when to start signing?

[jillianh]

when should we start signing with dd? she's only 6 days old

[Rannensmom]

Most children don't have the dexterity to start signing back to you until around 8 months, but some can do signs like "milk" around 6. I started with DD around 5 months, because they understand you long before they start producing signs themselves, so really it's up to your personal preference

[ForCryingOutLoud]

We started signing around 5-6 months with ds. He picked up milk very fast.

[courtney_adkins05]

i have a friend who teaches baby signs and she says start around 7 months. i started when i noticed that dd could pay attention to my hand. that was about 8 months for dd1 and 5 months for dd2.

[jillianh]

thank you :) i just didn't know when to start. i was thinking 6 months start working on signing and all that. you ladies seriously rock

[bfoster2000]

We started signing to James from the time he was born. Mostly milk, sleep, etc. and we'd just do the sign at the same time we said the word. DJ is 2 years older and still loved to sign so that helped too. We were still signing quite a bit with him (even though he was talking non-stop!) so James was exposed to it from the start. We started trying to be really consistent about it around 6 months. He started signing milk about 7.5 months and picked up other signs after that. They do understand the sign long before they're able to repeat it. It will be easier for you if you start from the beginning so that you're used to it and you have time to learn more signs before he starts learning faster than you can keep up!

[ferrferr]

The book I have says that a general rule of thumb is when they drop a toy and look to see where it went then they're ready for you to start signing to them. :goodvibes:

[OrganicMom]

My older daughter likes signing and I noticed that our little one started to take notice around 4-5 months. She's now 8 months and LOVES it when we sign to her and she even tries to do them too (she does a couple quite well).

[Bridym]

I started at about 6 months with my dd and she cought on very well. She always tells me when she is pooping now, lol we of course fnd it very cute.
I did start putting her on the potty when she gives me the sign but she seems to get distracked and never actualy poops until I put her diaper back on her.
I have also just started signing pee, so hopfully she will tell me when she is peeing.
She also does milk, all done, cup, and more. But she also is talking a fair bit more now and usualy talks instead of using the signs when she can say the words.

[kalynn]

Baby and I took a class @ 6mo. and she started signing @ begining of 9th month. First sign was "good Job" and second was "milk" then many followed.

The best series I have seen for children/babies is Signing Time....I know you can get it @ amazon.

[Kris5135]

I started signing to my son when he was only a couple of months. I wasn't expecting anything out of HIM that early, I just wanted it to be a habit for ME by the time he would notice it. He signed his first sign at 8 months, but understood earlier (would go nuts when I would sign milk). I agree with the other person that said Signing Times was great, though my son didn't watch any tv until he was over a year. As soon as he watched it he learned new signs every day.

[shutterbugmom]

Most children don't have the dexterity to start signing back to you until around 8 months, but some can do signs like "milk" around 6. I started with DD around 5 months, because they understand you long before they start producing signs themselves, so really it's up to your personal preference

Yep. :)

And if you don't know about them already, Signing Time videos ROCK!! :thumbsup: ( www.signingtime.com )