See the Great discussion on Babies and Moms Radio

Go to my other blog to see a video of Anna signing MORE at 11 months. 

This is the most common question I hear.  Well, there is no really perfect answer because every baby is different and it also depends on how much you sign with your baby and when you start.  However, there are a few things that will help you understand when you can expect your baby to sign:

1. The sooner you start signing, the better.  However babies generally can’t clearly see you sign until around 4 months.  So that is a great time to start.  If your baby is older, start today. 
2. You don’t need a ton of signs to start with.  Try somewhere between 4-10 signs (depending on your baby’s age and interests). 
3. Your consistency in signing is more important than how many signs you choose.  If you are consistent with signing MILK when you nurse or give your baby a bottle, she will sign sooner.
4. Your baby doesn’t have the manual dexterity to sign back until generally around 7-9 months (even thought I have seen some babies signing at 4 months–that is rare).  BUT that doesn’t mean that he is not responding to your signs with grunts or smiles.

Enjoy your experience with your baby!  Don’t worry about when she will sign back.  You are working on a life-long relationship.

If you speak another language in the home (in addition the signing you are doing), you might be concerned that your child will be confused by hearing both languages.  Research shows that when children are exposed to two or more languages (now count signing) at the earliest ages, they are able to learn both languages simultaneously—especially if they are both spoken consistently.  Your child will probably become more proficient in the dominant home language and she may interject words from one language in to the other.  But in time, she will learn to distinguish the two languages.  Using sign language can also help your child learn both spoken languages well.  Use the same signs while speaking both languages.  For example, sign MILK whether you are saying “milk” in English or “leche” in Spanish.

Being bilingual or trilingual is an incredible gift to give your child.  Start speaking both languages in the home as soon as you can.  If one parent is fluent in only one language, have that parent speak that language and let the other parent who is bilingual speak the other language.  If grandparents or other caregivers who spend significant amounts of time with your baby speak another language, encourage them to do so.  Teach them the same signs to use in both languages.  The earlier you start your child and the more exposure she has, the more capable she will be at both languages.  She will not be hindered in school.  Research actually suggests that children who learn two or more languages (signing counts as a second language in this research) have better abilities in both and show an increase in IQ.

Go to my other blog to see the video of her first time signing BIRD.  (I can’t get videos to work here yet)

If you have been signing for a while, you can expect to see a sign between 8-12 months.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, even babies whose parents have not signed with them will now begin to point and gesture for things they want.  Because you have been signing with your baby, her abilities will begin to blossom and you may even see a explosion of signs.  Hearing babies of Deaf parents typically sign between 50 and 100 signs by their first birthday. 

At the same time, your baby will also increase her verbal communications with you.  Her earlier coos and gurgles will turn in to more recognizable syllables like “ba, “da,” ga,” “ma.”  She may even say words such as “bye-bye” or “mama.”  You can use these experiences to reinforce language learning.  For the most part, her first syllables are not requests for something—rather she is practicing the sounds.  However, you can turn these first utterances in to meaningful expressions by giving them meaning.  For example, if your baby says “ma ma ma ma,” say and sign to her, “Oh, it sounds like you are saying MAMA.  I am your MAMA.  Can you say  MAMA?” You are directing her and teaching her that her random noises can also mean words.  Sign as you teach her so that she knows the sign associated with that sound as well. 

But not everything is random for your baby.  She now understands many of the words you have been saying and signing to her for months.  She knows her name and she can now understand when you sign and ask her questions such as “Do you want some MILK?”  She may express her understanding with squeals or grunts or flailing arms or she may even be making the MILK sign back to you as a way of saying “Yes, I do want some MILK.” She may become excited when you ask if she wants to take a bath and sign BATH. She probably understands more words and signs than you think.

One of the very best things you can do to increase your baby’s linguistic comprehension is to speak with her as much as possible.  Talking with your baby is one of the best ways to help her learn the linguistic game.  Have simple conversations with her about what you are doing: “We are taking a BATH.  Don’t you love taking a BATH?  I love the WATER.  It feels so good to have your toes WASHED.”  If she can see you and your hands are free and it is safe to sign, sign with her at the same time you talk to her.  You don’t need to sign everything in the sentence.  Just sign one or two signs in each sentence. 

This is a wonderful time as your baby works out the communication game.  She will begin to understand the connection between what she does with her hands and how you respond to her.   That is why your baby will probably sign back to you—especially if you have been signing with her for a few months.   Babies have the manual dexterity to make signs now and they have the cognitive and social development to want to communicate their needs. When the understanding comes, she will pick up signs more quickly.  She may even begin to sign several different signs at once. 

At times, it may even seem that she is bursting with desire to communicate.  She will look at you for the name and sign for everything she sees.  Depending on how many signs you introduce to your baby, your baby will be able to recognize 20-100 signs by her first birthday.  Some of these signs she will make and some she may not be able to make yet.  There are some signs that babies may never make.  What baby wants to make the sign for “WAIT?”  She may understand the concept and the sign when you make it, but she probably won’t sign it back. 

Between 8-12 months, your baby understands that things have specific names.  She will look to you to show her the names of everything in her world. This action is called labeling.   Have you seen that look when she sees something and then stares at you as if to ask, “What is that, Mom?” 

You can introduce your baby to lots of things in the world during this time.  Tell her what things are called and if you know the sign for that thing, sign it too.  It is important to use the actual words for things and not made up words.  This increases your baby’s vocabulary and helps her gain a better grasp on the language.  Although it is cute to say “Do you want a ba ba?” your baby is better served by hearing the word bottle and seeing the sign. The same thing is true for words that your baby will begin to approximate in speech. If your baby says “ba ba” for her bottle, use the word bottle instead of repeating “ba ba” so that she hears and learns the correct word.

Because your baby wants to know the names of things and their signs, this becomes a great time to learn new signs for the things around you.  If you have not learned signs for your child’s favorite toys or foods, now is a good time.  Animal signs are also very useful to know because children love animals and baby books have lots of animals in them. 

You will also begin to see that your baby knows the names for things. Make sure that you ask your baby questions about what she is looking at so that she can use her ability and learn more names.  For example, when you are reading books, say and sign, “See the BIRD? Can you show me the BIRD?”  She may be able point to it in the book and make the sign for it.  This type of recognition shows that she knows the name and the sign for objects is very important and will strengthen as she gets closer to her first birthday.  If your baby is amiable when she is eight months old, take her hand and point it at the pictures in the book as you talk about them.  

Don’t worry about signing every word in a sentence. Your goal right now is to create a bridge of communication for your baby while she cannot speak.

You can Read about it or Listen to it on Babies and Moms Radio

Q Last Week we talked a bit about what baby sign language is.  Can you tell me why it works so well?

Signing Parents express that their children tend to be well-adjusted, more even tempered, more polite, and generally better learners.   When you use sign language, you have extra tools to help you facilitate learning and growth in your baby.  Your baby knows she can get her needs met.

And signing with your baby is a multi-sensory experience that may help develop both sides of your baby’s brain.  The left side of the brain is stimulated by the words you say to your baby. The right side of the brain is stimulated by the images your baby sees.  When you speak and sign together, you are giving your baby input for both sides of her brain.

Q Last week you said that I should start signing with my baby around 4 to 7 months.  How do I start? 

Start Simple:  Start with 5-10 signs.  Choose a few signs for things you need and a few signs for things your baby is interested in.  Here are a few good sign

EAT, MILK, BATH, BED, ALL DONE, DIAPER CHANGE MORE, MUSIC, PLAY, BOOK and LIGHT.  The older your baby is, the more specific the signs she will need.   One easy way to get these signs is to pick up the Sign Babies ASL Flash Cards because they focus on the beginning signs babies and moms need most. 

These signs are effective because:

1. They are distinct.  Each sign looks different so there is no way to confuse the signs.
2. They relate to the things your baby is doing.  
3. They can be used in situations that occur often during the day.

Whether you choose 5 or 10 signs to start with is not as important as choosing signs that interest your baby and that you will use often. 

Q So Do I have to Set Aside Time to Sign? 

You never need to make a specific time for signing.  Just incorporate signing in to what you are doing with your baby.  For example, you can sign MILK while feeding your baby a bottle or nursing.  Or, if your baby has begun eating, sign EAT while your baby eats.  You are always signing in context.

Have Conversations:  Always speak with your child when you are signing.  Speak in complete sentences even though you may be using only one or two signs for the entire sentence.  This will not confuse your baby.  If you say, “Do you want some MILK?” you will only sign MILK for the entire sentence you are speaking. 

Repeat the sign several times and have a “conversation” with yourself When your baby is nursing or drinking a bottle, you might have a conversation—albeit one-sided—with her that might go like this: “I bet you are enjoying your MILK.  It is good MILK.  You are so cute when you drink your MILK.”  This seems funny, but it really helps babies to hear the language and associate the words and signs with the activity they are engaged in. 

REMEMBER: It is less important to know a lot of signs than it is to use the signs you know.

Q Tell me a bit more about HOW I get my baby involved

Engage Your Baby:  Make the sign directly in your child’s line of sight so your child can see your eyes, the sign, and your mouth.  Then, speak with your child, emphasizing the word you are signing.  For example, you might say, “Do you want some MORE apple?”  So many parents speak to their children with their backs turned away from their child, while they are doing something else, or in the same tone they use to speak on the phone.  Babies have a hard time understanding that you are speaking to them when you do these things. 

Q How Will My Baby Respond Back and How soon can I expect to see a sign?

Often, before she can sign the sign, she will respond to you with a body smile or giggles—especially if you guess what she wants and she gets it.  Sometimes she responds even without a conscious knowledge that she is doing it.  Tricia began showing Keira the MILK sign at four months old.  Then, about 1 ½ months later, Keira began to make the sign.  At first Tricia was unsure that what she was seeing was a sign since Keira would squeeze her fists as she nursed.  But, she realized that she did not squeeze her hands at any other time—just when she was nursing and had been shown the MILK sign. Too bad she is not here to tell us about it. 

Anna is starting to make the milk sign, but she responded to it months ago.  Check out the video where you can see her responding to MILK and EAT.  You can see her panting and grabbing my hands when I sign MILK or opening her mouth when I sign EAT.  It is totally cool!

Moms deserve more than just a day to celebrate them so we are celebrating them all month!  We are giving away gourmet gifts, books, gift baskets, Zoobies (something for you and something for your baby you love) and more so listen live and win.  Listen live on www.grapevineradio.com at 9:30 am MDT on Fridays!

Pop in to Happiness Giveaway:  Do you LOVE gourmet popcorn or chocolate?  If so, we Highly Recommend trying Chocolate Avalanche, a caramel corn which is hand-drizzled with layers of chocolate!   Jennifer & Deric Glissmeyer are the owners of a store called Colorado Kernels, in American Fork, Utah. They started this business with the founders from Colorado in 2004 and have over 21 flavors to sample when you’d like.  Call (801) 756-0915 for store directions or visit their website at www.ColoradoKernels.com.  We will be giving away a Chocolate Avalanche on every show this month!