Timmy's daycare teacher is teaching her class some simple sign language. It's just been in the past week that I've started to realize what he is doing. Being only 19 months old, you sort of have to use your imagination a little bit but it's there and consistent.

Right now it is just Please, Thank You, and more. Each of these words he can also say, when he wants to.

My question is, do you think this is bad or will delay his talking? There are times when he won't do the sign and will only say the words. There are other times when it is just the opposite.

I think it's really cute but don't want more harm than good.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 02:46 pm:

I don't think it hurts anything. My oldest daughter used to put her finger on her tongue when she wanted something to drink. It does allow them to communicate with you. I think there might have been others, but I really don't remember.

By Debbie on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 03:53 pm:

I don't see any harm in it. My oldest ds was slow to talk. He could, but just didn't at times. Instead, he made up his own signs for things. Since I was home with him all day, I was usually the only one that got the signs. It drove everybody nuts. He didn't say many words until he was a little over 2. Then, in a very short time, he went from saying hardly anything to talking in sentences. I guess, my point is that as long as he is communicating it won't hurt anything. It is also a great thing for him to learn. My ds had a boy that had hearing loss in his preschool. Ds became good friends with him and even learned some signs so that he could communicate with him better.

By Moeanne on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 03:53 pm:

I started at about 12 months, teaching my daughter simple signs that a friend had suggested (eat and finished/done) and she caught on really fast. It didn't seem to delay her talking. I found it helpful at the time and still do even though she is 23 months and talking in sentences. She'll say what she means and occasionally will sign at the same time. I wish I had learned more signs to teach her back then. It seemed to take away some of the frustration she felt at not being able to tell me what she wanted.

By Kaye on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 04:35 pm:

Actually studies who that it is just the opposite. There is a book called Baby signs. They encourage you begine teachering yoru kids signs by 6 months. I did this with all three of my kids, by age 2 my oldest was way to verbal, she spoke sentences and demands quite well. My middle kid only had a handful of words and the signs were quite helpful, my youngest stayed pretty much average. So it isn't the technique that will determine your child speech, just your child. It is really great to be able to empower your kids at such a young age. To this day my kids still sign some, at those times when talking just is inappropriate!

By Dawnk777 on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 07:33 pm:

My oldest child started talking some in the year between 1 and 2. She didn't really start taking off with speech until my second daughter was born and first dd was 2-1/2. She couldn't really talk about the coming baby since she didn't have enough speech yet.

Then my second dd was talking a blue streak already by 2. I don't remember if Emily used any signs or not, just remember it with the older one.

By Bka on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - 04:22 pm:

I recieved an offer last year from Parenting magazine for some baby sign language cards. I read all about the benifits of doing this as well as seeing it first hand from my SIL, who did this with her son. I bought them and started using them with DD at the age of 9 months, as that was the age they had suggested. She is now 13.5 months old and she knows ( yes, no, more, sorry, please,done,baby,kisses,hugs) right now we are working on girl and boy. She will also say and sign yes, no, more, and baby. I think its a great thing to encourage but if you want it to stay with her it's something you have to keep up on. Its realy fun she will sometimes grab the cards instead of a goodnight story, so we practice those instead. Have fun with it, and the age a is perfect time to start.

By Newbabysarah on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 06:00 pm:

Well, both of my parents are deaf so I actually learned to sign before I learned to use my voice. I probably would have used my voice earlier but since my parents didn't talk, that's the only reason why it took me longer. However, my reading and communication skills were much more advanced than other kids in my class when I was in elementary school. My mom told me that I learned to communicate around 1 year of age. Sign is so beneficial for babies because it allows them to get their thoughts across to the parent. I know from experience with Sarah that sometimes she gets frustrated if I am not picking up on her signals good enough, whereas she could sign to me what she needs or wants. The first sign I learned was cookie. Go figure! I am now teaching her signs and she is very interested in it.

By Brianna on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 11:51 pm:

i am a hearing mother and went to college to become a sign language interpreter and i have been teaching my child sign since she was 7mo old . she both speaks (well she's only a 1 yr old now so she still learning ) but she signs too and its great!
if she cant get her point across with words , she signs. we both have a great time and we continue to practice both sign and words. sometimes at the same time. Signing will not hurt your childs ability to learn to speak. whether speach comes sooner or later really depends on the child and how much u practice with them. either way have fun!