Baby Sign Language

Have you tried introducing your baby some basic sign language? My mother-in-law babysits Danny while I work part-time and since she has previously been a preschool teacher, she helped us teach Danny a few essential signs - particularly "eat," "all done," and "more." Blue's Clue has taught a few other signs, too, like "smart" and "thank you." Overall, this has been incredibly helpful to us, and I can sense that it eliminates some areas of frustration for Danny since he is able to communicate a little more than he may otherwise have been able to. For this reason, I will likely try to introduce sign language to Baby Timmy - and maybe even a little earlier this time. And hey, Big Brother Danny could even help show his little brother some of the signs he knows so well now! :)

(Pictured Above: Done, Eat, More)

I will be honest, at first I wondered if sign language would hinder Danny's speech. Would he be motivated to communicate verbally if he could express his thoughts and needs through sign language? I was pleasantly surprised to learn that sign language actually HELPS toddlers develop speech! Danny doesn't have a zillion words under his belt quite yet so it is helpful that he can use the words and signs he knows together in order to let us know what he wants or is thinking. And believe me, he makes sure everyone knows what is on his little mind! Hehe. Like most toddlers (he just turned two a couple weeks ago!) he has some words that I can understand that maybe a stranger in the grocery store wouldn't. He says some other words perfectly, like: mama, dada, doggie, mommy, daddy, juice, hi, byebye. He says "dank" (pronounced DAY-nk) for thank you and "tink" for think. He is babbling up a storm and learning more every single day. He is always chatting so I feel like very soon he will come out with a lot more vocabulary all at once. Until then, I think a few more signs may be helpful to introduce to him like: help, change, milk, baby, brother, bath and sleep.

(Pictured above: Sleep, Milk)

What are your thoughts on introducing sign language to toddlers? Have you or did you consider it for your own children? Did you find it as helpful as we did? I'd love to hear your thoughts!