Communicating

I am such a fan of baby sign language. I've tried a lot of different things as a mother, things which might be classified from pretty weirdo hippie to things firmly Christian. Some things I've continued with, some I've dropped. Teaching babies sign language is something I started with our first and valued more and more with each baby.

So far, NURSE / MILK has been the first sign my babies have understood receptively, at about six months old. Even though they can't sign it then, it is still very useful: Say, for example, that I'm in public and my baby is crying. I can sign to her NURSE and, if she stops crying instantly, that is her six-month-old way of answer, "Yes! I want to nurse!" And then I know to go find a spot to sit down and nurse her. So useful!

 Margaret (12 months old) signing MORE

Margaret signing MORE: So far this sign is used exclusively for food, but I trust Margaret will follow in the pattern of my other babies and soon use MORE to mean "again" regarding play time (e.g., roll the ball again).

Margaret signing ALL DONE: This is one of my favorite signs because it gives a baby even this young the ability to tell me calmly that she is ALL DONE with eating and wants to get down from her high chair. She doesn't have to scream or shake the chair or throw food. When she does those uncivilized behaviors, I ask her to sign ALL DONE, she does, and then I let her down. Very quickly, she just signs ALL DONE in the first place!

Margaret signing DIAPER. (She had no diapering needs at that moment. I just asked her, "Show me DIAPER!" and she did.) Right now, I just have her sign DIAPER every time she's being changed, and my hope is that in future she'll be able to sign DIAPER to tell me when she needs to be changed.