Sign Language for Your Infant

As a general rule, starting sign language as early as a week old is good practice. I started teaching my son sign language with the help of my husband, when he was one month old. You start with the easy signs, food, milk, more, and all done. With patience and persistence, your baby will learn these signs. It took our son about 7 months to fully acquire the signs we had been teaching.

Consistence is priority as well. You can't teach one sign for a month and get tired of them not learning it as quickly. You need to make sure that you, on a daily basis, are using your signs for your child to learn. There are many websites you can refer to for illustrations on the different signs. We have many friends who have tried to teach their children how to sign, and in frustration, they give up too early. In our experience, we have learned, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that being patient with your infant is the best way to teach them how to learn new skills, signing being one of them.

Once your child masters the art of signing the easy ones, you can add, 'poop, pee, sleepy, thank you and please" learning these basic signs will make your life and the life of your partner much easier. Your child will seem less frustrated, less often, and will have a more calm demeanor. Once our son learned those basic signs, he began to sleep longer, took more regular naps, and all around seemed in better spirits.

It is truly amazing the impact communication has on each and every one of us. Infants should be no exception, and it should be interesting to see what this next generation does with the information that they have. Language barriers do not need to be a source of frustration with our young children, they will, in life, come across many other obstacles and if we have the choice to relieve them of one small stress, I feel it is our duty to do so.