Baby Sign Language
One of the most frustrating things a parent can
ever experience in the sounds of their baby crying. The
baby has been fed and changed, so what could the problem
possibly be? Babies cannot communicate with their parents
yet, but thanks to a new trend parents can teach their
babies to talk to them early on. Baby Sign Language became
a popular after the movie “Meet the Fockers” in 2004 (Fazzini,
2005). The idea behind Baby Sign Language is to teach
children to sign their basic needs and wants, giving parents
the chance to communicate with their baby before he or she
can talk and create a bonding experience that can last a
lifetime.
Baby Sign Language was invented by Dr.
Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan
Goodwyn in the early 1980’s. At the time Dr. Acredolo’s
daughter was not quite one year old and making sings for
certain objects. Interested in what her daughter was doing,
they created Baby Signs, sign language for hearing babies
with over 100 gestures, some of which were taken out of
American Sign Language with a more simplistic idea for
babies to learn (Unknown 2003). Today, Baby Sign Language
classes are offered at hospitals, community centers and even
libraries. However, Baby Sign Language is so easy to learn
the classes are not needed to teach it to a child. Local
bookstores carry DVDs and books on Baby Sign Language.
The best time to begin the learning process is when the
child is between six and eight months and can hold their
attention for more than five seconds (Fazzini, 2005). If
you start at around six months of age, the child can be
signing back by eight months of age (Brady, 2000). Baby Sign
Language offers many benefits to both parents and children.
The greatest benefit for parents is that they can now
communicate with their children, resolving many
frustrations. Children who learn Baby Sign Language have a
higher IQ and if they continue doing their sign language
they are effectively bilingual. After all, researchers
believe that teaching a second or third language at a
younger age is easier than doing it at an older age. It
also encourages children to begin talking at an earlier age
versus those who do not learn to sign. The difficulty with
Baby Sign Language is being able to continue teaching it. A
lot of mother’s complain that the biggest problem with Baby
Sign Language is that their husbands or relatives do not
bother to learn it or reinforce it (Brady, 2000). Another
difficulty is being able to remember what signs a parent has
used for certain things, especially if they modify it or
make up their own sign. Teaching an infant two different
signs for the same thing can often confuse them.
Baby Sign Language started in the early 1980s and is
continuing to grow to this day. It has become the newest
trend for parents. Being able to communicate with an infant
takes away those long fussy periods, the frustrations, and
the lack of communication between parent and child. Baby
Sign Language is giving babies a chance to communicate with
their parents. It is giving them the chance to express
their wants and needs without having to cry and leaving
parents guessing.
Brady, Diane. (2000 August 14). Look
who’s talking – with their hands. Business Week
Online. Retrieved 19, March 2007:
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_33/b3694165.htm.
Fazzini, Andrea. (2005 March 24).
Infants communicate with signs. BYU NewsNet. Retrieved 19,
March 2007: http://www.nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/54948.
Unknown. (2003 March). The new baby
talk. Parents Magazine. Retrieved 19, March 2007:
http://www.parents.com/parents/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/parents/story/data/5240.xml&categoryid=
/templatedata/parents/category/data/1131063266759.xml&page=1.