by Laura Falin posted in Parenting

My poor first child was such a guinea pig when it came to me learning to be a mama. I learned something new with each of my babies. Okay, I learned more than one new thing with each of them. But every time I figured something new out, I felt a little guilty.
One thing I didn't discover until my second child: the beauty of baby sign language. Babies can usually make simple gestures well before they can talk, and giving them these signs to communicate made my children less frustrated. They were delighted when they realized they could sign and be understood.
It might seem like teaching a baby sign language would delay their motivation to learn to talk, but studies suggest possibly the opposite is true, and these babies have an improved language and vocabulary. The key is to make sure you're saying the words as you're signing them, so your baby puts them both together. Because he's watching you as well as listening to you, he's concentrating even harder on the entire process.
 
My babies began signing when they were around 8 or 9 months old, although some may be capable of doing this as early as 6 months. But as with talking, I'd start signing right from the start -- well before your baby is able to respond.
The two words we relied on the most were "more" and "all done" during times the kids were eating. They're important signs for hungry babies, and they're simple gestures to make.

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