I taught my 18 month old a few signs as young as 10 months. It worked fabulously to help her communicate. Once she could say the proper word though, she stopped using the sign.
A friend of mine disagrees. She thinks it would delay a child from learning how to speak and just communicate by signs.
What do YOU think?
1 comment… read it below or add one
We taught my daughter, now 4 1/2, certain signs to help with communicating. We also said the word when we signed it. This way, the verbal communication was there.
We were instructed on how to do this, as our daugher was seeing a speech therapist for feeding issues. There was a concern that she would not be in line with other children when it came time to talk. Our daughter picked up the signs easily, and there was absolutely no delay in her speech.
But, we also talked to her all the time. We consistently had one sided conversations with her when she was a baby, and I think this helped. She would watch our mouths as she got older, and we could tell she was trying to form the words.
Please keep in mind, baby sign language allows a baby to help express his/her needs, thereby helping to alleviate some of the frustration and anger that is felt when a parent isn't sure what's wrong. Rather than have to play guessing games, when she forms her sign, you know right away she is crying because she is hungry, not because she has a wet diaper…
Hope this helps. Don't worry, you're the mom. Do what is right for you!