Helping moms understand her baby better thanks to her sign language

Toddlers always find ways to convey their wishes to their parents. To help parents understand their baby better, baby's sign language is born and brings many benefits.

At 3 months, you can start teaching your baby sign language. Babies exposed to sign language will have richer vocabulary and more diverse expressions than babies who are not learning. Besides, sign language also helps parents to more easily take care of their children and tighten the affection between parents and children.

What is child's sign language?

Children's sign language is a means to help a toddler who is not yet speak communicate with their parents or caregivers. Usually, babies will begin to convey messages to parents what they need, what they think and how they feel after 7 months. Sign language is also the foundation for children to build up their vocabulary in the future.

When to teach sign language?

Babies should learn sign language before they can speak, so you can start teaching when you see your baby needs to communicate.

Some babies start school when they are six months old. However, at this stage, the baby still does not control much hand movements. You can start teaching your baby sign language when you think your baby is ready,

Communication between mother and baby will become easier once the baby knows how to express his wishes. Besides, you should also talk when teaching your baby sign language to help him associate easily.

What is baby sign language?

Gesture language is a way for people to communicate with each other. Young children are smart enough to understand these gestures and use them to communicate. In fact, many times you will see your baby waving to say goodbye or raising his hand to ask her to hold it. That is your baby's sign language.

The ability to understand sign language developed faster than speaking. Therefore, babies often use symbols to convey what they want.

Although it is often difficult to teach children signs, if parents are patient, everything will be successful.

How to teach sign language to your baby

When teaching your baby sign language, you should repeat the symbols over and over. Once your baby has learned the first signs, teach them more. In addition, you can start with frequently used symbols to evoke your baby's interest.

Family symbols

Symbols refer to important people in your baby's life that will be what your baby loves.

Mom

This is the first word that you should teach your baby because she is the person closest to the baby. To teach your baby to call her, you extend your hand, move your hand close to your face, tap your thumb on the chin position. While doing this, say, "This is the mother." When your baby yells after you, repeat this action. Gradually, your baby will get used to and remember this symbol.

three

The third is the second most important person in a baby's life. To teach your baby to call dad, you also open your hand, move your hand to your face, tap your thumb on the forehead. While doing this, say, "This is three."

Grandmother

Her symbol is similar to that of mother, but you do it twice.

He

The notation for his word is similar to three, but you do it twice.

If you have pets, your baby will be attracted to these animals. Teach your baby symbols to create a relationship for your baby with lovely pets.

Dog

Pat your thighs to signal the word "dog". This is a very natural symbol so it is easy to remember.

Cats

To teach your baby to sign the word “cat,” you hold your thumb and index finger in your hands, stroke your cheeks like a cat, and hold your other fingers straight.

Food Symbols

Teach your baby some symbols related to food so you will know when your baby is hungry.

Milk

Milk is the baby's first food. There are 2 symbols to signal breast milk and bottle milk.

If you want to speak from breast milk, point to your chest and say "milk".

If you mean a bottle, hold your hand, make a mark as if you were holding the bottle, and then say: "milk".

Eat

This is a fairly simple notation. Put your hand to your mouth to pretend you're eating. Tap your finger on your lips and say the word "eat".

More

To teach your baby to convey a desire for “more” such as suckling or eating more, tap the tips of your fingers together. This is a very useful symbol, often used a lot in life.

Finish

To do this, extend and shake your hands back and forth. Babies use this symbol to inform their mothers that they have finished eating and do not want to eat more.

Personal hygiene symbols

Changing diapers: Place hands at waist, fingers facing the ground. Pinch the index and middle fingers of both hands together, straighten, then pinch the index and middle fingers with the thumb.

Want to go to the toilet : Hold your hand into a fist, place your thumb between your index and middle fingers, and shake your fist back and forth.

Things to note

Sign language is fun, but the baby has reactions that worry mom. Do not worry, when teaching sign language to your baby, you should pay attention to a few things:

Fun: Gesture language is visually vivid language. Let the signaling become something that both mother and baby find it fun and enjoyable.

Be patient: Repeat these signs every day until your baby remembers. It is important to be patient as the learning process is relatively slow depending on the child.

Encouragement: When the baby starts to sign, he / she will not be 100% accurate. Compliment your baby's efforts and give him a reward like a kiss, a bedtime story, or a favorite snack.

Combine words and gestures: Use both gestures and gestures to make a quick connection between the word and the sign.

Don't expect too high: You can start teaching your baby to sign at any age. However, most babies cannot show signs before 8 months.

Simple symbols: Start with symbols that describe the most frequent activities such as eating, drinking, sleeping ... In addition, encourage your baby to make meaningful signs.

Interaction: Put the baby on the mother's lap, use the hand to signal when communicating with the baby. In addition, you also teach your baby how to sign when you want to bathe, change diapers ...

Be calm: Don't get angry when your baby makes a false sign. The main purpose of sign learning is to increase the interaction between mother and baby, not to give the baby good signs.

Tools to help your baby learn sign language

Currently, on the market there are many tools to help mothers teach sign language to their babies.

DVDs help children focus more through pictures, stories and gestures.

Flash Cards are also quite a useful tool. In addition to learning sign language, mothers can also teach children other fields such as plants, animals ...

Useful tips to help mom teach sign language better.

Sign Dictionary: this is what helps mom and baby sign correctly.

The wall poster also creates visual images to capture your baby's attention.

Here are some ways to teach your baby about sign language. However, in addition to this, you can also devise other learning methods to make both mom and baby happy.

The benefits of sign language

Communicate before speaking

When the mother and baby do not understand each other, this will be very troublesome. Sign language is a means to help mothers and babies better understand each other before they can speak. Sign comprehension usually develops by the time babies are nine months old and understanding words by the time they are one year old.

Rich vocabulary

Signs will help your baby learn to speak more easily as well as have a richer vocabulary. Normally, babies 18 months old will speak 10 words, while babies learning sign language will speak 20 words.

No more irritability

Most babies are irritable because they cannot express their needs. When your baby learns to sign, you will find that he is no longer as irritable as he used to be because now he can communicate more easily.

Increase confidence

Sign language helps babies feel more confident because they can express what they want. For example, if your baby wants to eat cake, he will signal and you understand, he will be more confident to signal again.

Help your baby more interested in books

When you let your baby read a book with signs, she and her baby will interact more. This makes children interested in reading and gradually, they will enjoy reading more.

Clever

Children learning sign language have better reading and writing skills and higher IQ scores than children who don't learn sign language.

Tighten the affection between parents and babies

Teaching sign language will help parents bond with their baby more. When teaching your baby sign language, you will have plenty of time to interact and talk with your baby. This will make the parent-baby relationship more intimate.

Child sign language has been applied many and the benefits it brings have been recognized. Sign language helps parents to understand children, know what they want, and also helps children to convey what they want.