How to Know When Your Baby is About to Begin Signing

October 21, 2014 by Mey Lau

One of the most common questions we receive relates to progress on how baby processes, understands and responds to baby sign language. With many parents reporting baby signs as early as five months it can sometimes be perplexing to try to guess is your baby is in the right path.

If you have been diligent in implementing the basics of learning sign language and those around you such as caregivers and other family members are supportive and participative in the learning process chances are baby will begin signing quicker than ever.

Here are some of the most common signs that will help you know if your baby is about to begin using baby sign language:

Your baby maintains eye contact when you are signing.
Your baby is emotionally responsive to signs by smiling and other facial expressions.
Your baby babbles or makes noises when you sign.
Your baby makes movements with their hands as if attempting to sign.
Your baby engages with signing material like musical videos and flashcards.

Always keep in mind that each little one has a distinct pace and style of learning. Try different approaches until you discover the one that works best for your baby.

Once a baby has mastered two or three signs you will begin to see very quick progress on how they communicate. Every Monday we share our baby sign language stories on our Facebook page. Join us and tell us about your progress.

How to Introduce Baby to Selflessness

October 14, 2014 by Mey Lau

We are all wired for survival. This natural proclivity makes it challenging when it comes to teaching our babies social constructs such as sharing and taking turns. The power to possess is a natural part of the child’s growing awareness. Don’t be surprised if among the first words your toddler verbalizes are posesive terms such as “mine”.

Your baby will develop attachments to things and persons having this attachment is essential and will serve as a foundation to healthy emotional bonds. Starting at six months you are likely to see signs of attachment that can easily be misinterrpreted as selfishness.

Your task as a parent is to gently guide baby in the understanding of social dynamics that demand sharing without impacting their need for attachment and the intrinsic value of this type of behavior.

When do we start teaching our babies how to share?

Teaching babies to share can take place from birth. By this we mean babies should be immersed into family settings where selflessness and love abounds. Use words like sharing and taking turns early on in life but don’t force little ones to share until they are ready.

How do we teach our babies to share?

Teaching how to share by example can take place in the context of meals and play. If you are eating something and you are ready to introduce baby to a new flavor say and sign “share” as you give your little one small bites of the new food item. Taking turns can be introduced early in life by incorporating it to games with props. Take a toy manipulate it, pass it along to baby and say and sign “taking turns” When baby starts loosing interest in the prop pick it up and say “my turn”.

When can I expect my baby to begin sharing?

We need to keep in mind that little ones are not capable of true empathy until later in life. For this reason sharing is a conditioned behavior associated to rewards. We cannot stress it enough that sharing and generosity are learned by example. Lead a generous life and your baby or toddler will imitate.

What are the best methods to teach sharing and taking turns?

Aside from a strong and constant example what works best to teach little ones to share is to incorporate the concept into games. Consider getting an egg timer and teaching your toddler about timed turns. If you are fortunate enough to have older siblings teaching share and taking turns might just be easier for you.

Our gift to you:

Baby Sign Language Flashcard for Share

Baby Sign Language Flashcard for Taking Turns

In tandem with teaching the signs for share and taking turns incorporate please and thank you to your child’s signing repertoire.

Baby Sign Language Prepares Your Little One to Use Their Words

September 29, 2014 by Mey Lau

One of the most important tools we can give to our children is the ability to communicate their needs and wants effectively and in a socially appropriate way. By introducing our babies to signed communication we give them a tremendous headstart when it comes to fully understanding how language empowers us.

If you are the parent of a newborn, baby or toddler and you are trying to figure out how to get started with baby sign language and you are struggling with selecting your first words keep reminding yourself that the words you teach baby will be the ones baby will have available to use when you ask him to “use his words”. With this in mind consider working first on their top ten starter signs to set a strong foundation and set the stage for the learning of new signs.

Once your baby has mastered their first ten signs ask yourself the following questions:

What is our environmental context?

Pick your signs around the the things that surround you. If you live in a two-story home learning the word for stairs becomes more relevant to the daily needs of your child. If home is by the ocean you may want to include signs such as sand, fish, dolphin, etc.

What are your baby’s interests?

Early on your baby will show interests, some babies love fans, others love vacuum cleaners or rattles. Pay attention to the objects of their affection and consider prioritizing those signs to ease communication.

What are my baby’s specific needs?

If you have a little one with different needs you want to take into account their needs when picking and prioritizing their baby signs. If a baby is spending significant time at the hospital consider including a few relevant signs such as doctor or ache.

What are your baby’s tastes?

Observe your baby’s food preferences and begin incorporating signs that equip your little ones to ask for what they would prefer to eat. In doing this do keep in mind that it is up to you the parent to give baby a balanced nutrition.

Picking up new signs that make sense to your baby is a cornerstone of communication which will later become the basis for effective verbal communication that reduces meltdowns and meets the child at their point of need. Be intentional and consistent in teaching him and don’t forget to have fun!

Baby Sign Language to Help Little Ones During a Hospital Stay

September 16, 2014 by Mey Lau

We don’t live in a perfect world and for many parents, trips to the hospital and hospital stays for their little ones are part of their reality. We know of several courageous little ones with chronic conditions that require specialized medical care and we have been delighted and impressed by their intelligence and ability to adapt to challenging circumstances. Many of these little ones use baby sign language as well as flashcards to facilitate communication with their caregivers.

For the rest of us visits to the hospital may not be as frequent but when they do happen it is important that toddlers are as comfortable as possible and well equipped to communicate their needs and wants.

Here is a sweet collection of signs to equip little ones to better navigate medical environments:

We are not including body parts on this list. A good way to help little ones communicate a pain is to teach them to point where it hurts.

You may also want to modify your hospital baby sign language deck to include your baby’s favorite signs such as teddy bear or other items of interest.

Share the signs with hospital staff by taping printable flashcards on the walls or consider printing the baby sign language chart of baby signs.

Check out this lovely story on how a mom used baby sign language to make a hospital stay easier on her little one.

Let’s Learn Our Dining Out Baby Signs!

September 11, 2014 by Mey Lau

We have already explored the best signs for babies to learn before going camping and to get ready for playground interaction. These activities while fun, don’t take place as frequently as dining out plus the setting allows little ones more freedom related to their behavior and mobility.

Today we are going to work on our baby signs for a type of outing that can sometimes be stressful as we work toward teaching our little ones gentleness, quiet interaction and good table manners. The final goal is to make sure our babies and toddlers enjoy their dining experience while allowing others at their table and around them to also enjoy the moment.

Signing with your baby in this context is extra important. It allows you to replace constant verbal reinforcement that sometimes can distract and interrupt other diners with a more subtle and child-friendly form of communication.

Let’s get our printers ready and build our dining out flashcard set:

Baby Sign Language for Restaurants

Working on teaching our babies and toddlers how to best behave at restaurants requires, time, patience, love and discipline. Please feel free to leave your best tips in the comments.