My baby can sign!

A few months ago I wrote a post on teaching my baby to use sign language to communicate before his verbal skills had developed.  And, I am here to tell you has been a huge success! My youngest, Charlie, is now 16 months old and he communicates with us using his signs everyday. I am not sure how we would be coping without them right now. He has been unwell over the last week and this is where his sign language has especially helped. He has been able to ask me for a drink when he is thirsty, and is even able to specify if he would like milk or water. He can tell me when he is hungry, if he would like more to eat or drink or if he is finished. Charlie actively uses 6 signs so far, milk, water, more, finished, Daddy and apple.  Our whole family uses them to speak with him, including our 3 year old. In fact, she is by far the best at it!

We use them so often I sometimes find myself using them in adult conversation. (  and that can be a little weird...) Charlie is beginning to speak now and he is just adding the word to the sign, so this has not slowed him down at all. It is so wonderful being able to communicate with a toddler. I am quite sure it does alleviate some of the tantrums but certainly not all of them! It is incredibly exciting being able to see him totally understand what I am saying to him and he loves communicating back to us.

Should you teach your baby to sign?

When Lily (2) was only a few months old, I stumbled across this clip on youtube. The clip is of 1 year old Fireese and her Mum communicating with baby sign language. My mind was blown. Do you mean your baby can speak to you before they have language skills? This is Amazing. Why doesn't everyone do this? I had a LOT of questions ( as I always do).  What was this baby sign language?  How does a baby  learn to sign? And more importantly, how could I learn it?  I set off a quest to find out everything I could. I googled, watched & read anything related to baby signing. I asked all of my Mummy friends, have you heard of this baby sign language? I think most thought I had gone a bit nuts.  My baby is smart I thought, surely we could do this!  I taught myself a few signs and then set about teaching them to Lily.  She learnt one sign incredibly quickly and used it all the time (and still does 2 years later!). The sign was " finished". It was brilliant. She could tell me when she had had enough sleep or food. She could tell me when she wanted to get out of the bath or if she wanted to go home. Just with this one simple sign!  She started using it at about 18 months. Even though it was seriously cool to be able to understand her, and made life a lot easier, I was not committed to teaching her to sign, so she only ended up with the one.

However, I was determined to do it better next time. I researched the signs I wanted to introduce and taught 10 of them to Lily in a day! Those little toddlers are freaky sponges. She now helps me teach Charlie ( 9 months) the new signs every day. I have been using them with him for around 3  months, and he has learnt 2 so far. ( Daddy & More, such a boy)  He gets so excited when he uses them & can see that I understand him. It is an on going process and I will have to be committed to using them in my language with Charlie every day. But I know the reward is going to be worth it!   If you are interested & have a billion questions like I did, reading this article might help.

If you can teach your bub to clap and wave, then you have already started! All you need to do is make the sign every time you say the word and they will do the rest. Just be consistent and patient and it will happen. The first time your baby signs back to you will make it all worth it!

Should you teach your baby to sign? Well, that is entirely up to you. Babies can sign well before they can speak.  Research show's it has no hindrance on your child's verbal skills & I can tell you, Lily is a little chatter box!

Have you had any experience with Baby Sign Language? We would love to hear from you.

My Top 5 Baby Shower Gifts

As Baby Showers become more and more common I am often asked by other parents and non parents, what makes a great baby shower or newborn baby gift. Its a gift giving mine field out there! So I have put together a list of my 5 favorite guaranteed to please items. I know budgets can be tight, especially if you have a lot of friends having babies close together, as I do! I guess it is just that age, hey?  Here they are in order of budget, cheapest to most expensive.

1. Books! A baby can never have enough books & they start from as little as $5.  Any parent will love an addition to their newborns libary. It does not have to be a book suitable from birth, the baby will grow very quickly! Some of the classic's are A Very Hungry Caterpillar & Where The Wild Things Are. Any touch and feel board book will be fantastic too. A wonderful book for newborns is Mesmerised. You can find it here


Image from http://mesmerised.com.au/

2. Baby Clothes. Baby clothes are an incredibly popular gift and the range is staggering. My advice is to purchase your gift in size 00 and up. Mum will usually have an abundance of newborn items that the baby will never have a chance to wear as they grow too fast! Be careful of seasons, make sure you work out what size the baby will be in Summer or Winter etc. This did not occur to me with my first baby, and I had so many gorgeous summer dresses she couldn't wear in winter!
Basics are great, singlets, leggings & onesies. If you don't know the sex of the baby, keep the colours simple like whites and greys.  If you do know the sex you might like to give something a little more special like a pretty dress or jacket.

Image from www.naturebaby.com.au


3. Wraps & Blankets.  You can never have too many! I love Aden + Anais muslin wraps. They are huge and fantastic for swaddling a larger bub and proving shade in a pram.  The more you wash them, the softer they become. You can find them here. If you love the idea of wraps, but would prefer a budget option, I also love the Big W version. They do the same job and are great quality. You can find them here.

Image from http://www.adenandanais.com.au/


4. Cuddle Dry Towel.  This is an awesome and simple invention! It can be very difficult to bath a baby and remain dry yourself. Getting the baby out of the bath while holding the towel under your chin is almost a circus act. Introducing the Cuddle Dry Towel. It is designed to wear like an apron and once you have hold of bub, one swift snap and it is a regular towel again! This is the only towel I use for my youngest. It has stayed soft after so many washes and he is all snugly as soon as he gets out of the bath.

image from http://www.cuddledryshop.com.au/

5. Baby carrier.  This are certainly a high-end gift. If you want to give a group gift, this is a fabulous choice! There are so many carriers on the market at the moment. It will come down to personal choice, so maybe some input from the Mum to be, could be very useful on this one. Carriers are very diverse these days. Offering front carrying, side and back carrying. . Some are just used for newborn to 12 months, and others can be used for much longer.  My favorite is the Ergo Baby.. It can be used from newborn ( with the insert) right up to 18kg. Worn on front, side or back. Will usually fit Mum or Dad and can be very warm in the cooler climates. It is also considered better for the baby with bubs knee's being higher than his bottom.  The Ergo comes in SO many colour and style options it can be hard to choose.


Image from Google Images

I hope this list is useful to you in some way. What is your favorite baby gift to give or receive, leave a comment we would love to hear from you!

** this is NOT a sponsored post. These are all items I use and love.