Pure Parents

Question:

>Hi all >Has anyone any experience about this baby sign language which there seems to >be a lot of fuss about recently?

I borrowed a book called ‘Baby Signs’ from a friend when our little girl was about 14 months old and found it interesting and informative.  We started using some of the signs (but you could easily make up your own) and she caught on really quickly.  By about 16 months she had about 50 signs and 50 words that she used and has been one of the most advanced speakers amongst her peers.  At the time, lots of people said we shouldn’t do this with her as it would slow her acquisition of speech, but we found the opposite to be true – being able to communicate with her was motivating for us all and we were actually quite sad when the spoken language progressed to such a stage that the signs became redundant. We now have a 16 month old son who is also picking up the signs (often linked with sounds) and his big sister enjoys teaching him.  I would say, go for it: it is great fun and anything which enhances communication between you and your children must be good.  But I don’t think I’d pay masses of money to buy the book.  Just make up your own signs and have fun. — Nikki from Cornwall

Response:

>>We have been trying to teach my son some simple signs – food, milk, >finished, etc.  He is 16 months, and non-verbal.  Learning the signs has >helped him be less frustrated, as he can communicate more clearly.  I am >a little worried that this may delay his speech further, but as he had >no words before hand, and we always use both sign and word in >conjunction, I hope it won’t. >I doubt that it would delay anything. >He will speak when he is ready to.

I wish it were that simple ;( Luke was born at 30 weeks, and has had some "oral complications".  We have overcome most of them so far, but there is still no way of telling if Luke will have speech problems, or just delays.  When you look at his corrected age, he is 13.5 months, so I’m probably just being paranoid, but if there is a problem, I want to start treating it as early as possible, so as to help him most effectively. Blessings — Jenn UK

Response:

Hi there, I got the pack for my twins and have been trying it for the last few months with no success but I don’t think it is so easy with two! However, it does seem very impressive and the video showing babies signing is wonderful to see. I cannot see why you can’t make your own signs up, they do suggest that you just start with one or two to being, one for milk, one for eat for instance and when you have success with these start introducing others. Let me know what you decide, I am afraid I am Mrs Gadget and cannot resist buying these things, I would have loved it to work for my twins but I think they will be talking before they show any signing! Best of luck, Emma Bertram > Hi all > Has anyone any experience about this baby sign language which there seems to > be a lot of fuss about recently? > We have a 7 month old girl and are eager to try this scheme out but aren’t > sure if we really need to pay