Why sign with my baby?

It's a good question!

The best reason to sign with your baby is communication. Because with babies as with all people, being able to communicate effectively reduces frustration and validates needs, feelings, and desires. And signing with your baby is fun! Your baby will get a kick out of learning new signs with you, and you'll love having more insight into what your baby enjoys. Some research also suggests that babies who sign have larger vocabularies at age two, and may have higher IQs when they're older. See Baby Center for my source and more expert opinion.

How does sign language help a hearing child communicate earlier than waiting for speech? Think about this:

• At 3 months old, your baby starts batting at toys and attempting to grab them
• By 4 months old, your baby can grab a large object
• At 8 months old, your baby is raking smaller objects towards himself, and has perfected getting things from his hands to his mouth
• Before a year (as early as 7 months!), your baby has mastered pincer grasp, meaning that she can hold small objects between her thumb and forefinger
• BUT most babies don't start saying words until they are a year or more, and probably won't start using two-word "sentences" until they are 18 months or older.

Babies develop manual dexterity faster than language, and their cognitive ability greatly outweighs their ablilty to vocalize what they're thinking. Think of all the words your baby knows... does she get excited when you start talking about milk? When you say "sippy cup" does he automatically start looking around for it? Does your baby love to look at animals? Your baby knows these things in her mind, but she can't vocalize them yet. Baby sign language gives your baby simple hand gestures to name what's most important to him.

Wondering if the time is right? If your baby is waving "bye-bye" or blowing kisses, she's already shown you that she can learn baby sign language! But remember, in order for you baby to learn signs, YOU have to learn the signs! Get a head start so you'll be ready when your little love-bug wants to sign!