how do you communicate with your baby?
By kittykat0308
@kittykat0308 (44)
Philippines
January 23, 2007 11:44pm CST
how many here have engaged in Baby Signs in trying to talk to their babies? i started teaching my baby to sign when he was about 4 months old and he started signing back when he was around 6 or 7 months... it was great because from that time on i was able to tell (more or less) what he needs, may it be milk, if he wants to eat or drink water, a change of nappy, etc. now, he's 28 months and has outgrown Baby Signs since he can now talk in words and short sentences... care to share you experiences...
1 person likes this
8 responses
@cjthedog64 (1552)
• United States
31 Jan 07
My DS (13 months) signs for "more" and "please", well, sometimes he does. Usually he just says what he wants. He has a vocabulary of around 40 words, so that works best for us. He likes to use the signs if his mouth is full, or to show off.
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@kittykat0308 (44)
• Philippines
7 Feb 07
just keep on repeating everything and in time he'll get the hang of it... and you'll get the hang of whatever he's trying to tell you...
@Lisamommy (111)
• United States
26 Jan 07
I tought my son to do the more sign at about 12 months. He confuses it with wanting to eat sign. But it's related so I know what he wants. He tries to do the drink, but ends up looking like waving his hand. He says juice really cute a lot.
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@kittykat0308 (44)
• Philippines
7 Feb 07
hahaha... just as long as we understand what they're trying to tell i think we'll be fine
@mommy2taylor1 (405)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I think we all use signs in our daily rounds & we don't realize it but our kids pick up on it. My daughter started using and making her own signs for things around 9 months & now that she's 14 months, I am starting to sign with her the alphabet.. they say the younger they are when they learn it-- they will actually retain the information-- so I'm trying-- she hasn't really caught on because she is little but-- the repitition of it will help her catch on soon i hope!
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@kittykat0308 (44)
• Philippines
24 Jan 07
yeah... kids are like sponge... they easily absorb and retain things... just keep it up and she'll catch up in no time
@clod0327 (817)
• Philippines
6 Mar 07
I heard of Baby Signs class before but we we're not able to try the class. I heard a lot of good feedbacks from parents who attended the class. Too bad we we're not able to try it.
But luckily, my daugther quite knows how to express herself whenever she needs anything so we can understand most of what my baby needs even if she can't talk yet. Like if she wants a bottle of milk, she will just point to our dinning table because that's where we place her bottles & milk. Or if she wants to watch her DVDs, she will just point to her DVDs.
And now that she can walk, everytime she wants something she will just hold on to my hand and she will pull me and bring me to the location of the thing that she wants. Like when she wants her juice, she will pull me and take me to our refrigirator. I will then open it and she will then choose what flavor of juice she wants.
But I guess, Baby Signs are really worth trying. Hopefully we;ll have time to attend the Baby Signs class for our next baby.
@VermontSigns (12)
• United States
6 Mar 07
I would really suggest trying it. There is such a larger world that you and she can share. With my twins knowing so many signs, they could tell me if they heard a dog. One of the things that always shocked me was when they would sign about something they remembered.
At around 15 months old, over the weekend I was pretty sure Joshua came down with an ear infection. We were going in for check ups on Tuesday, but I did not want him to wait until then to get checked and start on medicine. So I took the twins in on Monday for him to be checked. We were placed in the 'bird' room. As I was getting Josh ready to see the doc. megan was wandering around pointing to the birds and signing 'bird'. I said 'Yes, Meg - look at the birds!' She noticed that over the exam table they had painted a butterly on the ceiling which excited her because she loved butterflies. It was just a normal day in our signing life.
The next day we went back to the docs for the check-ups. When we got in the room, I started to get Josh ready first again. Meg was wandering around looking at all of the pictures. Then she came and stood in front of me and signed "WHERE" "BIRD". At that point I looked up and saw we had been put in the fish room! I said your right meg the birds aren't here. This is the fish room. She did look up and got very excited when she realized there was a butterfly on the ceiling of this room too.
When the doctor cam in, she said that a normal 15 month old would not have had the words to express what she realized. The doc told the nurses and they cleared the fish room for Meg so she could see that the rooms were alike but decorated differently!
It is moments like that one I would have missed if I did not sign with my kids.
Kelly
@VermontSigns (12)
• United States
3 Mar 07
I signed with my twins.
I started whent they were about 6 months old - a few months later they started signing back. At the heighth of their signing, they each knew more that 100 signs. At around 2 those signs turned to words and they were quite avid talkers! I enjoyed the experience so much that I contacted Baby Signs, Inc. and became an instructor!
Kelly
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@ethanmama (1745)
• Philippines
3 Mar 07
I didn't formally teach signing to my 17 month old. But he could somehow communicate his needs. I don't really know how we communicate, but somehow, we always seem to understand each other. Maybe a combination of homemade signs and simple words (his vocabulary is very limited though).
@VermontSigns (12)
• United States
3 Mar 07
I think that babies use their bodies and whatever they can to communicate with us. Actually if you think about it - most all parents teach their babies to sign - how many parents do you know that do not teach their baby to wave bye-bye? Waving bye-bye - is a sign.
I always laughed about my twins use of the all-done sign. All done is crossing your arms in front of yourself and then spreading them out to your sides - kind of like an umpire when he calls 'SAFE' at home plate. When my twins were done with eating in their high chairs - they had their own version. They did the sign but cleared their trays shoving the food on the floor! LOL!
Kelly
