New to this board-Too late to start

Tracy - posted on 11/28/2010

Another quick tip... to teach "help" I put their balls (which they LOVE) in a clear plastic container with a lid they can't open. At first one or both would throw the container around and scream (LOL) but one of my girls has caught on and now signs help every time. To reinforce, when her ball goes underneath the couch I sign help or when she wants to go upstairs needs me to remove the safety gate etc.

Tracy - posted on 11/26/2010

It NOT too late! I started with my twins around 6 months but was not consistent until 9 months. Got my first sign about a month later but never saw much after that and thought it was just a fluke. Kept with it though and now at 13 months one of the twins signs milk, more, eat, baby, bird (but she does it wrong LOL!), ball, hat, help, dog, airplane (also not done correctly yet) and shoe. The other twin knows eat, drink, milk, more, but doesn't sign as often.

We did it at every meal and watched "baby signing time" and baby einstein videos as well. I make it interactive. For example I bring shoes, hats, socks, toy animals, etc and point to them and do the sign with the video. It worked for us.

Brittany - posted on 10/20/2010

Not too late at all! I started with my daughter when she was 8 months old! She is now 11 months old and does 10 signs and speaks 5 words and is starting to string together two words to make sentences! =)
She didn't make her first sign until she was 10 months old. She signed "all done" periodically. Just starting this month, I could see that it really clicked for her and she started signing back 9 more words! She also looks at my hands every time I tell her a new word in anticipation of the new sign! It really helped her to connect it when I did the sign first and then formed her hands and showed her how. Sometimes she will take my hands and make me do a sign now! =)

It's best to sign and say things as he notices them like if he sees a bird, you can tell him, "that's a BIRD" and show him the sign for bird and then you can help him form his hand in the right place if he lets you instead of trying to make it like a specific time of the day or specific signs that you think are easy to learn signing. Pick the signs you want to learn together by what he likes or notices. Also, make sure he sees that you're excited about signing and he will be too!

If he's really interested in something (like my daughter loves ducks), you can focus on that thing and do the sign as often as you see it. Chances are, that will be one of the first signs he learns because it's something he really wants to talk about!

Good luck and have fun! =)

Amanda - posted on 09/01/2010

I teach Baby Signs® Program for parents of hearing babies... and these are my tips:

Choose few words - three to start

Repeat OFTEN!! - something you do often, like eat for eating, bath for bathtime etc..

Make sure they are watching you and your hands.
Say the word and do the sign at the same time

Get as many family members and friends to work on the same words you are working on.

You can try hand over hand, but if there is resistance, then STOP.

Find something he loves - the dog, a ball, the phone... and use that sign. Children learn faster if they are interested in the subject first.

Good LUCK!

Jennifer - posted on 05/03/2010

It's not too late. Just try to relax. Children work at their own pace not ours. Make it fun. I sign with my 11 month old daugther all the time. If we are outside and we see a bird or car or tree or water..I sign those words or if it's time for her bath I'll sign what I'm doing to get ready...we sign while playing, eating...If you feel you need some extra help I guess, Baby signing time is an amazing dvd series that my daughter has really enjoyed. My daugther started signing right away but still gets her signs mixed up sometimes. Just enjoy it. My daughter knows around 11 signs now. Best wishes!

Jenny - posted on 04/30/2010

We started signing when our daughter was born. Shes now 15 months old and can make the signs for about 35 words. The first sign I remember her signing was milk at about 7 or 8 months old but she was recognizing signs at 3 and 4 months. However, she didn't really start signing a lot until her first birthday. There's a book, Baby Signing 123 by Nancy Cadjan which explains how babies develop and what to expect at each stage with their signing. It was very helpful for me to know this as my child was growing so I didn't get frustrated.

We sign all the time! If I'm reading her a book and I know the signs for what's in the story I sign it. When we go on walks I sign what we see. My husband signs with her also though he was reluctant at first. We even have the day care teachers signing with her. Keep at it and good luck.

Vicki - posted on 04/20/2010

It's unfortunate when you do not have support from family!! recently, my boy and I visited my parents in another province, and he was teaching grandma some signs. She learned kitty, all done and more. :)

My son was "signing" milk for the longest time while nursing, which I thought was adorable. It makes sense that that would be the sign, since as an infant, that is the automatic hand motion. Like a kitten nursing.

However he stopped "signing" milk, I think about the same time he started to recognize the signs I was showing to him. About 7-8 months old, he would definitely understand, but had yet to sign back decisively. It wasn't until he was a year old that he began to sign for real.

Now he is 16 months old, and has a sign for just about EVERYTHING!! And when I show him a new sign, he tries it out right away! His favorite is all done. All done eating, all done bath, all done having coffee with friends. When he wants to move on, it's "all done." Too cute. He also signs "more" to mean "I want that that you have." We're working on using the appropriate signs.

Sometime the motions seem very similar. "More" and "shoes" and "cracker" are all alike, but slightly different. As my boy's motions are becoming more unique, it's becoming easier to determine exactly what he is trying to communicate.

Terri - posted on 03/25/2010

All children learn at differenct paces. My oldest daughter did her first sign at about 6 months old and picked up everything from there but we were signing to her the day she was born. My other daughter is 10 months old and has only signed Daddy and Milk.
We have the signing time videos and those work wonders.
My family has a little difficulty just because they don't know the signs but the more my daughter uses them the more they catch on.

Kristi - posted on 02/23/2010

Don't get discouraged Cheryl. You're doing great. All children take to signing at their own pace. I have two children, both of which I began signing to at 5 months. My first made her first sign at 8 months and my second made her first sign at 10 months. My suggestion to you would be to start with signs that are things he is interested in. I always say for the young one, milk, eat, and more are the best....it's what they are into. Mama and dada are a little trickier for them to learn because they take just a little more coordination.



Make your signs when you are engaging in the activity. For example, eating, each time you feed him, give him the sign before each bite (and say it too). Repitition is KEY....



Just stick with it, sometimes it takes a while, but if you are consistent he WILL start to sign when he is ready.



Best of luck!



Also, there are great signing classes out there. you can even set up classes for you and your family so that everyone is on the same page and excited about it.