CHILD DISCIPLINE
Let Your Baby Tell You What’s Wrong With Baby Sign Language
Posted on March 1st, 2010 in Parenting
Do you feel frustrated when your baby cries? Do you wish she could tell you what’s wrong? Be assured that most parents feel the way you do. It’s really hard to try and guess why she’s crying. It’s frustrating for both you and your baby because we all know babies can’t talk, or can they….?.
There is indeed an answer to this dilemma and it’s called baby sign language. Sign language is fast catching on as a way for parents and their babies to communicate. Sign language allows babies to tell you if they’re hungry, thirsty or have a wet diaper. But you may be wondering – can your baby really communicate this way?
Recent studies have shown that baby sign language is actually quite effective. It all got started with a researcher, Joseph Garcia, who spent some time studying how a baby communicated with his parents who were deaf. The 10-month old was able to communicate fairly well, even at that young age, with his parents. After observing how this worked, Garcia began to promote baby sign language for parents who had normal hearing.
Most babies are able to “read” sign language fairly quickly. In fact, it’s easier for babies to sign at a younger age than it is to talk. Probably because they have better control over their hands at an earlier age than they do the muscles in their mouth and tongue. You can actually start teaching babies sign language when they are about six months old, although some are starting even younger. Parents are constantly amazed how quickly their babies can learn this skill.
As you can imagine, sign language removes a lot of a baby’s frustration!. Instead of a lengthy crying session, they can simply make a few signs with their fingers to tell their parents what they need, a huge improvement.
A few parents have voiced concerns that teaching baby sign language may slow down their baby’s ability to talk. This has been completely disproved by research. On the contrary, those babies who learned to sign started talking at an earlier age. Some signing babies are even showing a higher IQ in childhood.
Baby sign language is easy to teach!. There are excellent classes available that can help you to work with your baby on sign language, or you can learn to do this yourself. There are many resources available to parents who want to teach themselves and their baby at home. You will need a baby sign language chart and an instruction book. Flash cards with pictures are another useful tool.
If you are tired and frustrated at the lack of communication between you and your baby, then baby sign language may be a great choice for you.
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