Why you should NOT teach your child SIGN LANGUAGE

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Teaching sign language to baby. It's all the rage these days. 

But is it really what's best for mom? baby? family? Forget the science. I'm going to share from my experience. And I'm here to tell you... DON'T. Do. It. 

From about 6 months on we were using sign language with Athena. At first, it didn't seem like she was interested at all. But, I kept at it and now she can say all sorts of words using her hands. Between her baby babble and her hand motions very early on it became fairly easy to understand what she wanted. And I believe she was less frustrated than she would otherwise have been, because she could communicate with us.

So that's good. Right....? 

Here she is signing please:

She's very good at that one. Especially when the please involves her favorite food or nursing... She can sign nurse. And nurse, and nurse and nurse....

But, then there's this... 

This was her signing "papa"... while eating... spaghetti! Yikes! 

So there you have it. That's why you SHOULDN'T teach your baby sign language. 

Of course, I'm completely joking. In fact, I was blown away with how much sign language really helped us communicate with Athena from such a young age. It helped us with practicing elimination communication and helped us to know when she not only wanted food but a certain food. It even helped us to understand when she was in pain.

Truly, using sign language with baby is amazing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. These are the tools I used courtesy of Monta Z. Briant. Be sure and check out her website - BabySignLanguage.net

Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers, New & Expanded Edition  by Monta Z. Briant is a wonderful book that is simple to follow and has more than enough vocabulary to get you started with 

The Baby Sign Language Flash Cards: A 50-Card Deck is also a great addition to your baby sign language library. Athena loved looking at these pictures, they are baby friendly. And even now we have fun getting them out and playing games with them.

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Did YOU/do you practice baby sign language? What do you think?