Scenario A:

It's 2 a.m. and your 8-month-old son is crying, waking you from your elusive sleep. You approach the crib to answer your baby's siren call. By habit, you check the diaper to see if  it needs to be replaced. No, it is unsoiled. You place the back of your hand on your baby's forehead for any fluctuations in temperature. Defeated, you pick up your baby to comfort in your arms. However, your baby continues to cry and nothing you do seems to satisfy. You know it is going to be a long night!

Scenario B:

It's 2 a.m. and your 8-month-old son is crying, waking you from your beauty sleep. You approach the crib to answer your baby's siren call. With a warm smile, you sign a gesture you have taught to mean TUMMY HURT?  He gives a negative response. MILK? He waves no. WANT WHAT? you inquire. He points up to the musical mobile above and makes a circular motion. You wind the mobile and see your baby smile as the music slowly begins. Seeing that all is well, you head back to sleep knowing that you have taken the time to foster language and bond with your child. 

Indeed, sign language is not just for the deaf. You can sign with your baby to communicate long before his or her speech begins to form. Studies have shown that signing has proven to be beneficial, rather than detrimental to your baby's language skills. It can reduce frustration, develop spatial reasoning, assist in understanding emotions, and it will promote creative thinking and early literacy skills. (Babies and Sign Language). IQ is increased and vocabulary is expanded. (Baby Signs with Anne Marie)

Scholars in languages, linguistics, Deaf Studies and American Sign Language (ASL) have known that humans' first form of language was gesturing. (Stokoe, 2001). With more than two decades of research, funded by the National Institute of Health, Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, discovered that babies were using gestures for words yet uttered. (Baby Signs).

In 1996, Acredolo and Goodwyn co-authored Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk. Since their ground-breaking research and book publication, interest in baby signs has boomed as evidenced in an Amazon.com or a Google search. Educational institutions now offer classes for parents in baby signs. Galludet University, the world's only liberal arts university for deaf and hard of hearing students, is a front runner in such offerings. The school is located in Washington, D.C.

Using the same approach as with speech development, sign language with your baby must be used regularly, repeatedly,with patience and with tactile behaviors. Soon, your baby will connect the signs with the respective objects, persons and ideas. Upon gaining comprehension, your baby will respond and communicate before speech is fully developed. You can sign MILK to your newborn when it is time to nurse or take a bottle. Sign SLEEP at nap or bedtime. The integration of signs into your everyday life will be helpful not only at home, but in public, as well.

Even with the onset of speech, some parents continue signing as their child grows. Consider that children can use a sign instead of performing a temper tantrum to express a need. Learning a second language is fun and it helps the child understand that crying is not the only way to communicate. Children learn to understand and express language in a natural way through a process that begins very early in life. Penelope Leach, author of Babyhood, points out, "The primary motivation spurring babies toward language is the chance it provides to socialize with others." Infancy is a season of life for reveling in the wonders of the world newly entered. Babies want to notice their world, but they also want to tell someone about the discoveries. Most parents teach a wave for BYE-BYE and a nod for YES or NO. Why not try a gesture for MORE, EAT, or UP?  Communication can flourish from 4-30 months of age when your baby's desire to communicate exceeds her capacity to verbalize.   

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