Kids

5 Reasons Why Teaching Babies Sign Language Helps

by Kevyn Gohu
January 12, 2022

While we moms can tell what they want from their cries, other people don’t which is why teaching our babies sign language ought to help.

As moms, we can recognize our kids’ and babies’ needs and cries from miles away. Even the slightest change of pitch makes us more aware of what our babies need. But at times, we’re too tired to figure out which cry is, hence the creation of baby sign language. It does more than just help us avoid frustration because of miscommunication. There’s a variety of benefits that baby sign language offers to us parents.

1. Baby sign language gives us more bonding moments with our babies

We love our babies and during those times with them, there are learning opportunities to be found. The more we bond with our babies, the more we develop their communication skills not just with us but with other people too. We are our babies’ first conversation partner and they’re bound to pick up a few things from us as we communicate with them. So, why not teach them sign language? It’s fun especially when you both start developing your own signs for specific things.

2. It helps other people care for the baby

If you’re a mompreneur or a working mom, there will be times you won’t be able to attend to your baby. So, it’ll be daddy to the rescue. Daddy will need a guide to figure out what his baby’s saying so, sign language will make it easier especially if there’s a guide. Since crying sounds might not be dad’s forte, teaching our babies sign language might give dad an easier time in responding and addressing our baby’s needs.

3. Baby sign language improves our babies’ motor skills

We usually do the “close-open” activity to improve our babies’ motor skills. But what if we want them to learn more movements? Baby sign language doesn’t just rely on hands but also finger movement, a micromotor skill. When our babies grow, we want them also to have better control over their hands and fingers so they don’t go around breaking things during their exploratory phase.

4. It helps cope with possible speech delays

It’s heartbreaking for us to find out that our babies might have speech delays. So if they have difficulty speaking, sign language helps. It’ll build their confidence and also help them communicate with you, minus the frustration. Just like us, babies also get frustrated if their point doesn’t get across. They’ll wail, cry, and possibly throw a tantrum and it’s because they’re unaware of their own speech delay. So, it’ll definitely save you and your baby from the stress.

5. Builds a Secure Attachment with your baby

There are different attachment styles and the one everyone aims for is the Secure Attachment style. When our babies feel secure, they’ll feel okay even when they’re exploring around. They won’t feel that you’ve abandoned them and they develop this attachment style when you’re more responsive to them. Being responsive to them means you’ve built a communication system with them which is what baby sign language does!

Teaching and learning baby sign language helps our babies in so many ways!

Because it engages our babies to communicate with their bodies, it helps our babies understand actions, improve motor skills, and develop their communication skills. Baby sign language is like a precursor to dancing. Just like how dancing engages the brain and the body, sign language does too. Sign Grow‘s one of the few places where you can learn how to teach Sign Language to your babies. You can check them out on Instagram for more tips!