Introducing sign language at 6 months coincides nicely with the introduction of solids. Here are my top 9 signs for starting solids. Four of them are a rehash of my first words, but repetition and signing out daily activities is key. I love banana, which is like peeling an imaginary peel away from your index finger, and sour is great when I realize the mango I’ve given my daughter is not quite ripe. I use water and more most often, but a lot of moms use the word drink to signify any beverage.

images courtesy of babysignlanguage.com

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Surprisingly, there is no sign in ASL for avocado – they sign it by simply spelling it out letter by letter. That’s more than a little complicated for me. There is some discussion about this lack of word on the internet, and some have used “green vegetable” to indicate avocado. I think perhaps soft vegetable would be more descriptive, although I think technically an avocado is a fruit, so perhaps green fruit? The sign for “soft” is like squeezing cotton balls in your hands; hold out loose palm-up claw hands. Move them down an inch or two at the wrists rather than the elbows as you change them from “loose claw hands” to palm up -“O”- hands. Do the movement twice using a neutral or pleasant facial expression. This hand movement, when paired with an “ew” face, can also be used for a “wet diaper.” I like what some in South America use to sign avocado – form your dominant hand into a letter “S” and bring it toward your other, curved hand and twist, like defying gravity to make guacamole in your upper hand.

There’s a great little video about signing vegetables, and I realize that many vegetables that need to be finger spelled are traditional “first foods” for baby. Broccoli is a good example of a food without a sign, and she says you can also describe it by shape. I love her facial expression in how she describes that it’s healthy and has a bad taste at 1:17. My daughter won’t touch plain steamed carrots or yams (they need to be covered in curry or something interesting), but she’s all about plain broccoli! I also love how the lady in the video signs carrot at 0:11 as she slides an imaginary carrot across her face and quickly chews like an old style typewriter barrel. Another way of signing carrot is in my diagram, with your first forming an “S” sign against the sign of your mouth, and chomping off a big bite as you rotate your hand.

What are your favorite food-related signs to use?

Baby sign language part 5 of 9

1. Sign Language for Babies by parenting
2. Signing with Your Baby by Mrs. Pen
3. I'm a Believer: Baby Sign Language by Mrs. Hopscotch
4. Baby Sign Language: week one by Mrs. Chipmunk
5. Baby sign language: first foods by Mrs. Chipmunk
6. Baby Sign Language: Bedtime Rituals by Mrs. Chipmunk
7. Baby Sign Language: Songs and Animals by Mrs. Chipmunk
8. Expanding the mealtime vocabulary by Mrs. Chipmunk
9. Baby sign language: More Animals by Mrs. Chipmunk