unable to tell their caregivers what they need. Having the skill to communicate using Baby Sign gives babies that boost of self-esteem. It gives them the confidence to know that they can communicate to have their needs met.

4. Boost your own confidence

When I became a new mom, I cannot tell you how many times I felt incompetent to be a mother. I constantly question what I am doing. When your baby cries, you try everything to get him/her to calm down and be content. Hungry? No. Dirty diaper? No. Too hot? No. Too cold? No.

As your baby screams louder at you, you become frustrated and want to yell back, “Can you be more specific?!” All the while having a possible breakdown of your own. Being able to communicate with your child at an earlier age would increase your confidence to know how to meet your baby’s needs.

Specifics

Of course, not all Baby Sign is perfect; there is definitely room for trial and error. Like learning any language, you have to learn the basics before you can advance your skills into more complex language.

With Baby Sign, babies use a modified version of the sign. Their sign language won’t be perfect, but you learn to adapt to their modification of the sign. In the video below, you can see my son become frustrated when the cat takes the toy. He asks for help by using his modified version of the sign for “help.”

While babies won’t be communicating with you in full sentences using sign language, getting key signs down will go a long way in being able to communicate their needs to you.

Basic signs that I found helpful were “water,” “milk,” “eat,” “more,” and “help.” These were the signs I noticed being used more often with the toddlers I was teaching and now with my own son. If you consider why a baby would cry, these signs could point you in the right direction of why a typical baby would being upset. They are hungry, thirsty, or need assistance to complete a task they cannot do alone.

Keep in mind that babies can begin to learn this skill as early as six months old! This was the time I started to introduce Baby Sign to my son. As soon as he was able to clap, that gave me the indication that he had the motor skills needed to begin learning to sign.

What do you think?

Communicating with your baby is something I know I couldn’t wait to do with my son. Aside from just curving the frustration of not knowing why he is upset, the fact that he can understand me when I sign to him amazes me!

Having the ability to communicate with your little one sooner rather than later is such an incredible experience. My son’s favorite signs right now are “duck,” dog,” and “shoes.” He seeks out these items in book or in just daily activities just so he can show me that he knows what they are.

I love that he is so excited about his knowledge and that he is confident in himself to communicate with us! We are currently working on the manners part of it by getting him to say “please” and “thank you.” That should be easy to grasp, right? 😉

Do you have experience teaching your child baby sign language? What advice would you give to someone trying to teach baby sign to their child? Please share in the comments below!

Resources

Baby Sign Language Basics

A Baby-Sized Introduction to Speaking with Sign Language

It’s Baby Signing Time

101 Signs to Start Communicating with Your Child Now

Always,
Samantha <3

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The Busy Mom Planner
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About The Author

First time parent to an incredible little boy residing in Northern California. I hold my M.A. in Education with a Specialization in Culturally Responsive Education. My mission is to consistently provide helpful content for other parents to draw from. Parenthood is ever-changing! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you and hope that my posts are insightful.

82 Comments

  1. avatar
    Binge on Basics says:

    This is a great way to boost up your baby’s confidence and communicate with him/her. Will spread the word

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  2. avatar
    The Travel Bunny says:

    Don’t have any kids yet, but I will look more into this for the future. However, with three languages that the child will have to learn at a young age (French, Romanian, English), it might become a bit confusing for the little one.

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  3. avatar
    Adventures with Shelby says:

    This is interesting! My siblings have done this a little with their kids but I didnt know that much about it until reading this!

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  4. avatar
    Luna S says:

    I think this is a wonderful idea! I bought some of those “Signing time” videos before my daughter started talking to help her communicate what she wanted and it was a huge help.

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  5. avatar
    Danielle says:

    This is so good to teach your child how to use sign language since it is a good way for them to communicate.

    82 Comments
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    1. avatar
      Samantha Flores says:

      I’m considering continuing sign language with my son as he gets older. I think it would be great for his future!

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    1. avatar
      Samantha Flores says:

      I’m so glad you have this personal insight! I love sharing this information and love even more when others are able to relate. Thanks for reading!

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  6. avatar
    Elizabeth O says:

    such a beautiful post and informative for all the parents. is so useful especially for the mothers. thanks for sharing tips

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    1. avatar
      Samantha Flores says:

      Thanks for reading, Elizabeth! I’m glad you found such insight through my writing.

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  7. avatar
    mralexmathew says:

    Interesting, and stress relieving thing to try as well
    baby’s are life!
    thanks for share

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    1. avatar
      Samantha Flores says:

      I think it helps tremendously! I hope this is insightful for your future reference.

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      Reply
  8. avatar
    ZyraKuma says:

    Based on speculation from movies and babysitting my aunt’s newborn, crying could mean they’re hungry or that they did an accident. I wish I knew earlier before babysitting haha.

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  9. avatar
    Cendu says:

    I love this! I wanna start trying to teach my babe. He gets so frustrated because he clearly has things he wants to let us know but he does’t know how and it can be equally frustrating for parents dealing with a screaming toddler wondering what they need.

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    1. avatar
      Samantha Flores says:

      Exactly! We truly want to help them, but we don’t know how to sometimes. I hope baby signs helps your little one!

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  10. avatar
    momelite2 says:

    Baby sign language is amazing and works so well. I’ve really seen my nieces and nephews communicate really well with it.

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  11. avatar
    Ciara says:

    I’ve found baby sign language super helpful with my daughter! She’s 1.5 and doesn’t say a lot of words but she can “say” “All done” or “Goodnight” to me though signs. It’s so cute.

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    1. avatar
      Samantha Flores says:

      So cute! I love that my son can sign “all done” or “more.” Working on the please and thank you currently haha..

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  12. avatar
    Taylor J says:

    This is super informative! I witnessed this incredible skill in person and never knew it led to becoming more fluent in other languages.

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      1. avatar
        You, Me and Benny says:

        Yes!! Especially my cousin who has some issues he communicates like this – it’s wonderful!

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        1. avatar
          Blair villanueva says:

          I remember when my sister was little, she uses sign language which made us easy to communicate with her. Luckily she’s no fussy baby.

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