Australian Baby Hands Blog

Introducing practical conceptual signs, such as “More”, “Please” and “Thank You” can be quite difficult.  It just isn’t the same as introducing a sign for “Book”.

With a book, or any other object you have something tangible that’s there to show your baby so they can relate to the sign, the word and the whatever the object might be.

So when we come to introducing a sign such as “More” we need to be a little bit creative (more…)

So, you have either heard of Baby Sign language and are trying to find out more about it or you just started using baby sign but you have had some doubts because once you told your friends/family/co-workers one of them told you it just doesn’t work and will delay your baby’s speech.

Naturally you want the best for you and your baby and you want to trust your friends advice but are they right?

There will always be skeptics with anything and even though baby sign is no longer new and certainly out of the “fad” stage there are still those people out there who (more…)

The most common question I used to get asked was “Wont using baby sign delay my baby’s speech?”

Baby sign has now become very common since I first started Australian Baby Hands over 5 years ago (which is now in over 20,000 homes around Australia) and many people are aware of the research and studies that show baby sign actually helps to promote language development, not inhibit it.

Also many more people these days have a personal experience of baby sign and have seen the benefits.  The number of people these days who I meet who tell me about their friend, neighbor or relative (more…)

Through many of the previous posts in our blog we have looked at the benefits and reasons for introducing baby sign and also the much asked question “Does baby sign delay speech”? In this post I want to share with you three specific ways to help you introduce baby sign with your baby.

Its important to use a mix of motivational and practical signs for best results with your baby to ensure that they are interested in what it is you are signing about to start with. (more…)

Something that a many parents don’t understand when trying to introduce baby sign is the  importance of ensuring that you have a balance of motivational and practical signs for your baby.

Practical words are the ones that will help you as a parent to understand what it is that your baby wants (more…)

While the popularity of Baby Sign is ever growing in Australia its much more common for Mums to be the ones who start using sign much more so than the Dads.

Now I do know that there are a lot of you Dads out there who do sign with their children so please don’t get upset, you Fathers should be proud of what you are doing and the interaction that you are enjoying with your baby’s through sign.

But, the reality is that for many families Mum is the primary carer of the baby and Dads are out at work all day, coming home later in the evening with little time to spend with their precious little one. (more…)

When parents have to start dealing with toddler temper tantrums, the job of being a parent can turn from one of joy to one of hard work and frustration.

World famous toddler taming expert Dr Christopher Green, whose advice has been followed by millions of parents worldwide adopted a more holistic view on the way to deal with temper tantrums after he suffered a stroke.

Previous ideas that it was perfectly normal for children to (more…)

When it comes to baby sign language things have changed a lot since I first started Baby Hands over 5 years ago.

In the early days virtually nobody in Australia had heard of baby sign language and most parents assumed it was something for Deaf babies and not something they needed to bother with. (more…)

While baby sign language is a fun and useful tool just to help bridge the communication gap with your child it can also have very real advantages when used with children who may be at risk from some sort of developmental delay such as premature babies.

While many premature babies grow develop extremely well as they grow they are in a category that can be considered higher for having speech delays.

Premature babies are generally assessed developmentally against an adjusted age for important milestones but when compared to other babies by their chronological age, they may be slightly disadvantaged with their speech improvement.

The main question this really raises though is “When should I start signing with my baby?”

Now usually you should start to sign with your baby once they can hold a rattle or other toy and they start to have some movement and dexterity with their hands, which is around 5 – 6 months.

In a premature baby this may be 7 – 9 months depending on how early your child was born.

The interesting thing is that the reason to generally wait to start signing to your baby  only when they can begin to sign back is because most parents need to see results or they will not continue with baby sign.  The fact is your baby is taking in everything and even though they may not be physically capable of signing their ability to understand signs develops much earlier.

It’s the same with talking.  Even though babies cannot talk for around the first 18 months of their life most parents will happily chat away to their baby, this is how they learn and baby sign is no different.

So if your baby is premature you may want to begin your signing a little bit earlier to allow them to start absorbing the signs.

Remember to be patient and always say the spoken word with the sign and in context, follow our signing steps to success for more information.

While baby sign has been shown in many studies to have benefits including accelerated speech and advanced IQ levels this cannot be expected of every child.  If your baby is premature then baby sign may be just the thing for you to help them catch up with their chronological age group and provide a great foundation for early learning.

As a parent of a pre-verbal baby, how do you connect with your little one? You and your baby can make special, real connections by consistently using your own unique ways of communicating which will affirm the love you have for your baby.

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