Perhaps frustration sets in when there is no way of understanding what your baby needs. She is crying but does she wants a bottle, maybe a banana, or could she just be tired? As discouraging as it is for you to not understand your child’s needs, just think about how frustrated she is getting when no one understands her.
What if there was a way you two can communicate even though your baby is still not talking? More parents are now teaching their babies to sign using the American Sign Language signs. Children as young as 6 months are signing and using their new found non-verbal communication to their advantages. With the help of sign language children and parents are communicating more successfully
Now you are probably thinking where do I start? What signs should my child learn? These are actually very simple questions to answer. To answer these questions you must take into account what kinds of things or words you would like to communicate with your baby. These words may involve food items, requests from baby, and just overall things babies may need.
Some more popular signs are:
- Airplane
- Baby
- Banana
- Bath
- Bed
- Bird
- Book
- Car
- Cat
- Cold
- Dog
- Drink
- Eat
- Father
- Finished
- Fish
- Help
- Hot
- Hurt
- Milk
- More
- Mother
- No
- Play
- Please
- Shoes
- Telephone
- Thank You
- Toilet
- Want
- Water
- Yes
These are just some of the signs you can use with your baby. There are many more signs you can use at your own discretion. Remember to use what works for you and your baby. For instance, if your baby plays with a favorite doll, you may want to teach the baby the American Sign Language (ASL) sign for doll. Every parent-baby couple works differently.
A great site to explore which can show you visual videos of the above signs can be found here. Remember to have fun with teaching the ASL signs and to be very patient wit your child; every child learns at a different level. You and your baby will be communicating non-verbally in no time!
Picture below accredited to Indiewench from the Flickr website found here.