Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Signing with Baby



Add sign language to the list of things I thought I'd never do. It seemed too complicated and a waste of time. Why not just wait for baby to talk? Well, here's the thing! They are ready to communicate you with way before they are in a place to have words.

I didn't start signing with Elyse until about two to three months ago. I wasn't super consistent and at first she never signed anything back. And now, she is a pro.

Lots of Moms start signing much earlier, but I'm here to tell you - it is never too late. Elyse's favorite sign is definitely "more". She signs it all day long and often combines it with more, eat and even a more, eat, milk... It is great and very helpful to know what she wants. However, it can be hard when you get "more" "more" and you don't know what she wants MORE of. Or, when you know she can't possibly be hungry and/or doesn't NEED anything else to eat. That is where the power of distraction comes in. Or, we just sign "all done."

Above is Elyse demonstrating her own version of two signs, but here are some other babies and/or pictures of the signs she knows and does or at least understands.

MORE


EAT

SLEEP OR NIGHT-NIGHT


MILK


ALL DONE (or finished)


And we are working on HELP, PLEASE and WATER (per conversation with another another Mom (thanks, Sam!).

HELP


PLEASE

WATER (PS: this pic is a little dorky, but it demonstrates the sign really well).

There you have it. Chalk it up to the list of things I thought I'd never do. But, now I'm a fan being able to communicate with my daughter!!

1 comment:

busycooking said...

Good for you! I love to read this. So many people I know are doing this. I think it's wonderful. I think it makes for a happier baby and less frusterated relationship for both of you since you can communicate.

Good job, super mom! :-)

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