If you have started using infant sign language with your little one, you may be wondering how long it will be until your baby can begin signing back to you.

Each baby will follow their own unique development timeline so the answer will be different for each child. In general, babies can begin signing back to you somewhere between the ages of 6-12 months.

If you started teaching baby sign language really early on in their life, don’t despair. Even though this seems like it is a long time to wait, you have already provided them with a valuable head start. Some parents have reported that they started signing with their babies at a really early age but gave up because the baby wasn’t able to do the signs back to them at that point in time. Interestingly, the baby started to sign to them 5 months later, even though it had been months since they saw that sign. If you started early, just relax knowing that at least your baby can understand you.

By the age of about 4-6 months, the baby will be able to respond to your signs. They may not be able to replicate them or specifically ask for something using baby signs but they will be able to understand your signs. You will need to rely on their body language and facial expressions to see if you have been understood. If you sign to your baby for something and they bounce around, flap and get all excited it is a pretty good indication that you have been understood.

The signing progress follows this simple path. At first, when you begin using baby sign language, it will be foreign to both of you. At this stage only introduce one or two signs. The next stage is where you are comfortably and unconsciously performing the sign every time you speak that word. Shortly following this phase you may realize that your baby understands you.

This phase will continue for a little while until your baby develops the ability to have some control over their hands and limbs. At this stage the baby will be eager to show you their signs every now and then but it may not be consistent. Make sure you offer a lot of praise and encouragement during this phase. If they have signed for something, reward them by giving them what they signed for. If this is not appropriate, re-direct them to something else using a different sign. Let them know they have been understood. This will be a great bonding moment for you both and the excitement will be shared equally. Don’t be alarmed if it takes another week or two until they sign to you again; if you are patient it will come. The next stage will keep you on your toes. Once they have worked out a few signs they will want more and more. Keeping up with them will be your biggest hurdle; they may even make up a few signs of their own.

Remember that the signs are a temporary solution and will be replaced by speech when the time comes. Always sign to the baby and speak the word at the same time to re-enforce the association between the sign and the word.

So it might seem like a long wait until your baby can sign back to you, but the reward can be as exciting as watching them take their first steps or speak their first words.

Toddler Interpreter teach Baby Signs and they offer the best Free Baby Sign Language Chart  available online and their Baby Sign Language Book is used by parents and childcare centres in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to Teach Baby Sign Language. Sign Language for Babies is easy using Toddler Interpreter’s comprehensive Baby Sign Language Dictionary. Sign Language for Toddlers can help reduce frustration and Baby Sign Language has proved very beneficial for Premature Babies, children with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome and other babies at risk of developing a speech delay.

Sign Language for Babies involves the use of gestures to communicate with your baby while they are very young.

It all begins when they are very little by using some simple hand signals. These hand signals are universal meaning that they are the same in every language worldwide. These hand signals are often natural gestures that we use every day without realizing it. Many people begin learning sign language for babies only to discover that they naturally started this process without even knowing it. This process is just added to with some additional gestures through our Baby Sign Language program.

Communication involves the spoken word but much of what we say is also communicated through our body language. Using baby signing teaches the baby that there is more to communication than just words. It is really important that the sign is used with the word, signing does not replace the need for words, rather it compliments them perfectly. As you progress with your signing, it becomes a natural process that is used without thinking. It isn’t very difficult to get to this stage as the signs are easy to remember but also very natural hand gestures.  

Babies are fascinated with their parents and are naturally attracted to movement. Many think that they need to wait until the baby is nine months old to begin sign language however our personal experience was that our baby understood what we signed to her from about 4-5 months. This provided us with much enjoyment of course but it was also really practical. At this very young age there is little chance that she would have understood the spoken word for things like ‘milk’ ‘more’ and ‘sleep’. However, the use of these baby signs allowed her to understand us. When she woke in the morning, we would sign to her that we were making her a milk bottle and she would be both relieved and excited that we knew what she needed.

There is about a 5 month period where the baby understands your signs but can’t sign back yet, and this is when we found sign language to be very beneficial. From about 9-10 months of age she has started to sign back to us. No matter how in tune you are with your babies routine, there will always be a time when you need a little reminder that it is ‘milk’ time, and there is no doubt with her little hand opening and closing at us that she knows exactly what she wants. Sign language for babies can be a wonderful way to communicate with your baby and it brings many opportunities for two way conversations and shared experiences. 

Toddler Interpreter teach Baby Signs and they offer the best Free Baby Sign Language Chart  available online and their Baby Sign Language Book is used by parents and childcare centres in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to Teach Baby Sign Language. Sign Language for Babies is easy using Toddler Interpreter’s comprehensive Baby Sign Language Dictionary. Sign Language for Toddlers can help reduce frustration and Baby Sign Language has proved very beneficial for Premature Babies, children with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome and other babies at risk of developing a speech delay.

Sign Language for Toddlers is an invaluable tool for toddlers to communicate before they have fully developed their speech.

The toddler years are full of frustrations and tantrums; providing some mutual understanding can help to relieve some of this tension. Their speech development is especially important during these first two years and is more rapid than at any other time in their life. Sign Language for toddlers can be used to compliment speech development and fill in the gaps where they don’t quite have the words yet.

Toddlers are exciting little people. Everything happens at such a pace; it is a time for growing, developing and exploring. Parent interaction during this crucial period is so important. Proper speech development will allow them to engage in proper social interactions which will develop their social skills. Speech and social development are some of the most important milestones; how they progress these two vital skills will play a major role in the way their future plays out.

Sign Language for Toddlers is the use of gestures to convey the meaning of certain keywords. Some begin this sign language much earlier and refer to it as baby signing or baby sign language. There is no difference between baby sign language and toddler sign language, just the name. These baby signs are very simple to perform and are universal gestures that can be used in any country worldwide.

Although toddlers are able to speak a few words by their first birthday, they are still learning their language skills right up until their third birthday. It will take this long for some toddlers to be understood by their family members let along strangers and other caregivers. Toddlers are so demanding and expect everything to go their way. They also know exactly what they want and when they want it. By providing them a means to communicate these things without the frustration of not being able to speak properly, you can reduce frustration. Frustration, especially in boys can lead to aggression problems later on. It shouldn’t be considered as a means to give in to the toddler, in fact, sign language for toddlers can often be used to re-direct the behavior to a more appropriate solution.

Some parents report that their toddlers revert back to baby sign language when frustrated. Not being able to spit out what they are trying to say but still keen to get their point across. Sign Language for Toddlers offers them a release for their frustrations allowing the temper to dissipate.

Teaching Sign Language for Toddlers is easy. Toddlers are very keen to copy anything that their parents do. Providing that the gesture is always used with the word, it will be picked up on very quickly. Choose some keywords that are important to your toddler. Try to chose words that are not spoken by your toddler yet. Learn the sign language gesture for these keywords and use these simple gestures every time you speak that keyword. Only ever use the gesture in a relevant situation so that your toddler understands the relevance of the gesture. They should catch on very quickly and be able to mimic and replicate your signs.

Children that may be suffering from a slight language delay are also great candidates for learning Baby Sign Language. A visual stimulus enables the toddler to develop their language comprehension as the words take on shape and have more meaning to the toddler. Sign language for Toddlers has also been shown to improve speech development when accompanied with the spoken word. Parent’s who use baby sign language are more likely to spend quality time with their toddlers and take a vested interest in their development.

Toddler Interpreter teach Baby Signs and they offer the best Free Baby Sign Language Chart  available online and their Baby Sign Language Book is used by parents and childcare centres in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to Teach Baby Sign Language. Sign Language for Babies is easy using Toddler Interpreter’s comprehensive Baby Sign Language Dictionary. Sign Language for Toddlers can help reduce frustration and Baby Sign Language has proved very beneficial for Premature Babies, children with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome and other babies at risk of developing a speech delay.