3 Signs to Teach Babies First

The 3 Signs to Teach Babies First…more

Sometimes we wish our babies would come to us with full vocabularies and understanding enough of the world to know how to express their needs and wants. Obviously, it doesn’t work that way and when we stop to think about it, we would miss out on all of the precious moments of discovery that bring us closer to our children. I guess what we really want is to speed up the time between those discoveries. We want to make life easier on us and them by closing the gap in our communication. Sign Language has that power, all we have to do is learn to use it.

Babies and toddlers rely on the most effective form of communication they have, not words but tears. We train ourselves to decode the pitch and intensity of their cries to decide if they’re hungry, tired or hurt (hopefully not). Introducing baby sign language can change so much of that crying into communication, and speed up the time of their first verbal words.

The 3 signs to teach babies first are:

  1. Mom and Dad
  2. Food or Eat
  3. More!

Mom & Dad

The most important sign for your baby to know should be obvious, it’s often the first word that babies say, “Mommy or Daddy”. This will be the heart of your relationship, this one word is enough to see you through any frustration with future signs, and I assure you that it will be as quick and rewarding for you as it will be for your child.

Food or Eat

The first thing your baby will want to talk with you about will probably be food. These signs are simple, food (or eat) and milk will be enough to go on for a while, babies don’t need to know the different options of baby food, they know they are hungry and you know what they will eat.

More

The last of these vital signs is a little more complex: more. Mommy, daddy, milk, and food are all one-hand, one-motion words and even if your baby doesn’t sign them perfectly, they are usually understandable. “More” is a two-handed sign, but both hands do the same thing.

These 3 signs to teach babies first are just the beginning – there are so many signs that you can teach your children. You’ll quickly see the beauty of their minds and their eagerness to learn.

Please take a look at our baby sign language dictionary to add to your vocabulary.

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