Sign language for babies is one of the BEST things we did for both of our small sons. Babies are so smart and signing with them lets you know how aware and present they are. They are able to communicate their feelings, fears, wants, needs and "speak" in ways that make you realize their wondrous intelligence.

We signed with our first son and at 10 months old his first sign was "drink". His signing ballooned from that initial sign and by a year and a half he was signing over 50 signs, by the age of 2 and a half his spoken vocabulary was over 300 words. It was amazing to hear other little ones his age saying, "mama" and he would be putting 2 and 3 word sign combinations together like, "green tractor all gone" to be followed by him saying just a few months later by, "anhydrous ammonia."   Our experience showed that implementing sign language exponentially expanded our son's vocabulary. 

I have very special memories with my little guy as well because of the sign language. We were out one summer night sitting on the steps gazing at the stars together and he rested his head upon my shoulder and sleepily signed "light" for the stars (I didn't know there was a star sign language or wouldn't have lead him so far astray). It was just so special to know that we were sharing a moment and he was fully enjoying and understanding his time with mama.

We sign with our little one who's now 14 months and it's been a very rewarding experience with him as well. Just yesterday he signed "help car" when he couldn't reach his car on the other side of the baby gate. Without the signs he would have just been crying. I don't like it when babies cry- I love giving them a "voice" with their hands. It's nice too for toilet training because he simply signs toilet for when he needs to 'go'. My children aren't rocket scientists, they're normal children and any baby can have the same level of success with sign language as we've had.

I only read a couple books prior to practicing baby sign language and found most books I read had the same basic information. Most of the signs are simple and an easier version than the formal ASL (American Sign Language). It's super easy to remember what the signs are and you can make up your own as you go along. If your baby does their sign differently than you've shown them then you can simply change the sign to what they do to lessen confusion and make it easier on them to understand.

Most professionals on this matter recommend to start with just a few simple signs, generally the most important like: drink, eat, want and expand from there. I followed this advice with our first son, maybe we used 5 sings very consistently until he started signing back then I did every sign I knew. With our second child I started doing all the signs right away because it felt so natural to talk to my baby and use my hands. Go with whatever you're comfortable with. It's not "wasted" time to do the signs before they're signing back, or starting too early. Some people say to wait until your baby is 6 months at least but I started earlier than that because I was too excited to wait. There is no "perfect" way to do it. Just realize if you start too early you may be frustrated and dejected. All babies go their own pace and you must be respectful of that.

The key is to be flexible, understanding, remember to have fun and enjoy whatever interaction you have together.

 I'm fairly anti-video when it comes to children.  I broke down about a month ago and we started with the Baby Signs video collection.  Sign language videos are the only videos we let our youngest watch and he probably watches these 3 times a week.  These types of videos are a wonderful tool for teaching sign language and I almost wish we had started with these a few months prior to when we did. 

There are a ton of great websites out there which cover baby sign language but my favorite is:

                                     www.mysmarthands.com

Actually, the BEST videos on YouTube which cover baby sign language are the ones from Laura Berg of mysmarthands. She really is amazing and I love all the information on her website and repeatedly watch the videos with our sons. There are other baby sign language videos on YouTube, but the best use of your time is to watch her videos.  (I'm not sure if I can publish them in this forum as she has an exlusive property warning on each video). 

We're also in her baby sign language facebook group. It's nice to link up with other parents who are passionate about signing (or just learning). There's a link on her website to join the facebook group and I completely recommend doing so. It's nice to meet other families who do sign language because I've noticed non-signing parents think I'm a bit weird. It's nice to share with and learn from others who are on board with interacting in this manner with their babies.

 I practice attachment parenting and many concepts are a bit time consuming, or take a lot of "mama energy".  Baby sign language does not take a lot of extra energy.  It's so natural for me to show a sign and it's such a fun process for our whole family.  It was simple to learn the signs and beyond a few reference checks at first they were easily retained. 

Baby signs makes the interaction between caregiver and child more deep and there is an increased importance on communication and exchange. I interact with my children much more when there's that motivation to show the sign and have them sign back. There's nothing punitive and pushy about the process. It's a loving exchange of information just like shaking your head yes and no. I emphatically encourage all parents and caregivers to try baby sign language.