In the early years, infant communication is limited mostly to movement of their arms and bodies. Infants use an extensive range of body language, facial expressions and verbal sounds to interact with you. These all eventually evolve into language.

Growth and brain development during these early years, especially the first 2 years is more rapid than at any other stage of a child’s life. One of the most crucial milestones in a child’s development is the development of their social skills and the ability to interact appropriately with others. The basis for appropriate social interaction is effective communication.

Teaching a body language based communication method such as baby sign language at an early age can encourage mutual understanding and provides a strong foundation for the development of social skills. It also enhances the bond between parent and child as they feel understood and secure in their environment and relationships.

Infants are naturally attracted to movement especially when the movement is performed by a parent. Each gesture is to be used with repetition of the associated word making babies more interested in the meaning of keywords from an earlier age. These baby signs will help them express their wants and needs.

Babies and children in general believe that the whole world revolves around them. They are the centre of the universe as they know it. On the contrary though, they have absolutely no control over what happens in their world. They suffer the limitations of a world without speech. For children with slightly delayed speech development this frustration can often be the worst. As boys tend to speak later than girls, this frustration in boys can sometimes lead to problems with aggression. Some children are simply more interested in developing their motor skills than their verbal skills. Either way, signing with them from an early age will help their communication development.

Teaching your baby sign language also teaches them that there is more to communication and social interaction than just words. Effective communication does involve hand gestures, body movements and facial expression. Being a visual language it is fascinating to children as it stimulates their curiosity and attentiveness towards further communication.

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.

Baby Sign Language is an increasingly popular tool for early communication for babies in the age group of 4 months to 30 months. It is usually based on keyword signing, where simple gestures are used to convey the meaning of a word to the baby who is not yet able to speak that word. These gestures are generally the same in all sign languages around the world as the keywords used in this early age group are very common ones such as milk, more, eat and drink.

Some people who do not recognize the long term benefits of signing with their hearing babies may be excused for thinking that Baby Sign Language is a fad or the latest passing trend in modern parenting. Many don’t realize however that the benefits of Baby Sign Language are supported by over 30 years of research. These benefits include earlier communication, reduced frustration, increased language comprehension and further opportunities for bonding between parent and baby. As a mother of two, one of the greatest benefits that I am finding is that the children are given an opportunity to use Baby Sign Language to communicate with each other before the youngest would normally be afforded the opportunity to be heard.

Baby Sign Language should only be used to compliment the speech development of the baby, therefore it should not become the dominant focus, and rather it should be seen as a natural gesture that goes ‘hand in hand’ so to speak with the spoken word. When used in this natural way it is easily picked up on by the older siblings as Baby Sign Language gestures are present in the house on a routine basis. Older siblings see the opportunity present itself to join in and use these gestures to communicate with their younger siblings.

There are several scenarios for the use of Baby Sign Language between the siblings. Each dynamic would differ depending on the age gap between the children and whether the older child had been taught Baby Sign Language in their early development as well. If the age gap between children were slight and both children had been taught Baby Sign Language the situation would be quite natural, where baby signs were used with both children and in some cases between themselves depending on age. This additional communication tool could be of tremendous benefit in the sibling’s interactions with each other in this scenario.

In our scenario, there is quite a substantial age difference between the children, Liam our eldest son is 6 years old and Scarlette is our 7 month old baby girl. We are introducing Baby Sign Language to Scarlette and have been signing to her consistently for a couple of months now. Liam has easily picked up on the Baby Sign Language gestures and is joining in where appropriate with much enthusiasm. He uses the Baby Sign Language signs for milk, brother, Mom, Dad and more with Scarlette and I am sure the continuity of seeing all three of her closest loved ones using the same gestures will certainly help her understanding. At 7 months it is quite amazing to see her level of understanding with signs such as milk, where she literally goes into a flapping frenzy when we sign to her. It is so obvious that we have made a connection and I believe she is much calmer knowing that we are going to meet her needs.

It is early days using Baby Sign Language with Scarlette but we are already realizing some of the benefits. The use of Baby Sign Language between the siblings will also be of great benefit as she grows and develops as it will allow both siblings a means of communication and will hopefully dispel some of the frustrations usually felt with sibling rivalry. They already have such a close bond that sometimes I think I could just step aside and let little Liam take over with his constant mothering; he is such a wonderful big brother and role model.

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.

Meet the Fockers was the first mainstream introduction of Baby Sign Language around the World.

The movie Meet the Fockers was the first mainstream introduction to Baby Sign Language around the world. Before this movie, baby signing was still a well kept secret amongst the few. Luckily for parents worldwide, little Jack, the one year old grandson, became a wonderful example of how you can communicate with your baby using Baby Sign Language. The movie certainly started quite a stir when it was first released in 2004 and could almost be considered to mark the beginning of worldwide exposure for Baby Sign Language for hearing babies.

Although the movie Meet The Fockers relayed a slightly tongue in cheek version of baby signing, it did do something wonderful for increasing the exposure worldwide of this fantastic communication tool. I just wish that it had done more for demonstrating how easy it is to incorporate baby sign language into your home and how beneficial it is to have your baby be able to communicate their basic needs to you.

There is no doubt that the use of Baby Sign Language movie ‘Meet the Fockers’ has had an influential impact on the number of parent’s worldwide that have begun signing with their babies however, don’t be misled by the Hollywood movie – this is not a passing fad. Baby sign language is becoming household across many states and many countries and has been researched and used for over 30 years.  

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.