These tiny humans are so much smarter than they often get credit for! We watched in awe as our niece and nephew communicated and expressed themselves so extensively with baby sign language long before they could talk... and we were keen as beans to try it when we had our own children! We began consistently using few simple signs with Eli at around 5 months old - "food", "milk", "finished", "more", "Daddy" and "Mummy" - and after a couple of months his reactions suggested he was understanding what we were signing. I'll never forget when Eli clearly signed "milk" back to us for the first time though... he was just over 9 months old and we were flying above the Southern Alps on a plane to Wellington. Liam and I just looked at each other with our mouths wide open and with melted hearts.... did that just happen?! We hadn't just been signing idiotically to a brick wall... this little munchkin had been soaking it all up and learning an amazingly powerful communication tool. He was so little, yet he was telling us what he wanted and needed well before he had the ability to speak. So rewarding!
There was no stopping him from there - his list grew to around 60 different signs (... and it's still growing, but he is talking so much now that he is becoming less interested in signing). He uses mostly the 'official' ones (or his own interpretation of), plus some that either he, or we, made up. Some are useful for every day activities or for helping us to understand his feelings... and some are just plain fun (you should see his robot dance!)! It actually blows my mind every time he cracks out a new 'word' or signs things together in a wee sentence. He signs "I love you" back to us each night as we kiss him goodnight. He can tell us where he is 'sore', or if something is too 'hot' to eat. He can ask for 'help' with a toy instead of just getting frustrated and whingey. And he can ask things like "more grapes please", or "where's Daddy?" or "Milk, finished, bed?"
Although baby sign is becoming more well-known, we still get occasional sideways glances from people who had never heard of it, and once or twice we've been asked if we are signing because he is deaf... but people are always really intrigued and blown away to see it in action! It's not that he's a genius child and I'm absolutely not saying you must teach baby sign (I totally believe in doing whatever works for your child)... I just know that it has worked absolute wonders for us in understanding each other! I'm sharing because we've had so much fun and got so much joy out of teaching and learning from Eli as he interacts with these little hand gestures... and I've loved trying to capture a few of them over the past few months (before he stops signing altogether!).
Our now 18 month old little chatterbox is talking non-stop - words have overtaken all of these signs now. BUT he will still often talk and use sign at the same time... or add in a different sign if we aren't quite understanding what he is saying. And I love that... because I'm not sure I'm quite ready to let go of this sweet stage just yet! I'm hoping we can continue to use it, to keep expanding his vocab and ability to communicate :)
** It's obviously a bit hard to capture each movement in photos, but I'm a photographer... it's what I do! So you are just getting a glimpse of a few of them! The different words he is signing are underneath each photo...
Although baby sign is becoming more well-known, we still get occasional sideways glances from people who had never heard of it, and once or twice we've been asked if we are signing because he is deaf... but people are always really intrigued and blown away to see it in action! It's not that he's a genius child and I'm absolutely not saying you must teach baby sign (I totally believe in doing whatever works for your child)... I just know that it has worked absolute wonders for us in understanding each other! I'm sharing because we've had so much fun and got so much joy out of teaching and learning from Eli as he interacts with these little hand gestures... and I've loved trying to capture a few of them over the past few months (before he stops signing altogether!).
Our now 18 month old little chatterbox is talking non-stop - words have overtaken all of these signs now. BUT he will still often talk and use sign at the same time... or add in a different sign if we aren't quite understanding what he is saying. And I love that... because I'm not sure I'm quite ready to let go of this sweet stage just yet! I'm hoping we can continue to use it, to keep expanding his vocab and ability to communicate :)
** It's obviously a bit hard to capture each movement in photos, but I'm a photographer... it's what I do! So you are just getting a glimpse of a few of them! The different words he is signing are underneath each photo...
Do you have any baby signing stories?! I'd love to hear from anyone else who has used baby sign / thought about doing it / seen it in action! Or if you have any questions about our experience, feel free to ask... I'm honestly 100% stoked that we have had the opportunity to use it with Eli :)