Starting with the Right Signs to Communicate with Your Baby

When you start communicating with your baby, it sure is a special feeling. The first person the baby starts communicating with is the mother. If you two can develop a two-way method to communicate right from the first months, it sure would help strengthen the bond. Baby sign language basics offer you this exact advantage!

When you are thinking about the basics, the first question is which signs do you start using with your baby at the initial stage? Let us discuss the primary signs that you and your baby needs to practice. You can divide these into the following categories:

Necessities – well, the first things your baby needs to communicate are quite simple – 'milk' and 'nappy change'. If you two are unable to communicate these, it could be frustrating for both. You can also add the word 'more', signifying more milk for your little one, to your list of signs.

Feelings –your baby sure can express happiness with a precious smile or discomfort with a cry. However, working on other signs, like 'toy' for his/her favorite plaything, 'book' for his/her bedtime read, and so on helps in expressing exactly what your little one wants. It also helps enhance vocabulary.

World around – one of the first signs to teach your baby is sure to be ‘mommy. Add to this list words for other family members like 'daddy', 'brother/sister', and 'grandpa/grandma' and so on. Keep in mind to teach your little one words for people who live in, frequent your home, or interact with him/her.

Learning and teaching baby sign language requires two specific elements – patience and practice. You never know how much time it would take for your baby to understand, respond to your signing and imitate them. It may take a few days to a few weeks; therefore, you need to have patience.

Continuous practice is also essential. This helps you gain expertise in signing and your baby to understand and respond to it. You can also use tools like flash cards to enhance the effect of this. Start early, repeat signs, and do not lose patience – your baby is sure to learn, understand and respond.