When it’s time for your child to learn baby sign language, that’s the time to begin teaching, and you’ll know the indications when you see them. You can try to start earlier than that, but you will probably just get frustrated by lack of response. Your efforts may be thwarted by the infant’s lack of the necessary motor skills, or perhaps because they just don’t yet have the capacity to understand the gestures you’re making. But when it’s time, you’ll see the signs of baby readiness, and then you can begin.
You will observe particular body language signs that will give you a good indication. These likely won’t start to show in a significant way until the child is at least six months old or more. Many of them indicate that the baby is developing an interest in communicating. So for example, they might begin pointing things out to you. You don’t know what they’re trying to say exactly, but it’s obvious they want you to notice. They may make other gestures, like shaking or nodding their head “no” or “yes,” or starting to wave “bye bye.” This sort of clear interest in communicating is a good indication it’s time for teaching baby sign language.
When you do get going, there are many tools to help you learn the signs of baby sign language. Websites abound, such as www.babysigns.com or www.signbabies.com. Many of them sell videos or provide courses, and of course there are baby sign books you can consult as you need new signs for new concepts. You can buy flash cards and sign dictionaries too. Or you could just make up your own signs that fit your own context. Once you can tell that baby is ready, the sky is really the limit when it comes to resources.
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