Back in May I posted after my daughter had her check with the health visitor. The health visitor had commented that her gross motor skills were a little immature.

About two weeks ago I was starting to become concerned about her, she did seem quite behind compared to how my other two children had been at her age.

Well blow me, all of a sudden she has come on leaps and bounds. She is full of beans, she doesn’t crawl but can roll the length of the room in seconds. Since she started to sign ‘bird’, she signs it continually. She obviously knows that by signing she can start a conversation. She will babble away then sign ‘bird’. She has also signed ‘dog’ a few times and is making attempts at signing ‘fish’. Her Grandparents have a dog called Casper. Last week we were in the front garden when a dog very similar to Casper came past with its owner. I signed ‘dog’ and mentioned it being like Casper, she copied the sign.

We have four pet fish that she loves to watch. I’ve been signing ‘fish’ to her. A couple of times she has done a little wave type gesture, I think this is her trying to sign ‘fish’.

My other two children signed ‘milk’ when they were about seven months, the sign for ‘eat’ followed soon after. M hasn’t attempted these signs despite me using them in context daily.

This morning we were in Asda, she sat is the trolley seat while I pushed her and handed her blueberries. After she ate each blueberry I signed ‘more’, at the same time asking her if she wanted more. She didn’t try to copy the sign but was vocal to let me know that she did want more.

Often people have concerns that by using signs with their baby they will delay their speech. My daughter is extremely vocal and is using recognisable sounds for things like bird, breakfast, bib, spoon, etc. I called her name this morning and she appeared to try to copy what I had said.

 

Chelltune, the Baby Signing Store has been recommended by Mumsjustlove.com.

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Anne, creator of the Calin Bleu sling shares her experience of baby signing: ‘I’m passionate about baby signing. Our children are brought up bilingual so we thought they might speak late and signing would help. We started using signs with our daughter when she was 6 months old. It took her a while to respond but when she started, the floodgates open. I realised she could understand quite complex things. We were away for the weekend when she was about 10 months old. I said to her we were getting ready to get on the plane, and signed plane. She started screaming with joy and signed ‘Home’ back to me and waived bye bye to everyone straight away. I was amazed that she had linked the concepts of plane/home/bye so quickly! I would have had no idea of what was going on in her little head if it were not for her ability to sign. She outgrew the signs when as her speech developed but we still use some signs. If we’re in a group and she does something she’s not supposed to do, I can quietly sign No or Danger in the distance and she knows to stop straight away without having to make a fuss or disrupt the group.

Now that her little brother is here, she’s started using signs again with him. She remembers them very well (the Sing and Sign DVD and a couple of books came in handy to refresh our memories!)

Our little guy is nearly 2 year old now and not really talking, his ability to sign really helps. Instead of using the standard makaton signs, he’s made up his own for his favourite words. He will sign hat (putting his hand on his head) to say that he wants to go out, his favourite activity!’

Over on Anne’s website, Calin Bleu, she is running a Father’s Day competition.  Share you stories and photos of Dads baby wearing.  The photo can be of Dads wearing any type of sling.   Three lucky winners (chosen at random) will receive a sling of their choice.

Last week I thought my daughter had signed milk for the first time. I don’t think it was a sign as she hasn’t done it since!

I’d started to sign ‘bird’ to her recently. I hate to see food going to waste so whenever I clear the table/floor after meals any left over bits of bread are thrown to the birds. Our garden is always full of blackbirds, sparrows and pigeons. Mara will often sit by the window in her chair watching the birds. This afternoon I left her in the high chair by the window while I went to get a cloth. I came back to find her very excited, pointing her right index finger and shouting. She was making a ‘b’ sound.

After last weeks false start I was reluctant to believe that she was signing bird. Later on I talked to her about the birds and sure enough, she said ‘b’ and pointed excitedly. The correct sign for bird involves using your index and middle finger to open and close like the beak of a bird. Babies will often use their own simplified version of the sign before perfecting their hand shape. If you look at the baby signing photos on the main site, the second picture down shows a toddler signing aeroplane. Her sign for bird was very similar to that, I will try to get a photo of her tomorrow.

I’ve been signing away to my daughter for weeks now. Her Grandparents have been waving like mad to her each time they leave. She looks at her hand and moves it but doesn’t actual lift it to wave, she is obviously trying to work out what to do.

Since she hasn’t quite got the grasp of waving I wasn’t expecting her to sign just yet. I’ve just been stood ironing, she was sat in her bouncer chair. She appeared to sign milk (clenching and unclenching her fist). I signed milk to her while asking her if she would like some milk. She smiled and looked very proud of herself. I picked her up and she had a feed. I’m not 100% convinced that it was a sign, we’ll have to see if she signs it again.