What is baby signing?

Perhaps you have never heard of baby signing, and it is a new tool for early communication with babies that has been implemented for a few decades, usually used before the baby's speech appears, establishing an ideal communication bridge for babies before they develop speech.

The ability to communicate in humans is one of the greatest virtues they can possess, but a baby has not developed this ability and the only way to communicate their needs is through crying, which in many cases can end up being frustrating for parents not being able to know why a baby cries.

What is baby signing?

It is nothing more than teaching babies a series of signs or signals that they must do to show certain needs and although it may seem impossible to do, specialists have proven that it can be taught through imitation, thus strengthening communication between the baby and his parents.

What are the benefits of baby signing?

• It promotes intellectual development, because the more signs they learn, the more they expand their knowledge of their environment.
• It strengthens the baby's autonomy and confidence, as they understand that through signs they can communicate and satisfy their desires.
• Serves as a prelude and link to learning language.
• It strengthens the union with their parents and the affective bond.
• Last but not least, it minimizes frustration, both for parents and baby, as it reduces the scenarios in which we are unable to understand their needs.

When is the right time to start this method?

It is important to keep in mind that no child is the same as another, and each one has its own learning rhythm. For this reason, specialists have determined that the ideal moment to start with the implementation of this new method is when the baby can sit up independently, with the help of the breastfeeding cushion.

After this achievement of the baby, it begins with the achievement of other bodily movements such as waving, pointing or clapping and that is when we can ideally teach our little one to make some signals or gestures that will learn naturally.

But it is transcendental that everyone at home, or at least the parents, are fully committed and involved in the integration of baby signing, as well as being perseverant and constant in order to achieve the benefits offered by this magnificent communication tool.

How this method originated.

This method was born from the hand of Joseph Garcia, a specialist in child development and interpreter in deaf language, who conducted research on the possibility of teaching sign language to children. Later, psychologists Susan Goodwyn and Linda Acredolo adapted adult sign language to children.

These psychologists studied several babies for 11 months, with one group they worked with signs and not with another, then continued to monitor their learning of speech until the age of 3 years and those children who spoke with signs had significant progress compared to the other group that presented greater difficulty with language skills and understanding.