My daughter is 6 months and I'm very interested in starting baby sign language with her. I read two different sources: one that said I should start at 6 month and one that said I should start at 10 months. I'm not sure which one to go by. Shaould I try at 6 months? Has anyone actually had much success with it and can you give me some resources to help me get started?
I Wanna Teach My Daughter Baby Sign Language. Is 6 Months Too Early to Start?
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6 months is not at all too early. I practiced sign language with my daughter from birth. Of course, she didn't really catch on until she was older, but it helped me to get in the habit.
Things to keep in mind : Don't expect your child to pick it up right away. If you start now, she might not do any sign language til 10 months, there's no set time line.
Keep it simple. I taught my daughter "more", "milk", "eat", "drink", and simple foods first (cracker, cookie, cereal, banana). As she grew older, I introduced more (night, day). But make sure to relate it immediately to something she can grasp. (say "cracker", then sign it, and hand her a cracker. Say "eat", then sign it, and take a bite of a cracker.)
My daughter is 2 and a half now, and still knows all the sign language I taught her, and still uses it occasionally, but she also talks extremely well. I think that teaching her sign language helped to reduce stress in her early days, because she could tell me what she wanted, and I didn't have to guess. It also introduced her to the concept of language that she could really comprehend, and I think that it helped to bond her to her family more securely!