About Us
BabySignLanguage.com is a project for parents teaching infants and toddlers early communications skills. We believe that early communication sets the foundation for accelerated learning, reduced frustration, and a closer relationship between parent and child.
Our website contains baby sign language resources designed around the pedagogical needs of infants and toddlers. In everything we do we take into account the daily challenges confronted by new parents as they attempt to equip their babies with the tools to thrive.
This site was founded when we started teaching our own children how to sign. Our kids loved signing and we loved being able to share in their lives. After hundreds of shared secrets and averted tantrums we can’t understand how any parent could live without Baby Sign Language. We told everyone, and so our friends laid down the challenge, “why don’t you teach every parent Baby Sign Language?”
We are constantly evolving and appreciate all feedback. We want to be a resource for every parent who wants to start communicating with their pre-verbal child through sign language. So send us your questions, comments, and concerns. We love hearing from you!
Lila Retnasaba
Brooke Parker
Mey Lau
Misty Weaver
Contact: questions@babysignlanguage.com
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
my youngest daughter is 15 months old and she is trying to copy what the older children do. I am thinking that maybe sign language would be helpful to decrease her frustration level in trying to communicate with us. What do you think?
is it too late to introduce her to sign language? And I breastfeed and she nurses often, do you have a sign for nursing instead of milk or water? (she takes juice and water in a cup but nurses often at the breast and we use the word “yummy” to refer to the breast.)
thanks so much, :)
tereza
Not at all. Toddlers are great learners and sign language helps them enhance their expressive abilities. Go for it and have fun!
Hello! I just discovered this website and I love it! Thank you for sharing! My husband and I are starting to incorporate the signs into talk with our 8 week old daughter. I love having another way to bond and communicate!
What a wonderful gift you have sharing with us. Thank you so much!
Tereza – I used baby sign language with my son (now almost 2) and breastfed until 22 months. I’m a huge fan of both nursing and baby sign. The great thing about teaching sign language to a hearing child is that you can modify a sign verbally to give it more context. For example, you can use the traditional sign for MILK (squeezing your hand) to mean both milk from the breast and milk from a cup. But when you speak the word at the same time you can add context and say “Mommy’s milk” or “Yummy milk” or “Milk from a cup.” Hope this helps! Good luck!
Awesome! I’m impressed..I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw babies communicating by sign language..Lis, my daughter, is 2months and I do want to teach her baby sign language..But Mom needs to learn it first! Haha
My son is 12 weeks old. He is half Laotian and I want to teach him the Laotian language and some baby sign language. Will he get confused if I try to teach both at the same time?
Came across your website from a post on “The Bloggess”. My “babies” are well into the talking stage now, so I don’t have a lot of need for your site, but wanted to say best of luck with it all! :)
Hi Kevin, So glad to have you around. The Bloggess has sent so many loving people our way!! :)
Not at all, as a matter of fact bilingualism while it delays speech slightly it helps greatly with improved IQ.
Are these words based on ASL or BSL? Thanks in advance for answering
ADMIN – Hi Angela,
99% of the signs are American Sign Language (ASL). In a very small number of cases, we simplify a complex ASL sign to make it a little easier. Where we do that, we try and make it clear that we are deviating from ASL.
We often use BSL to refer to Baby Sign Language, but it is often used as an abbreviation for British Sign Language. We do not use British Sign Language.
Does it matter whether you use your right or left hand when you are signing words like please, thank you, and eat for example?
ADMIN – Hi Michelle,
In American Sign Language, you usually use your dominant hand as the active part of the sign. So if you are right-handed you would sign please with your right hand, and if you are left-handed you would use your left hand. Of course, in baby sign language we are a little more relaxed. So if your dominant hand is often occupied, you can use your other hand. You will find your baby will naturally gravitate toward using their dominant hand.
Yay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love your site. Aaaand I am happy to say that my lil Xochi (8 months young) is signing. She’s doing ‘Bye’ ‘Thank you’ and ‘More’! I sooooo look forward to see what’s next.
ADMIN – Awesome!
Hi,
I really like the flash cards and above all, the videos that come with them! Thanks a bunch for sharing them! I was wondering if there is any chance to ask for more words, like bread, for example…
Thank you again and take care!
Annabel
Dear Annabel,
Slowly but surely we are loading new baby sign language flashcards and video dictionary signs. Our hope is to soon be one of the largest baby sign language resource. I have added bread to the to-do list.
Hi – loving your website.
This comment is for Lee Ann, who wrote back in August.
My son is French and I am English. He learnt both languages and sign language all at the same time. I think it helped him, if anything, to learn the sign language as well because we used one sign for two words … He could work out that ‘lait’ was ‘milk’ in French because it had the same sign. It doesn’t matter what sign you use (we use mostly British Sign Language) as long as it is consistent and frequent! FYI – my son is now 8 years old and fully bilingual! I hope to repeat the same thing with his sister who is 4 months old!
Good luck to you all!
This site is great!! How about an iPad app?
working on it! Very few of us behind the scenes lots of fun ideas coming. :)
Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful information. I decided to look into baby sign language because I my 5 mo old began mocking my cough recently when I was ill and I realized that if she picked that up so easily as a means to communicate then this will surely be helpful. I’m very excited to begin teaching and learning with my precious lil baby.
Does it matter what hand you use when doing the signs?
ADMIN – Hi Jessee,
You can use whichever had is convenient. In ASL (American Sign Language), by convention you use your dominant hand to perform the active part of the sign. However, with Baby Sign Language often we need to improvise because we are holding baby with one hand.
Thank you for this wonderful resource. I was advised to start teaching sign language to my toddler who attends speech therapy My daughter already knows 3 signs in 2 days. Thank you thank you! I feel excited I can communicate with her. Less frustration both ways. It s good to learn especially in my career with children as well.
I saw a comment in here that says she wants to teach her baby sign language, but she needs to learn it first… For those of you who think this way: Stop! You do not need to learn sign language (or anything for that matter) before you can teach your baby. Learn it together!
Another comment asked if she could teach her baby a foreign language and ASL at the same time. Babies will learn whatever you try to teach them. And they will do so at their own pace. The only way you can know what’s best for your child is to pay attention to him. If you see he is overwhelmed, give it a break or try something new. If you find that he is interested, then keep up the good work!
Best of luck to everyone!
Thanks very much for this free resource. I am very excited to teach my little one how to sign. I was speaking with one mother who started teaching her son around 5 or 6 months. By 9 months he was able to tell her when he had a dirty diaper and wanted a change!
I am just teaching my 5 month old “Mommy” how many days do I do that sign before I move onto another one? Or do I need to wait until he starts doing the mommy sign before moving fwd? Thanks!
ADMIN – Hi Jennifer,
If you are just starting, pick five signs that you can repeat lots every day (like Mommy, eat, etc). Keep repeating those signs until baby starts repeating the signs back to you. I would avoid introducing new signs until you start to get traction with the first set of signs.
Hi! I actually used your site to learn some basic ASL when I first was learning sign language and I’ve found it every bit as useful being 17 versus a baby. Now I have a niece and I’m teaching her it and she’s picking it up! It’s fantastic, although, my sister hasn’t quite caught on! This is a great program you are running though. Thanks!
Is this based off of American Sign Language? I was just wondering. Thank you.
ADMIN – Hi Colleen,
Baby sign language as we teach it is almost purely American Sign Language. Occasionally, were there is no ASL sign (i.e. where a word is finger spelled), or where a sign is complex we simplify it for children. But, this is less that 1% of signs and we try to make it clear where we do deviate from ASL.
How young can you start teaching a baby sign language?
ADMIN – Hi Lauren,
You cannot start signing too early – extra exposure will make signing more familiar. But, if you start very early you need to be more patient because it will take them longer to start signing back. Between six months and eight months is a common time to start, because you will usually see signing within two months.
Where can I buy it here in the Philippines?
ADMIN – Hi Ann,
We ship to the Philippines.
I am looking for the flashcard for the word “friend”. It seems to be missing from your flashcards. :( Any way that could be fixed? I’d much appreciate it!! Thank you!
ADMIN – Hi Robyn,
We added friends to the flashcard collection. Thanks for pointing out that important sign!
Hello my name is Mary Jane. I found this web site through google. My granddaughter is 3 months old. Only one ear formed so she has one ear that has nerve damage. I would like to learn and teach her how to sign. Communication means a lot to me. My daughter and the baby live with the daddy and his parents. My concern is that they speak to her in Spanish …I and my daughter speak English. Will this be a setback with communication? Please direct me how to teach her to communicate.
Thank you
Mary Jane
ADMIN – Hi Mary Jane,
Research shows that children are raised bilingual are a little slower to develop their language skills in any one language, but in the long term show better language skills.
With a child that is going to be signing in a bilingual house, we use a common sign for the Spanish and English word so Baby Sign Language acts as a bridge between the two languages. So if her parents say leche, they would make the sign for milk. Similarly, when you say milk, you would also make the milk sign.
Hello I am so excited to try this. My son who is 7 weeks old and wanted to ask when can I start teaching him?
ADMIN – Hi Seeta,
Congratulations! You can start signing as early as you want would like – with a child that young I would keep it very informal, just sign as you point out things to him and as you go about your daily routine. In the same way that he is absorbing your words, he will be absorbing those signs. A typical time for them to do the first rudimentary return sign is 6-9 months old. So if you start early, you have to be more patient and temper your expectations.
If you know you are the type of person that is impatient for results and might get discouraged waiting too long, 6 months old is a good time to start because you will start seeing results after about a month.
Wondering if you can help me. My mentally handicapped brother knows several baby sign language signs but there are two he keeps doing that I don’t understand. One is with both hands clasped and he brings his arms together up under his chin and hits his chest. The other is he takes one hand with fingers splayed like he’s holding a cigarette and waves near his mouth. Does anyone have any suggestions what these could mean? Mostly he says words having to do with food–pop, ice cream, more, etc. I’ve searched and can’t find these two. Thanks
ADMIN – Hi Nancy,
Not sure about the first sign, but the second sign seems like it could be water.
Hi I just discovered this site and I really wanted to try signing with my baby girl, she just turned 7 months old. I was wondering if it was too late to start it with her… ?
ADMIN – Hi Hannah,
You are right in the sweet spot. Anywhere from 6-9 months is a great time to start.
My husband and I love your website and it has been a tremendous help in working with our 20 month old triplets! I was wondering if you could tell me the signs for seashell and sand. I do not know if signs exist for these words but please let me know if they do.
Thanks!
Jennifer Comerci
ADMIN – Hi Jennifer,
Seashell is sea + shell. To make sea, you make you make waves with your hands. To make shell you knock your curled middle finger on your dominant against you non-dominant hand made into a fist.
Sand is the same sign as dirt. You touch your thumbs to your fingers and rub them as if you were feeling some sand in your fingertips.
I learned a little of this from my babysitter when I was about 8 years old because she used it with her son. then some of my friends have been using it with their children and I started to remember using this. my oldest is almost 2 years old and I am starting it with her, because she (and me when she cant tell me what she wants) is getting very frustrated about not being understood. so this is starting to help us a lot.
She is starting to potty train and doesn’t like the word diaper. she uses training pants and her baby sister uses diapers. so when I sign diaper for a change she gets upset. so we say time to change your training pants or time to change your butt. is there something else I can use for her instead of the diaper sign? is there a sign for training pants or for butt?
thank for any help
Kris
ADMIN – Hi Kris,
The ASL sign for bottom is easy, you just point at your bottom. You take your pointer finger and point at your bottom from behind.
You have a wonderful website. I love the way you have simplified the way one can learn and teach sign language to our children. I am asking for permission to use your sign language on my lesson plans that I create for other teachers to use in their classrooms. I list my lesson plans on a site called Teachers Pay Teachers. If you allow me to use your pictures and signs I will gladly give your site credit. I took sign language in collage and I have taught my children to sign. I think teaching children…even those that can hear and speak….benefits from learning and speaking sign language. Being able to sign is a wonderful gift that I would love to share with others. Your site has the best posters, pictures and information. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Mary Ann Mark
ADMIN – Hi Mary Ann,
Thank you for your kind words. We are happy for people to use these materials for non-commercial purposes. But, it sounds like you were planning to sell these lesson plans that you are creating. That is not something we would be comfortable with.