Baby sign language question

[speedymarie]

Keep it up. Mine was over a year before she really got going.

[sweetbrier]

Mine got milk pretty early on, but that was it for months and she started using it for other things. Maybe around 8 or 9 months? Then she picked up several at once (a language explosion in a way). Now I'm working on adding more. Keep it up! it might seem like they aren't picking it up, but they are it just takes awhile sometimes.

[cbrandt1]

I've been considering baby sign language. I'm interested to see your responses and if it's worth it or not.

And welcome

[cbrandt1]

Oh and sorry, I thought I was on the May '15 board ha ha!

[speedymarie]

Sorry mobile posted too soon. Mine did milk and nothing else for a long time then she suddenly got it. At 14 months she had a vocab of maybe 5 signs. Now at 17 months she's got about 20 and I can't teach her new ones fast enough. It really is worth it. She can tell me things much more complex than she could if she didn't sign. Her verbal language is way behind her receptive, but sign bridges the gap a bit.

If you don't have it I strongly recommend the Baby Signing Bible by Laura Berg.

Pick 1 or 2 signs to focus on for now. Do them consistantly. Make your child's hand do the sign while you repeat the word, and then give him what ever it is. At some point he will realize he can do the sign and get a response from you and it will click.

[speedymarie]

There are also signs that I showed her, then dropped becausr she wasnt picking them up, and weeks later she'd suddenly bust it out with no prompting. Its in there and it will make 1-2 infinitely easier.

[fickleflamingo]

We do sign language, and have for quite a while (started at 6 months, he's now turning a year.) He is delayed and I don't expect him to start doing it himself for a very long time. He doesn't even seem to notice my signs except to laugh when I do "all done" which is apparently hilarious. I know it's going to pay off eventually, but I understand the frustration.

[Emmentaler]

We started using signs at around 6 months, but DS didn't start using them consistently until he was almost a year. He was great with them for a few months and knows several, but now chooses to grunt, whine, and reach for things, even if he knows the sign AND the word when he's tired. It's annoying as it was supposed to lessen his frustration (and ours).

We keep signing though and he does respond if we get the right sign, so I'm hoping this is just a small regression and he'll jump back into signing versus whining again.

And after all of what I just posted, I still think it's worth it; consistency and repetition are the keys. Good luck!

[kld2014]

My DD is 12 months and she signs all done and signs please sometimes but usually claps for please. She has only recently started signing too, I'm talking the last two months or so, and we've been signing at her since 6 months. Keep at it, they pick it up it just takes a while!

*back to dirty lurking*

[HelloSweetie]

I think signing is the best. DD has so many now and still has interest in learning new signs at three. We started early.

If you know what he wants when he's whining, I would be consistent signing to him and only give it to him after he attempts a sign or you move his hands to do the sign. It doesn't have to be perfect, approximations are good too and still show he's learning.

[heybulldog56]

I can't remember when I first introduced signs but my DS is 8.5 months and the only thing he "responds" to is "milk". He doesn't sign back or anything but he does flail his arms around and whines (but honestly, he's probably just expressing his needs and not reacting to the sign. Who knows). He laughs when I sign "eat", which is super cute. So basically, I am in the same boat as you. Everyone who has had success with sign language tells me it took almost a year (and then some). So I guess we've got to stick to it and have fun with it

[sunnysideup26]

I would keep with it! I felt like DS was behind in speech at about 18 months. Baby sign language really helped! After he figured out how to do the signs it really lowered his frustration level when he couldn't say the words yet. The ones he used the most were: more, thank you, milk, all done, and help.

I don't think he signed any of them until he was about a year old but our childcare provider began using it with him around 6 months old and we did the same.

[Emmentaler]

Jan 20, 2015 12:46:26 GMT -5 HelloSweetie said:

I think signing is the best. DD has so many now and still has interest in learning new signs at three. We started early.

If you know what he wants when he's whining, I would be consistent signing to him and only give it to him after he attempts a sign or you move his hands to do the sign. It doesn't have to be perfect, approximations are good too and still show he's learning.

This is a good idea... we can figure it out because he positively responds to the sign, but won't use the sign himself.   I think this is a better approach than just hoping he starts using it again.

[anniemomma]

Definitely stick with it! I started signing with DD right away even though I knew she couldn't understand and now at 13 months she's really picking it up. She knows milk, more, eat, please, dog, hat. Their receptive language is so strong at this point and I really think it helps them develop expressive. The more you do it the faster they'll pick it up. When DD would grunt instead of signing more I'd just say, "oh, you want more" and do the sign to reinforce.
Good luck!

[sudokufan]

Mine didn't really start signing back to us until about 10 months, and even then some of the signs he uses, he's given his own meaning. We really didn't keep up with it, but between our lazy approach and daycare he picked up "milk", "more please" and "eat" -which he uses interchangeably for pacifier. There's a couple more I can't think of at the moment. Just having him able to say milk or pacifier was awesome, because I too got tired of the grunting.