Misty from Baby Sign Language.com contacted me a couple months ago and asked if I would be interested in featuring an article about signing. Immediatly, I said yes! I'm a big advocate for signing. I've seen first hand how it can improve even speech delayed children's communication skills. I think more people should teach this to their kids. It's amazing and incredibly helpful.
Life Made Easier With Baby Sign Language
Baby sign language makes life with a young baby or toddler so much easier. It gives you and baby the tools you need to communicate with each other without relying on words. It can help with baby’s sleep, mealtimes, weaning, and help combat toddler tantrums. If you are struggling with any part of caring for baby, try learning Baby Sign Language .
Communication Made Easier
Baby sign language is a way of teaching your baby to communicate her needs by using hand gestures. It is based on ASL (American Sign Language) and is a version which is simplified for babies and children. You can start signing at any time – even from birth. The sooner you start signing with your baby, the sooner she will be able to communicate with you.
Verbal skills take a long time to develop – even young school children can find it hard to communicate with their parents sometimes. By using simple hand gestures, babies and toddlers have extra tools for communication – and so do their parents.
Sleep Made Easier
One surprising side-effect of Baby Signing is the way it helps some babies sleep. Parents who sign with their babies often report that bedtimes are less stressful, and that their babies or toddlers will actually sign them when they’re tired! So how exactly does Baby Sign Language help make sleep easier?
Every parent knows the importance of a regular bedtime routine. A bath, followed by milk, cuddles and a story, is the foundation of a good night’s sleep. Learning the signs for Bath and Milk are fun ways for a tired baby to communicate with you at this important time of the day. When Mom signs Bath Time, your baby will understand what is to come and will feel more secure and confident. Babies love to know what’s happening – and their confidence increases every time they correctly predict what will happen next. A relaxing secure bedtime routine leads to easier sleep.
Mealtimes Made Easier
By teaching the signs for favorite foods, parents can reduce frustration at mealtimes and make weaning fun. The key is to remember to make the sign every time you offer a certain food, saying the word clearly. Limit your signing to four or five favorite foods, and repeat these often. It’s important to be consistent and patient. Soon your baby will learn the signs that go with their favorite foods and this make it easier for you to interpret their demands.
Toddler Tantrums Made Easier
Signing helps your toddler communicate with you which in turn reduces frustration. Most childcare experts agree that toddler tantrums are often caused by extreme frustration. Toddlerhood is a time of mobility and an awareness of needs and desires, but a very limited range of communication – the perfect recipe for a frustrated toddler! Teaching your baby to sign may have the longer-term result that when he reaches toddlerhood he has the tools he needs to communicate successfully, avoiding many frustration-based tantrums.
Thanks, Misty.
Check out her website, I've bookmarked it fo sho!
Posts
