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Baby sign language..?

Hi,

Does anyone have experiences of using baby sign language with their babies, good or bad?

Also, please could you recommend a good B.S.L book for me as I'd like to start doing it with my 7 month old?

Thanks x :\)

Replies

  • Good thread Lucie. I'm hoping to do this as well and would be good to hear people's experiences.
  • i've been doing sign language with my daughter who is now 15 months since she was 6 months old. we go to www.singandsign.co.uk

    at the age of 7 months she signed milk to me when she wanted a bottle and hasnt stopped since! she signs an awful lot of stuff aswell as saying the word. please and thank you is our most proud sign that she does (and again speaks it at the same time)
    even our sign teacher is amazed as she's never seen a baby take to this as well as my daughter has.

    i love baby sign language that much that i'm hopefully starting a sign lanugage course myself in septemeber so that if i ever become well enough to work again then i want to teach signing to babies.

    feel free to ask me any questions or send me an email.

    beccie
  • Thanks Beccie. I remember the screaming tantrums my nephew used to work himself up into when he couldn't make himself understood and this seems like a really sensible way of dealing with it.

    Is 6 months about the right time to start or do you think there are benefits of starting earlier?
  • i started sign language with toby from around 6 months he could signs milk, food, please and thankyou way before he could speak.a freind of mine said she did't belive in it as it would make him lazy and not talk which was a load of rubbish.at 28 months he talks really well and only really signs now for fun. we watch something special on the tv/internet and have picked up a lot from there

    [Modified by: hollypolly on July 29, 2010 01:01 PM]

  • i started sign language with toby from around 6 months he could signs milk, food, please and thankyou way before he could speak.a freind of mine said she did't belive in it as it would make him lazy and not talk which was a load of rubbish.at 28 months he talks really well and only really signs now for fun. we watch something special on the tv/internet have have pick up a lot from there
  • yeah 6 months is the best time to start, its when they will start to pick up things. i'd really reccomened going to a baby signing group like sing and sign or tiny talk as its all done through singing and playing.

    also becafeful when buying baby sign books as most of them are american sign language not british. sing and sing has books and dvds that you can buy online.

  • Like sleepybeccie, we have done Sing and Sign from about 6 months but Peter doesn't sign at all. This is mainly my fault, I suspect, because I don't use the signs at home with any great consistency. I always seem to have something in my hands and a lot of the Makaton signs (which Sing and Sign uses) seem to require two hands.

    That being said, Peter is highly verbal (he babbles for England in what is quite clearly a complex, if incomprehensible language) and he has started singing the songs we have learned (or at least something that is definitely to the tune of Frere Jacques, which several of the Sing and Sign songs are). Quite a lot of the signing classes combine the signs with music, so you may not get the result you anticipate - but they are good fun. We are starting our fourth (and probably last) term in September and I am looking forward to it.

    Hope that helps.
  • Cheers everyone.. sleepybecci- thanks very much I've just found a sing and sign class in my local area and am going to sign up to start in September, it will be good fun if nothing else!
  • Have fun! I have been going to Tiny Talk with Matilda since she was 5 weeks old (in my desperation to get out the house). She obviously doesn't sign yet (3 months) but she watches me really closely when I use the sign for milk and I can hear her little brain ticking - I think she now associates the sign with what it means. I know it'll be a while before she uses it but the classes are great fun. Like TheHistoryGirl says though, can be a job keeping them up at home! x
  • Cheers everyone.. sleepybecci- thanks very much I've just found a sing and sign class in my local area and am going to sign up to start in September, it will be good fun if nothing else!

    ooh yay, let me know if you like it.

    we're starting our 4th term with them but it certainly wont be our last, hehe its so much fun.

    its quite easy to keep up at home aswell espeiclaly if you utilies things like feeding time. i always say 'would you like some more' and sign 'more' at the same time and hollie will say and sign 'more' and 'please' back. then when she has had enough she says and signs 'all done'
    please and thank you is another one that is easy to do during the day.
    bath time utilies 'splashing' 'washing' 'brushing teeth'
    going to bed aswell.
    our fav is the change nappie song. just from keeping that song and sings up at home, from 12 months old hollie would come and sign to me that she needs her nappy changing, and everytime she is spot on.

    its now second nature to me and i sign whilst talking without even realising it.

    good luck x
  • I actually bought the Sing and Sign DVD off Amazon. It's so lovely. Beth is totally mesmerised by it. Seriously - it's like she's in a trance watching the other babies! We watch it about every other day and sing the songs etc. I learn the signs from it and she enjoys watching it.

    I'm a bit rubbish at remembering to use the signs in everyday life though. The only one I consistently remember is 'duck' at bathtime!!! But the nappy song and lullaby are brilliant and we sing those everyday.

    I must try to remember to use at least 'eat', 'drink', 'more' and 'all gone' everyday!

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