What Is Sign Language For Baby

My baby can hear...why do I need sign language for baby?

When people think of sign language, they often relate it to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. While sign language is the primary means of communication for many of the world’s deaf and hard of hearing population, basic sign language has found a very useful place in hearing community as well.

Many parents and caregivers have discovered that using baby sign language with their infants and toddlers greatly reduces the communication frustration many babies experience when they are able to express themselves using simple signs and gestures. It is not necessary to learn a whole bunch of signs for this to be effective, just learning a few basic words in sign language that are most important to infants and toddlers is all that is necessary. Be warned, however, signing is a whole lot of fun and a bit addictive. You may find that once you get into it, you will want to extend beyond the basics and begin learning some easy sign language phrases as well.

There are lots of different terms used for sign language for baby. The most common are baby signs, infant sign language, and baby signing. No matter what it is called, the premise is still the same – hand signs are used to convey words and ideas that are most useful to baby such as BALL, EAT, MORE, PLAY, and MILK.

With some forms of baby signing, homemade signs and gestures can be used to represent words and actions most familiar to baby. Some signs from a standardized language like American Sign Language (ASL) or British Sign Language (BSL) may be incorporated into the program but these would be signs that are considered very easy for baby to produce. This is the simplest form of baby signing and it works very well for those families who only intend to use signing during baby’s preverbal period.

Another widely used method of baby signing is to use signs from ASL (or the signed language of the country where you reside) with no modifications. The theory behind this method is that these signing systems are natural, established languages just like English, Spanish, French, etc. When speaking to baby in our mother tongue, we do not modify our words to be easier for baby to say; instead, we speak naturally knowing that while baby may not initially pronounce the words correctly, proper pronunciation will come as baby matures. This same principle applies to using signs from ASL. Model the signs to baby properly and know that although baby may not be able to produce the sign correctly at first, as with spoken language, eventually he will do it right.

There are many compelling reason to use signs from a standardized signed language. It is the method we use and recommend. Our American Sign Language for Babies article highlights some of these reasons and is worth reading if you would like to learn more.

Sign language for baby is very easy to do and such an enjoyable experience. The tickle you will feel in your heart when your baby signs to you for the first time is beyond words. Give yourself and your baby that special gift of communication and start signing with your baby today. Our Learning Sign Language page will help get you started.