When deciding to do baby sign language many parents want to know when is the best age to start?

The simple truth is that the best time to start is when you feel ready that you can consistently introduce baby sign into your new baby’s life and routines.

But, there are also stages of your baby’s development that will mean even though from an early age they can understand signs they do not have the physical ability to sign back.

A baby’s physical ability to sign begins at around 5 – 6 months, once they can hold a rattle or a toy.  Once they have developed this level of control around their hands they may attempt to do some signing.

Because your baby will not be able to sign until approximately 5 – 6 months of age we generally recommend to parents that this is a good age to start introducing baby sign.  Now, the reason for this isn’t because your baby can’t start to learn signs at an earlier age but for many parents if they do not see a physical response in the form of a sign they become disheartened and stop using sign.

So lets take a look at some of the different times that you can start to introduce baby sign into your routines and how you might do it:

If Your Baby Is Younger Than 6 Months:

Even if your baby is under the 6 month age where they can physically produce a sign they can still start to learn and many parents like to get in the habit of introducing signs early.

One of the key things to remember here is to always sign on your baby’s level.  Their field of vision is still relatively small so they need to be able to see you sign and what you are signing about.

You may find it easier to have your baby laying down and get over the top of them so they are looking up, since their neck muscles will still be floppy and they wont hold their head up to watch you.  You can try signing on the changing mat or a play mat if you have one so they are comfortable in a laying position on their back.

Watch their eye’s for recognition that something is going on and try to get them to focus their gaze on you as you sign.  Use you voice in a soothing way to coax your baby’s attention.

A good sign to start with at this age is often milk (or breastfeed if you prefer).  Since your baby’s life at this age is all about eating and sleeping feed time plays a major point in their life.  We have had many stories from parents who have used this sign at an early age with their baby and found it to be very helpful in calming their baby in the preparation time before a feed.

If Your Baby Is Between 6 – 18 months:

Once your baby has reached around 6 months their physical body will have changed dramatically from that tiny little newborn that was really only just a few weeks before.

As they grow they start to gain control of their body and realise that they can use their arms to point, grab and swing at things.  At this point they are ready to physically start signing.

If you have already started signing, then great, carry on with the signs that you have already introduced and add to them.  As long as you are comfortable with the consistency of your signing you don’t need to wait until your baby has signed back every sign, or any at all.

The important thing is that you remember to use the signs you are introducing consistently around your daily routine, signing and saying the word each time in context.

Baby sign is really a language so think of it like teaching your child to talk.  You wouldn’t just say 6 words to them until they had mastered those would you?

Of course not, and the reason for that is that talking comes naturally to you and you know that your baby will pick up the words over time as their speech develops.

The same is true for baby sign.  Your baby doesn’t know any different from what you teach them so signing to them will be just as natural as talking and they will absorb the signs and start to use them when they are ready.

When they do start to sign they will not get things 100% correct the firs time around so you will need to interpret your baby’s first signs and encourage them for trying.  Just like walking they will not go from a crawl to a run on the first day, so encourage these first signs just as you would with any other major milestone in your baby’s development.

If Your Baby Is Older Than 18 Months:

At the various events and shows that we attend each year it is quite common for parents to ask me if it is to late to introduce baby sign to their toddler.

Even at 18 months children are still developing their vocal chords so speech is still growing and baby sign can be very useful to help them expand on their vocabulary for words that they may have difficulty saying.

A lot of temper tantrums in toddlers are brought about by them feeling misunderstood because their communication is not clear so they express them self the only other way they know how, screaming and crying.

By introducing sign to toddlers it provides them another avenue of communication and can help to reduce those tantrums.

Also baby sign can be very useful for toilet training around this age. By teaching them the sign for toilet each time they go they will start to use that in relation to “toilet or potty time” so you can get an early warning signal saving on wet pants as you try to train them out of nappy’s.

Final Thoughts:

Remember, just because you may start to sign to your baby earlier it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will sign back earlier.

There are physical limitations on a baby’s development restricting a young baby from signing so don’t be disheartened if you start signing early and still don’t get a sign at 6 months of age.

All baby’s are different, and will develop different skills at different ages but using baby sign is great way to help them on the road to talking as well as developing a great bond and insight into what is going on in your baby’s mind.

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.

There are plenty of ways you and your baby can communicate. It can be through speaking, making sounds, facial expressions, cuddling, and playing games to name a few.  Early learning activities and physical activities such as cuddling or lulling your baby to sleep are a way of telling him that you love him and that you are there to take care of him. This healthy bonding with your baby is actually in itself a form of language learning. Studies show that connecting with your baby helps him feel safe and accelerates his development.

Building relationship with your little one takes time and the determination to grow that relationship and special connection requires a good method or tool designed to help bridge the gap of communication between you and your pre-verbal baby.

The best proven method when it comes to building conversations with your little one is baby sign language. It helps bridge the gap of communication for parents by enabling pre-verbal babies to communicate using basic sign language. No matter if you are a first time parent of a pre-verbal baby or nth time parent, baby sign language can benefit you and can strengthen the bond between you and your baby.

Getting Started

Excited and getting ready to communicate with your pre-verbal baby using baby sign language? Before engaging your baby on this learning process, keep in mind that this adventure of learning with your baby simply means enjoying your time with each other. It means you’re having fun together!

The best time to introduce Auslan (Australian Sign Language) to your baby is within he first eight months of his life, which is an important time in their learning process. This is when they start paying attention to their environment and may even have social interactions with other people. There are particular milestones in your baby’s speech development and when they begin to develop socially and emotionally and this is a great stepping stone towards improving their communication skills. Even activities that we think are babyish and just for their enjoyment are actually important tools in teaching them how to connect with others.

Babies are wired to respond to people with smiles and warmth and everything they do is deemed as fun which is the perfect way to introduce them to learning. Remember though that every baby is unique. What works with one baby might not have the same result with another. Listen to your instincts and find that rhythm that you and your baby both enjoy.  When your baby enjoys communicating with you, he starts to feel secure and ready to learn.

Babies don’t have to know any words to start communicating. Facial expressions can indicate whether they are happy, excited, or sad. Crying can be a way to tell you that he’s hungry or that something is irritating him. Babies coo when they feel good. They may also use signs that are associated with motivation and happiness.

Aside from listening to the voices around them, they also start listening to their own. They may play with sounds by squealing, grunting, cooing, etc. A baby between six to ten months of age can start discovering that sounds can be joined together and they may start babbling. When babies reach nine months of age they start to make gestures to get their message across.

It might seem so simple. After all, communicating with your pre-verbal baby is something that you as parent do. Keep in mind that the most important message to get across is that you love your baby.

If you’re up to building conversations with your little one, then here are simple guidelines you need to know as you get started:

• Observe your baby’s mood and try something that matches it. If he is fussy, respond with a soothing voice, a kindly face, and signs that are calming. If he is cheery, put on a vibrant face and voice in response and do signs that are exciting.
• Get your baby to look at your face and listen to your voice. Match your signs with facial expressions and change your voice pitch. He will want to look at you if your facial expressions are varying and if your gestures are exciting. You may vary your voice patterns to get him to listen to your voice.
• Pay attention to your baby’s first signs. Respond to these signals and make sure to have a reaction to your baby’s idea.
• Have fun with your baby. Talk to other parents who use baby sign language and find out things that they and their babies do together. Having fun with your baby makes parenting a rewarding vocation.

Recognise and Respond, Your Baby is Talking

You may see that your baby will use different ways to express himself. Look closely at your baby and start paying attention to how he communicates without spoken words. Think of what he is trying to say. Is he asking for attention or does he need help with something? Does he want to point something out? Remember that babies’ gestures and cries may have different meanings. Try to notice things such as his gestures, sounds, body movement, facial expressions, eye contact and sign language and figure out what each one means.

Here’s exactly what you need to know and follow to help you and family members build an open communication with your pre-verbal baby.

• Recognise your baby’s signals. Each day, you will notice that your baby is discovering ways to express herself. Take time to also learn her discoveries by observing your little one. You need to recognise every single movement of her hands and eyes. You also need to recognise the vocal sounds or whines your baby is making as signal for you to respond.
• Respond to signals. The next step is responding to your baby. This encourages him to keep communicating with you. You are telling him that you understood what he was trying to say and that will make him try to do it more. You are showing him that conversation is a two-way activity. Each person involved gets a turn. Since you are using Auslan to communicate to your baby, you would want to stay in his line of vision and try to see what he is looking at. Use signs and gestures that are simple and easy to understand.  You may emphasize your signing with facial grammar. Your eyebrows can go up for a yes-or-no question. They may furrow for a WH question (who, what, where, when, etc.) as you lean your body forward. The way you sign is also a message in itself. Are your signs flowing while you are discussing a happy topic? Or are you doing sharp, frantic signs as you stop your baby from playing with something they should not? One important thing to keep in mind when starting to communicate is that you let your baby know that you are responding to him. This will teach him to anticipate your response in the future and makes the conversation an exciting activity for both of you.

Now you’re on the right track in building exciting and rewarding conversations with your little one.

Observe and Follow your Child’s Interests

Most parents make mistakes when responding to baby’s communication. Yes, they love to respond to baby’s signals but when it comes to the kind of response to make, oftentimes the response brings confusion to babies. If you’re not sure of how to respond to your baby, the best thing to do is to follow his lead.

When it comes to responding to baby’s communication, this is what every parent of pre-verbal babies should know:

• Curiosity is inherent in babies. They continuously explore their surrounding. When we try to talk about our ideas with them, we might be distracting them from thinking of things that are interesting to them. It might even be confusing to them that the topic they are thinking of is different from the one that we are trying to talk to them about.
• Babies like to communicate their interests. So parents of pre-verbal babies should be good observers to be able to see and know what your baby is attending to and be sure to communicate about that. This way you are teaching your baby to respond and start a conversation with you and learn. Joint attention is important to make sure you and your baby understand each other and enjoy your time together.

Talk About Your Baby’s Interests

Your baby lets you know of things that interest them by looking, touching, or chewing on objects that they like. They reach out and try to grasp objects that appeal to them. They like seeing things that are attention-grabbing and new.

Here are some things to keep in mind when talking about your baby’s interests:

• Avoid providing too much information about the topic.
• Wait for your baby to decide on what he’s going to say next.
• Don’t change the subject.
• Encourage taking turns.

You are the one who knows the words that describe your baby’s interest and curiosity. Now that you know how to converse and maybe even read your baby’s mind, you can start guiding the conversational turns too. Turns should be responsive, while adding information at the same time. You know about important and exciting objects and you know how to start a conversation about them. Playtime with your baby may be a good time to point these out.

You could guide your baby through activities such as eating, dressing up, or getting in the car. These things happen in steps and you can have a conversation about every step. What are the things that your baby notices in every step?

Affirm to Support Turns

Communication should show that the other person’s ideas are something of interest to you. Conversations can continue by encouraging your baby to take another turn. It is possible that you won’t understand the first time. It is possible that the sign your baby created do not fully resemble the sign that you are using. At times you may not really know how to respond but you just have to let your baby know that you are interested and that you approve.

There are many ways to show this through positive parenting skills. You can keep your eyes on the baby while talking or signing to him. Smiling and nodding works too. Your facial expressions can also show your approval and affirmative words such as “yes” and “okay” may also be used. It may not always be easy to understand them but the important thing is to show your approval.

Keep it Short and Simple

A conversation with a baby is different from a conversation with an adult. Talking with young children means that we have to make our face and voice easy-to-read, we talk about things that are interesting to them. We also use words that are simple to understand and we keep our sentences short.  It may be necessary to repeat a lot because we are not just trying to get a message across, we are also trying to get them to understand what we are saying.  Signing with your baby means that you may have to repeat a couple of times to clearly state your message. Your signs should be kept short and simple.

Signing Families, What’s Next?

Congratulations! Now that you have decided to use baby sign language in building conversations with your little one, you need to make it work for you and your pre-verbal baby. To make it work, you will need a communication tool to implement baby sign language effectively. Australian Baby Hands has been developed as a communication tool for you and your pre-verbal baby. Australian Baby Hands products have been developed using the national sign language of Australia. Auslan is currently the only accredited baby sign language company in Australia. Implementation of Auslan to babies is shown to be easy and most beneficial to all who use it. So what are you waiting for? Start building conversations with your pre-verbal baby using Auslan.

Playing enhances a baby’s perception about himself and the world he lives in. It develops his social skills, language skills, critical thinking and creativity. There are many ways that babies can learn while playing. He can learn from stuffed animals, interactive books, and toys. Think of ways to make daily activities fun and creative. This helps your baby enhance his imagination. When it comes to finding interesting ways to encourage your baby explore the world through play, here’s exactly what you need to know.

Playing comes naturally to babies. This is their method of exploring the world. Adults may view it as “playing around” but the fact is that these are opportunities for your baby to learn many new skills as they begin to learn to talk. Playing is, actually, the best time to learn.

You might wonder if a baby putting a toy in his mouth or swatting his mobile repeatedly constitutes as learning. Yes, it is in fact teaching your baby to coordinate his hands and his eyes when he tries to reach for it. He discovers that he can make movement happen. He gets to practice his skills in language, listening, and learning as he develops.

Play is Part of Everything

Try to picture life from your baby’s perspective. Everything is interesting and exciting because they are new. Remember that you are your baby’s tour guide, interpreter, and now you can be his play partner. You will have many things to converse about!

You can turn something as regular as eating into play. Pretend like the food is the train and his mouth is the tunnel that it has to go into. When you play games like this you are teaching your kids about transportation and the different sounds they make.

You and your baby can also enjoy games about communication. Try “Peek-a-boo” and “Pat-a-Cake” and other games that require you to face each other. You can teach your signing baby the signs that are related to these games so he can tell you when he would like to play them. These games can also teach your infant or toddler about meaningful sounds and listening. For example, calling his name during Peek-A-Boo will alert him to its sound and will teach him to look when it is called out. Remember to try and mix up the different signs with a range of practical and motivational signs for your baby.

Bath-time is also playtime. Your baby can start playing with floating toys and cups and bottles that he could fill up and empty. There are so many things that your baby can learn by playing with water. He can learn cause and effect. The water splashes if you pour it out of the container. You can also teach him about volume. You can show her that a full bottle is heavier than an empty one. You can sign about the toys like the rubber ducky, and about the feel of the water.

Cuddling is also considered as play. This loving activity is just as important as any other. You can sing to your baby and the vibration he feels will teach him more about sound. Your baby feels safe in your arms and loves the feeling of being touched. Professionals say that massages are a great thing to do with your baby especially during the first three months of his life. The skin-to-skin contact soothes and the touch relaxes your baby.

Riding activities such as bouncing on daddy’s knee, riding piggy back on mommy’s shoulders, using as stroller, or riding on a shopping cart are ways for your baby to see new parts of his environment. Use sounds and music to accompany your movement games so your baby will get chances to develop his listening skills while playing.

Your baby can still get to play even when you are busy with other tasks. He can watch you doing chores and maybe even help. He will soon develop from someone who watches to someone who takes an active part. When he gets old enough, he can start sweeping the floor with his own tiny broom and stack toilet paper in the cupboard. Teach your baby how to sign adjectives such as “dirty floor” and “clean clothes”. Make sure to talk or sign about what you are doing so your baby will begin to learn the baby sign language for these.

Once babies can move on their own, they start discovering anything they can reach. This gives you the chance to be your baby’s play partner but also gives you the responsibility to limit what your baby does. The idea of him giving up what he is doing will be unpleasant so this would be a good time for you to learn the language of distraction. Direct your baby’s attention to a new game or object that will make him forget about the old thing.

Toys are Everywhere

Babies don’t usually play with other babies at an early age. They do, however, see older children playing with toys. Toys are anything that we can play with. These change depending on how old your baby is. He can play with mobiles and stuffed animals during his first year and would probably want to move on to more challenging things after this. He can play with safe objects in the house such as plastic lids and bottles. Water is also a great toy during bath time. Outdoor things such as leaves and rocks are also toys that your baby can play with. You can pick them up and bring them closer to him or simply point them out and converse about them. Those little things will help your baby be creative and let his imagination grow.

Learning through the Senses

Your baby uses most of his senses during play. He can feel the texture of his smooth blankets and fuzzy stuffed animals. He can see the bright colours on his mobile. He can hear the interesting melody of his favourite lullaby as you read to your baby. Communication happens during play because it is an exchange between you and your baby. He gets to tell you about the toys that he likes and your response can be seen with your facial expressions and when you sign to him that you are having fun.

Play gives him a chance to feel different emotions. Your baby will feel frustrated if he can’t reach the ball. He will feel relieved once you pick it up for him. Contentment comes when he is holding his favourite toy and curiosity happens when he would like to know where it is. You can sign about those feelings so your baby will have a label for them and a reason for why he is feeling that way.

Problem solving can also be learned through play. Round blocks won’t go into square holes and when your baby figures this out he will start trying a different hole. As he gets older he will figure out what shapes match and will start saying or signing the name of the shape he needs. When he can’t find his toy, your baby will start to look for it and think of different places where he could find it. Playing with other children, disagreeing, and eventually compromising also lets him practice his problem solving skills.

Creativity starts with play. Your baby will begin to have different uses for a toy and eventually will start playing pretend with them. He can stack his blocks and pretend to be an architect. He can play with toy vegetables and pretend to be a chef.

Experiences that come with play will give you and your baby exciting things to talk or sign about. It gives you more topics for your conversations. Most importantly, your baby learns the language of creativity and critical thinking.