As soon as they are born, babies have wants and needs. The issue is that they have little to no way of effectively communicating these desires. That is where sign language, or as it has been popularly cited “baby sign language”, comes into play.
As parents and caregivers, we can utilize sign language to teach our children to let us know when they are hungry, want more food, or maybe even if they are tired. Through repetition and dedication, you can begin communicating with your child in ways you didn’t think were possible so early on. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of using sign language with your baby and how you can properly implement it.
If you know about this already but are looking for some signs to try with your child, please feel free to skip to this section.
Jump to Sections:
- Language Development in Babies
- The Role of Gestures in Communication
- How Baby Sign Language Works
- When to Start
- Signs to Try
- How to Teach Signs Effectively
- Our Take
- Sources and Further Reading
Language Development in Babies
Babies go through a ton of changes physically and mentally in the first year of their life. We did an article previously on this process of sensorimotor growth. I highly recommend that you, at the least, skim through it for some really useful information.
At birth, infants will signal needs or distress through crying. During this stage, it can be pretty difficult to understand what they want; especially since they may not really know themselves. Their basic needs are food, sleep, a dirty diaper, and affection. Understanding them takes some time as parents learn their child’s patterns and schedules.
Eventually, they will start to coo, babble, smile, and even make vocalizations that may sound like their own little language. This usually begins at around the 3-month mark but can happen before or after depending on the child.
As always: Remember, each child develops differently. Just because your child is a few weeks behind or ahead does not mean they are weird or having difficulty developing. They are just a child. Unique.
Verbal communication skills are one of the most complex development milestones that your child will ever face. It requires a ton of different skills to interact together, harmoniously. They need to be able to listen and understand sounds, associate those sounds with certain objects or actions, and in turn, use their voice to properly communicate what they have learned. That is a lot to ask of someone who may have just learned how to crawl.
This is where sign language can be extremely useful. By giving your child the ability to associate everything non-verbally, you give them the ability to learn communication concepts much earlier than they would through strictly verbal communication.
The Role of Gestures in Communication
As they develop their sensorimotor skills, babies can begin to use their faces and hands (or even feet) to display communication skills. These are called gestures. These are the building blocks of sign language and any other form of non-verbal communication.
Gestures are beneficial for two main reasons: they allow a physical representation of spoken words and provide a bonding opportunity as babies will mimic their parents and caregivers.
Gestures can be simple movements like waving or clapping hands but can also be more complex and in line with sign language. Fairly quickly, you can go from not understanding your child’s wants and needs to having a full grasp of what they are thinking must through hand signals.
When To Start
At around the six-month mark, most babies have developed enough motor skills to start making hand gestures. This can come a little earlier or a little later depending on the child, but 6 months is typically a great starting point for sign language.
At first, your child may not be able to make perfect hand gestures, but if they are close they are effectively communicating their wants and needs with you. Encouragement and repetition go a long way in really honing in on these motor skills.
It is also never too late to begin trying sign language with your child. If you missed the 6-month window, have no fear! You can start pretty much whenever you want to or whenever your child begins to show interest in learning. However, studies have shown that the earlier babies learn concepts the better they are at them later on. The biggest takeaway is that if you start late you are still starting, which is a great thing for your child’s development. Be consistent and use signs that your baby responds well to and over time they will get the hang of it!
Signs to Try
Below are a couple of signs we think are great to try with your baby. Most of these are used every day and help get the most out of communication with an infant.
Please be aware that all signs below are derived from American Sign Language (ASL). Although it is the most widely used sign language internationally, there are other institutes for some languages. Please refer to your country’s sign language institute for more information.
Signs for Everyday Needs
Milk
It is best to start with a food that the baby is familiar with, enjoys, and wants, such as milk. In sign language, you can express the word “milk” by making two fists, extending your fingers, and then bringing your fists back together. This can also be taught just with one hand. Our daughter responded well to associating milk with just squeezing and releasing her right hand.
Water
Your thumb and pinkie should be tucked under and your three middle fingers should be extended so they point up. Next, tap your index finger to your chin. Repeat moving your hand away and back to your chin.
Hungry
Your baby needs to be able to express when their stomach is empty to avoid getting hangry (you know what I am talking about). Teach them how to use sign language to express their hunger. Making the “hungry” sign involves placing your hand in the shape of a C around your neck, then lowering it to your stomach. Repeat this multiple times by bringing your hand back to your neck and down again.
All Done
When your baby has had enough of their food, they may let you know pretty harshly. Sometimes they throw their food or push you away. You can teach them to use the ASL sign for “finished” for a better mealtime experience. Simply open your palms with them facing you and turn them away. Face them back to you and turn them away again. This process will seem a little bit like “jazz hands”, but trust me this is the correct sign.
More
Sometimes instead of being done, your child may want more. They can let you know by creating two “O’s” with their hands and bringing their fingertips together near the center of their chest.
Signs for Emotions and Actions
Play
With your palms facing you and your wrists twisted back and forth, sign “play” by clenching your fingers to your palms while leaving your thumbs and pinkies out. This will look like two “finger phones” being waved around.
Sleep
Practice saying “sleep” in sign language to avoid having a fussy, sleep-deprived baby on your hands. Draw your hand down over your face until your fingers and thumb touch your chin while holding it over your forehead with your fingers apart. This one can be used by babies who don’t like to take naps if they are particularly worn out.
Help
Don’t forget to practice the sign for “help” when learning and teaching baby sign language. This can be helpful to a baby in a variety of circumstances, and being able to seek assistance from a parent or other adult caregiver can also help a baby feel less frustrated. Simply make a fist with one hand, extend the thumb, and place it over your other hand, which is extended flat, to sign the word “help” in sign language. Then raise both hands at once.
Read
The best time is storytime. In sign language, say “read” with your hands. Put your hands in a fist with the thumbs facing up, then hinge them open while keeping the pinkies together (as if you were cracking open a book).
Signs for Family Members
Mom
Simply spread your fingers apart and tap your thumb to your chin with your pinkie facing forward to sign “mom”.
Dad
You can make the “dad” sign by spreading your fingers apart and tapping your forehead with your thumb while the pinkie is facing forward. This is very similar to mom except instead of your chin you are tapping your forehead.
We highly recommend checking out BabySignLanguage.com for tons of great resources like flashcards, help books, and printable charts. This site has a huge library available on implementing and enhancing your child’s sign language vocabulary.
How to Teach Signs Effectively
When teaching sign language (or anything new) keep this checklist in mind:
- Start Simple: Begin with one or two signs so you do not overwhelm your child.
- Fun: If you are excited about it chances are your child will be too.
- Repetition: Incorporate signs into your daily routines.
- Encourage: Acknowledge success with praise and excitement.
- Grow: Expand their sign language vocabulary over time
For your child to learn sign language from you a few key things need to happen. First, they need to begin mimicking your hand gestures. They then need to associate that hand gesture with whatever action or thing (person, place, or object) that it correlates to. Lastly, they need to communicate it on their own.
If that sounds like a lot, do not worry it will not happen in one sitting. This process will usually take at least a few days or weeks for even one sign.
Here is an example of an effective way to introduce and teach your child a sign. For our example we will be using the sign for “milk”, but all signs can be implemented similarly.
When you bring your baby their milk bottle, say the word milk and also display the sign for milk (see above section). Do this every time you offer milk to your child. Eventually what will happen is when you bring them milk and do the sign, they will mimic that sign themselves.
Remember to encourage any mimicking. They will not get it down perfectly at first, but encouraging any response lets them know they are on the right track!
Once they mimic you and do that consistently, begin offering them milk and saying the word milk but without doing the hand gesture. The goal here is to see if they will do the sign for milk on their own. You can build on this part of the process by just saying the word with no milk near you or offering milk without saying the word. Remember that any progress is great.
Once your child has the association down and understands that the gesture correlates to milk, see if they can use it on their own. This part of the process takes the longest as it is the most complex action in the development process. Once your child communicates their need for milk with a hand gesture without you mentioning anything, they have completely learned the sign for that word. This is an amazing milestone!
Once you have one down, feel free to begin teaching other signs that make sense for you and your child. We recommend trying out “milk” and then “all done” or “more” as they fit best with “milk”.
Our Take
Choosing to implement sign language with your baby is completely up to you and your parenting style. There is no right or wrong side here simply because it is not for every family. Where sign language works for you and your child it may not work for someone else.
That said, I will mention that the benefits and studies highly recommend it. If you can teach your child even just 4 or 5 basic signs, you could be setting them up for success with learning in the future. Also, having a way to communicate with your child can only have a positive outcome.
We have implemented a few signs with our daughter. It is still a work in progress, but even knowing that she wants “more” milk or food is such an awesome experience for us. Speaking from experience, it takes a ton of repetition (at least for us). Our daughter quickly grasped the mimicking concept, but it has taken a while for her to understand how to properly use each sign. This goes back to children being unique. You may have a child who understands baby sign language immediately but does not have the motor refinement to make the signs correctly or vice versa. That is perfectly fine!
Through repetition, dedication, and encouragement, I hope that you have an amazing experience with this. Please let us know on social media or through email how it is working for you or how it worked in the past. We would love to hear some success stories (or funny stories if you have them).
From the earliest moments of life, children begin to learn the fundamentals of communication. The most powerful influence for effective language development is the interactions with parents and caregivers.
David Perlmutter, M.D.
As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this article. The support means so much to us. Please check out the sources and further reading recommendations below for a ton of great content on baby sign language. Be sure sure to like and share on Facebook or whatever social media you enjoy using.
Thank you!
Sources
“The Benefits of Baby Sign Language,” American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) (2023)
“How Baby Sign Language Works,” Parents Magazine (2020
“The Science Behind Baby Sign Language,” Speech and Language Kids (2019)
“The Critical Period for Language Learning,” Psychology Today (2022)
“Teaching Baby Sign Language: Tips for Getting Started,” Mayo Clinic (2023)
“Teaching Your Baby Sign Language: Pros and Cons,” Healthline (2020)
Further Reading
“Baby Sign Language Made Easy” by Lane Rebelo
“Teach Your Baby to Sign: An Illustrated Guide to Simple Sign Language for Babies and Toddlers” by Monica Beyer
“The Baby Signing Bible: Baby Sign Language Made Easy” by Laura Berg
