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What can baby signing achieve?
The main benefit of baby signing is improved communication between you and your baby. This advantage cannot be overestimated: it sets a good foundation for your child’s self-expression and will stand her in good stead for the rest of her life. Baby signing also empowers your child to tell you what is wrong instead of screaming, whining or crying. It can even enable babies to play a part in problem-solving. For example, one of the parents in Garcia’s ‘Sign with Your Baby’ training video tells the story of her 11-month-old son Sebastian, who warned her that a wasp was trapped with him inside the car. His mother, who hadn’t seen the wasp, could then remove it without incident.

For those who worry that baby signing could interfere with verbal communication, the experts assure us that it has no such effect. They have found that signing children usually learn to speak earlier, and by the age of two have learned on average 50 more words than non-signing babies.

There is no need to continue with signs after a child has mastered saying the word. They will have served their purpose, to open a channel of communication that will continue as your child grows.

For further information visit sign2me website.

Baby Signs: How to talk with your baby before your baby can talk, by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn is published by Vermilion, UK, 2000.