Back in August I wrote a blog post announcing the birth of my third child. It is hard to believe that six months (nearer seven actually!!!) have passed since then.

We’ve had a few ups and downs, mainly issues with her weight but fingers crossed, now that she is weaning she is gaining more weight. A week ago she was tested for Cystic Fibrosis, her heal prick test at birth didn’t show that she had it so we are hoping for another negative result.

I’d not really signed with her up until a few weeks ago when she started to wean (a week before she was six months on the advice of the paediatrician). There didn’t really seem a need to before this. She is breast fed so if she wants milk she just makes her way down my chest to  express her needs.

A sign that she is ready to sign back would be waving, after all, waving is a sign/gesture. She isn’t doing this yet. She sits in her high chair to eat her meals along with the rest of the family so it seemed like a good time to start signing to her.

We’ve been signing ‘all gone’, ‘food/eat’ and also ‘all gone’. Her brother (five and a half years old) and her sister (four years) are really enjoying signing with her. They keep asking if she knows what the signs mean. I explain that she probably doesn’t know yet but if we use them often enough then she will. I also remind them that they must say the word as well as signing it, we want signing to encourage preverbal communication not replace speech. Research has shown that baby signing does not discourage speech. The use of baby sign language has been proven to enhance language.

Useful Links:

Frequently asked questions about baby signing.

Is baby signing just a craze?

Sign and Sign, Tinytalk, British Sign Language, Makaton – what are these?

You’ll find pictures some images of toddlers signing on the Signing Experiences page.   We’d love to hear your comments, feel free to post a comment below or email us.   We are always looking for new photographs to add to our site.

It has been reported in the press today that parents have complained to the BBC about the new cBeebies presenter, Cerrie Burnell. Cerrie was born with one arm. According to some parents she should not be seen on television incase she frightens children. The full story can be found on the Daily Mail website.

My four year old daughter is a fan of cBeebies. So far she hasn’t mentioned that Cerrie has a disability. She also watches Something Special, which stars children with a range of disabilities. Children are far more accepting than adults.

Taken from DailyMail.co.uk:

Disability groups have fiercely defended her and the BBC.

John Knight, of charity Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: ‘Disabled people experience disadvantage and discrimination like this every day, largely through ignorance. This needs to change.

‘Understanding disability all comes down to familiarity. The bottom line is that seeing disabled people on television should be the norm, not the exception.’

What do you think? Leave your comments below.