Have you been curious about dabbling in American Sign Language (ASL) with your little one but aren't sure where to start? You've come to the right place!
Infants can recognize signs and gestures as early as 4 months, so you can absolutely start using signing with your child if you are motivated to do so!
Why is it called Baby Sign Language? Baby's don't have the motor skills to do many of the more complex signs in American Sign Language (ASL), so Baby Sign Language is often a simplified version of ASL.
Baby Sign language can be used in conjunction with regularly talking to your child during every day interactions. A good method when using baby signs is called sandwiching, where you provide the sign, say the name, and then sign it again.
If you're worried that using Baby Sign Language will delay their first words, research does not support that.
However, if you use baby sign language with your child as a replacement to spoken language, that could cause some delays to their speech skills. As long as your child is continuing to get regular exposure to spoken language, the addition of Baby Sign Language will not cause a delay.
I have included some high frequency words in the examples below. These are words that will be used often and are meaningful to your baby during their first years of life.
Here are four settings to use American Sign Language in your daily routine with your baby to strengthen their vocabulary.
1. Mealtime. Mealtime is a great time to reinforce baby sign vocabulary! Here are some simple phrases you can use during meals that can easily incorporate Baby Sign Language. You can repeat these phrases multiple times to reinforce the spoken and signed words.
"Time to eat!" then (SIGN eat).
"Here's your milk! (SIGN milk) Or do the same thing with water if that's what your child is drinking.
"Do you want more water?" then (SIGN more) or combine two signs (SIGN more milk/more water).
"We're done eating!" (SIGN All done).
2. During a Bath. Bath-time is another great place to incorporate Baby Sign Language. Some simple phrases to use in the tub include:
"Are you ready?" (SIGN ready)
"Here comes the water!" (SIGN water)
"The water is cold!" (SIGN cold)
"The water is warm" (SIGN warm)
"Time to scrub scrub scrub" (SIGN scrubbing)
"You're a clean baby! All done!" (SIGN all done)
3. Bedtime. Easily incorporate baby signs into your little ones bedtime routine with these phrases:
"You're tired. (SIGN tired) "It's time for bed."
"Go to sleep." (SIGN sleep)
"I love you." (SIGN I love you)
4. While reading a story. Preview a story prior to reading it to your baby to see if there are baby signs you can easily use. You can reinforce animal names and sounds by including their sign as well. Point out colors and include the color sign during reading. *A note on colors- they are absolutely fine to talk about with your little one but aren't as functional for your baby. What do I mean by that? Knowing their colors early won't help them communicate something they might want or need.
Ultimately, using American Sign Language is totally optional and can provide a fun social learning opportunity for you and your baby.
*If you want a helpful book on where to start, this Baby Sign Language Made Easy would make a great addition to any parent ready to sign! It includes pictures and explanations for how to make each sign.
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