Baby Signing

When my eldest, A was four months I started looking for things we could do together.  We found a very baby group near by which was lovely and our clinic was very much like a baby group and we would go every week.  However I wanted to do something else with her although I wasn't sure what!  So we tried a couple of baby music and dance groups which were ok but not really what I was looking for and then I came across Tiny Talk, a signing class for babies. 

If I'm honest I almost overlooked it as I didn't really believe it was possible!  We did however give it a go and it is the best decision I ever made!  I decided to give it a go as it was the same price as the other classes we had tried but it also included half an hour of free time (with a coffee!)  So it seemed good value!

3 and a half years later and with another baby we are still going to Tiny Talk and we all love it!  My eldest never signed but the classes were such good fun that we continued to go, she did her first sign at 14 months, the age she also started talking!  (It was bird if you are interested!)  I did see first hand other babies signing to communicate, some very young so I started to believe it was possible even though my daughter didn't sign.

I had my son when my daughter, A was 20 months and by then she was talking really well and we didn't bother signing very much.  But we still went to class though, she was in the toddler class by then which also teaches other valuable skills such as listening and following direction in addition to the signs.

I am very keen for my son, E to be treated the same as A and to be given the same opportunities so we started the baby signing classes in addition to the toddler classes when he was 6 months which was also the same month he did his first sign, milk!  My son really took to signing and absolutely loves to communicate!  He particularly loves all the nursery rhymes with signs in them and could sign the welcome song at 14 months!

I don't know why he took to it more than my daughter, it may be because we were signing a lot more around him at home (my daughter was particularly proud to be able to teach him!), it may be because I actually believed that he could do it or it may be just him and something he is able to do.  He is now 2 years old and has only recently started talking however he has been able to understand me for a long time and he follows instruction really well.  He just struggles with his pronunciation.  I have been incredibly grateful over the past 18 months that he can sign as he can ask me if he needs something and I am sure that this has reduced the number of tantrums that we have (he rarely has them and if he does they do not last long at all).

I cannot recommend signing with babies highly enough and in particular Tiny Talk as not only are the classes fun, they are educational and help babies communicate before they can talk.