I’d heard a lot about baby sign language and how great it’s supposed to be, but I will be very, very honest here: I thought it was a very “cute” thing for babies to do, but not a very practical form of communication. I also thought it would be impossible to teach.

Fortunately, Miss H’s nanny is much more of a believer than I am, because she started early on teaching Miss H to sign “milk.” I’d say at around 8 or 9 months is when this sign was introduced, but I was skeptical. The sign looks similar to a wave, in my opinion. So while we made the sign and said the word “milk” when we would give Miss H a bottle, I was doubtful.

And again, we are fortunate that our nanny is amazing, because she kept up with the signs.

Around the 1 year mark, Miss H was signing for “more.” Then she started saying “more more” when making the sign. I started to pay closer attention to this whole sign language thing.

Here’s Miss H signing for more (tapping fingers into the palm of the other hand):

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After “more,” it was “please.” Miss H makes the sign while saying “pweeeze.” It is adorable. And it’s so great when she’s demanding “more more,” I can now ask her what we say when we want more, and Miss H will then say “please.”

Here’s Miss H signing please (runs hand down chest/tummy):

After more and please, it was time to learn “all done.” Miss H’s “all done” had been throwing food on the floor. Classic. I was incredibly excited for her to learn a new way to communicate this! She does a little sign for “all done” while saying “all D.”

Here’s Miss H signing all done (waving hands over one another, hard to capture):

Miss H also signs for food/eating when it’s time to eat:

Currently, we are working on “sorry” and “thank you.” Miss H is starting to understand the concept of sorry. If she hits me I ask her to say sorry and she gets very sad! So we work on her saying sorry and then I say and sign thank you. It’s still a work in progress!

Having these basic signs in place has been amazing! When we were finally at a point where we were all understanding each other – Miss H would ask for more food and we would give her more – it was exciting. Miss H feels great that we’re able to respond to her. And on the flip side, we can use signs in tricky everyday situations: for example, when Miss H has my iPhone in her hand and I want it back – I can ask for it and say “please” a couple of times, and Miss H will usually hand it over without fussing. Success!

If you want to start looking into baby sign language, this web site is a great place to start. In looking up the signs Miss H’s uses, her signs are huge variations from what they demonstrate. I think that’s just how her little fingers figured out the easiest way to imitate how our nanny taught the signs. But she clearly understands what she’s signing for, so it works for us!

I don’t know how many more signs Miss H will learn – she’s a bit of a chatterbox and is picking up new words quite well these days – but I do know that we’re incredibly happy with the signs that she’s learned and they make our life at the moment so much easier!

Have you used baby sign language? Did it work well for you?

Baby sign language part 3 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