5 Reasons You Should Teach Your Baby Sign Language

You've probably heard the saying, "Kids are like sponges." And it's true, kids absorb everything in their early years as they learn how to interact with the world around them.

Babies specifically are particularly amazing, as they absorb information rapidly and very differently from adults. Maria Montesorri referred to this as "the absorbent mind." She says it would take adults 60 years of hard learning to achieve what babies do in their first three years.

So even though it may seem like babies don't understand or remember much from their early years, this is when your child is going through both unconscious and conscious development, as they observe their environments. By the age of five, 85% of a child's core brain structure is fully developed, on which they will now build a foundation for the rest of their lives.

As you can imagine, it's important to communicate with your child from day one, whatever stage of development they're at. Engaging in baby sign language is the first step to communicating with your child, and there are so many benefits to teaching this skill early on. 

Here are five reasons you should teach your child baby sign language:

1) Reduces Frustration & Builds Trust

Whether you're a parent yet or not, we've all been in the room when the baby is screaming and no one knows why. You can imagine how frustrated that child must feel when they don't understand how to effectively communicate what they want and how anxious that parent is trying to help their baby but not knowing how.

Teaching baby sign language is a great way to reduce this frustration, by giving them the means to communicate. By doing so, you build trust in your relationship by giving them the power to express themselves.

2) Strengthens The Parent-Infant Bond

This newfound trust allows you to strengthen the relationship between you and your baby. By teaching them how to communicate, you can share your world with them and they can share their world with you. Day-to-day activities, family outings, trips to the zoo or visits to the park — everything you do can now be communicated with simple signs expressing you and your baby's feelings about them. With a new way to connect, you ultimately become closer and more connected with your child.

3) Promotes Positive Emotional Development

With this new skill under their belt (or should we say onesie), children show positive emotional development going forward. Absorbing and comprehending these new signs and the meaning behind them helps to boost their self-confidence, allowing babies to be more outgoing and try new things with positive reinforcement. 

4) Helps Babies Learn To Speak

Despite a common myth saying otherwise, teaching babies sign language is a great way to help them learn how to speak earlier than children who don't. Since your baby will understand the benefits of communicating, they are able to grasp the concept of speech more quickly and translate the same conversations from signs to words over time. 

5) Jumpstarts Intellectual Development

Finally, teaching sign language reveals how smart babies truly are. As they absorb the ins and outs of communication at such a young age, their brains understand how to learn very early on. This allows them to excel at other tasks much quicker, as their brain has mastered one skill already.

These five benefits (and many, many more) are why I help parents just like you learn to communicate with your baby using proven tactics that are age-appropriate.

As a foster mama and fellow parent of three, I know how hard it is to keep up with the new studies, trending how-tos, toy recalls, what NOT to do parenting blogs…

That's why I took the time to research these topics, get certified and offer them in a fun, interactive class.

Learning baby sign language can be a fun, enjoyable experience for you to do together, instead of another "to-do" on your never-ending list. Check out my free baby sign language workshop here.