A new baby will cry to gain your attention. Over the next few years, a baby learns first to interact, then to "babble" and to use words and then sentences.

Between 6-18 months babies use a combination of gestures and sounds to make themselves understood. This can be a frustrating stage in their development. They may point, shake their heads for “no” or wave “bye-bye”. Many parents are now making the most of this highly gestural phase in their child’s life by showing them some simple signs (derived from sign language) to enable them to communicate better at a far earlier stage than if they waited for speech. This is now widely termed “baby signing”.

Speech and language therapists often recommend signing if a child’s speech or language development is delayed. This simple approach can help dramatically.

Baby signing does not teach babies a new language, it supports and enhances the spoken language babies are already in the process of learning. This is how it works. A mother asks her baby “Would you like your drink?”, signing that one word as she speaks it. The baby hears the word and sees the sign. Babies quickly make the connection between the gesture and the word. They can then use the sign themselves if and when they choose, long before their mouths have developed enough to be able to say it.

Parents who use many such signs with their babies have wonderful stories about how it has finally helped them understand their children’s thoughts and interests. Take a look at the reviews page at Baby Sign Factory' web-site for a selection of the numerous examples or visit Baby Sign Factory's blog to view the baby signing forum or a selection of advice and tips.

By using baby signs, babies are less inclined to cry for what they want. Be it a drink or their blanket or their toy, They can ask for what they want using a sign. Not only can it relieve the frustration of the moment (for both child and parent!) it can also lead to faster speech development because of the rapport being developed between parent and child..

You might think such dramatic results would require a lot of work, but the magic of baby signing lies in how easy it is. You do not have to learn a whole dictionary of sign language, Just a few words which you feel your child would want to say to you if he or she could speak. Bamba's First Comforts (a baby signing kit) is an ideal way to learn baby signing at home without the need to attend classes. The kit concentrates on the first words most babies use and need - eg "drink", "blanket", "I'm hungry" etc...But the possibilities are endless. Your initial choice of signs should be limited to your own child’s interests. Each baby is different and you only need a handful of signs to inspire communication. After that you can use more signs at your own pace and need only stay one step ahead of your little one! Bamba's First Comforts comes with a booklet of the most commonly used signs - don't worry the signs are based on natural gestures and are very easy to learn. What's more it's a fun activity for both you and your baby.

How can you learn baby signing? Picking them up from Bamba's First Comforts the baby signing kit is a good way to learn and is compatible with sign supporting systems such as Makaton and Signalong and others recommended by speech and language therapists. There are many baby signing classes and classes promoting early communication.Talking Tots is a good place to start.

If you have been recommended to try signing with your child by a speech and language professional, don’t be put off by imagining that your child will sign rather than speak. This is not the case! If you need convincing, then think about one of the signs we all encourage babies to use without thinking much about it, we also all know that this sign encourages them to talk to us! We all like to encourage babies to wave “Bye-bye!” We naturally recognize that the wave will encourage the baby to enjoy the moment, make eye contact, understand the word and the concept and ultimately join in and wave back to us. In other words start communicating! Consequently “bye-bye” is often one of the first words a baby will say. Why do you think that is? Part of the reason is that it is easy for a baby to say, but could it also be because of the constant repetition and enjoyment of that sign? Very probably! If you'd like further information then please visit the Baby Sign Factory web-site.

Go to the Baby Sign Factory web-site to watch a video of baby signing in action.