Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk

by Linda Acredolo, Douglas Abrams, Susan Goodwyn

The bestselling parenting guide featured on "Oprah" and "Dateline" is revised and updated with new signs For every parent or caregiver who has struggled unsuccessfully to decode baby grunts and grabs, resulting in tearful frustration for both adult and child, there is Baby Signs. Based on 20 years of research, this one-of-a-kind classic shows you how to encourage your baby's use of nonverbal gestures to enhance communication. Simple hand movements signify objects, events, and needs, so your infant can enjoy interactions with you that otherwise would have been impossible until they could talk. New features of this revised edition include helpful tips on incorporating Baby Signs into the day care setting and more than 50 additional illustrated Baby Signs.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Language, Education, Self Help

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally I was really annoyed with the trend of teaching babies sign language. Like parents need another thing to feel inadequate about. But for whatever reason I picked up this book at my public library, and learned about what started this craze. Originally teaching babies sign language was not about giving parents another way to compete with their gifted tots, but a tool to help parents understand the needs of their very young children who hadn't mastered spoken language yet. Basically, the researchers involved in the study Baby Signs are based on learned that older infants and young toddlers want to communicate, but lack the control of their vocal chords to do so with spoken language. Using simple signs (some based on American Sign Language, some simpler versions related to what the objects do or look like) babies can express basic needs, such as hunger, thirst, or a dirty diaper, and identify some of the things commonly in their world like dogs, cats, and other animals. The argument is that this is a parenting tool to aid communication and alleviate a lot of the fussiness common during the "Terrible Twos" which many parents will tell you often starts well before age two.

As a book, this is awfully repetitive and a little infomercial-ish, but the opening chapters discussing the reasons for developing baby signs and the research study done on it's effectiveness totally sold me and made me confident that I could take the signs included at the end of the book and immediately start using them with my son.

There are actually quite a few printable resources on the Baby Signs website, so parents might consider going there instead of paying for a book where the only part you really use is the signing dictionary.

My own son's on the young side of being ready for signs, but he loves dogs and loves when I do the sign for dog (sticking your tongue out and panting) because he also loves sticking his tongue out. I don't think he's quite figured out the connection yet, but he's watching and learning and I'm confident that in a month or two, he'll start signing back to me.

[Dee/ bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. Most of book (90%) is information on if signing is beneficial and if you should use your own signs or ASL signs.

[Herve Tunga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I will start working on this soon and check for myself its usefulness.

[Jordan Hatch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some useful information, however, all the information in it could have easily been distilled down to a long article.

[Liz Busby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone with a child should read this book before hopping on the baby sign wagon. This is the original book by the professors who "discovered" baby sign with their children. I like how it points out that baby sign is not about teaching a second language or continuing it for the rest of their lives. It's about relieving the frustration of a baby able to understand but unable to communicate back because their vocal muscle control isn't good enough. It's about building relationships so a child can ask for things instead of throwing tantrums. It's about helping your baby's brain get started in language patterns earlier, which impacts where they are later in life. According to the study these women set up, baby sign kids maintained an advantage of one grade level of IQ over peers.

I really love baby sign, and I say take it to the source.

[S. Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Nice introduction to the reasoning behind teaching baby signs--which I think everyone should read. Seems several people I spoke with just skipped to the dictionary at the back and then said they "didn't understand the fuss" my little guy knows "Milk" by heart now and will wiggle his fingers though he has not mastered the sign. I am feeling confident! Not sure I'll use 100% of the dictionary, but I like that I have it. I like that it is NOT ASL, because I'm not interested in teaching ASL to my child, just bridging the gap between my little guy comprehending language and him actually speaking language with confidence.

[Catalina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a great book to learn some baby signs from ASL, but you can skip to the appendix and just study the signs without having to read all the stories about the success of implementing signing with your children.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love baby signs! This was a reread after having my last baby- I first read this in 2002 and was sold once my daughter was using 50+ signs by 1 year old.

Her being able to communicate before she could speak was useful- SO much less frustration and tantrums, and also just amazing to be able to see what she was thinking. In the lampshade aisle at Target she did the sign for hat, and she would do the flower sign when I would give her broccoli, for example:) My son would also do the hurt sign by his ear around 8 months, so there was no question of why he was crying. I will forever be a promoter of this skill for babies!

This book (the most revised edition) is a short little read that explains the benefits of signs and how to use them. It also gives great additional resources, and has a useful sign example section at the back. You won’t regret using this book!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book to teach my 9 month old daughter signs back in 1998. She recently got her bachelor's degree in criminal justice after two years of college! She had a 4.0+ from fifth grade through twelfth grade and took all advanced classes in highschool. She picked up signs within two weeks, made up her own signs and was talking on full sentences by 1 ¹/2 years old... So, yeah, they work! It had just begun back then, and everyone criticized me and thought I was crazy to teach my baby signs. They ALL changed their minds after they saw her communicating!

[Sharon Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

You only need ch 4 and the appendices

This whole book is like a giant marketing pamphlet. Come on we are tired parents we don’t have time to read this much. Get to the signs and the tips in ch 4. If a person is interested in this book they probably have already done some research about baby signs! Basically it was constant swiping (I borrowed a digital book from the library) until I skimmed ch 4 and then studied the appendix which is where the actual signs are!

[CavyNomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was alright.
A good - if biased - introduction to the concept of baby signing.
I picked this up because I have studied Auslan and thought this would be a great framework for applying this to my infant.
It is American, and as such the signs in the book have their base in ASL.
But it is easy enough to pick your vocabulary of signs you want and replace any ASL ones with the Deaf language of your region. There's a lot of crossover with Deaf languages anyway.

[Jessalyn Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was longer than it should have been. But I did appreciate the research into the subject matter and the arguments for their findings. I had studied ASL at college and had always wanted to teach my children sign language as they grew up. I do wish this book had been more instructive with tips on HOW to teach babies this stuff, but there were some tips I will try.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book once it finally got into it. The first half of the book focused mainly on why signing is important and not until 40 something pages in does it show how to teach the signs. My daughter actually learned a couple of words already!

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides great information about the benefits of teaching sign language to babies and how to do it. However, it is definitely promoting the specific “Baby Sign” program, so keep that in mind.

[Danni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting a book on baby signs, not a book detailing why you should use baby sign. Waste of time.

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful researched-based, scholarly information on using signs with babies. Includes sign dictionary!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acredolo is an incredible writer and researcher. Baby Signs is the layperson's version of her ground-breaking research into how infants communicate.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be teaching the signs but it was more about transitioning from signing to speech.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I didn't really need a book to tell me it's a good idea, just do it. I know it's pointless until they are 6 months but I'm glad I read it now because it's a really hard habit to get into. I'm sure once they start signing back it will be much easier to add vocabulary.

[Shanti der Blätter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept which I will probably use, but I could have read a summary of the ideas in a blog post and gotten everything I needed out of it.

[Kelly Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a more robust introduction to baby sign language than a book I previously reviewed on this topic, Sign with Your Baby: How to Communicate with Infants Before They Can Speak.

I especially appreciated the easy-to-digest "Ten Steps to Success" in this book:

1. Start with just a few signs
2. Always use the baby sign and word together
3. Repeat the sign and word several times
4. Point to the object when possible
5. When necessary, gently guide your child's hands in making the sign
6. Make baby signing a regular part of your day
7. Watch for opportunities to model the signs
8. Be flexible and watch for your baby's own sign creations
9. Be patient!
10. Remember, make learning fun

However, the sign illustrations were much clearer and more detailed in Sign with Your Baby. But I'm finding the Baby Hands Productions video dictionary of signs more helpful than illustrations anyway.

One part of Baby Signs did not sit well with me, but it's just one paragraph out of the whole book. The authors recommend the "Baby Signs Video for Babies" as a way to teach babies more signs, then go on to say: "Of course, extensive video watching by very young children is not a good idea. However, chosen carefully, videos produced specifically for babies and toddlers can be beneficial." But they don't reference any research to support this claim. I've never come across any research indicating that TV watching by babies and toddlers has any lasting positive effects. In fact, I've read the opposite in Endangered Minds: Why Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to learn about what babies want to talk about.: Not just what they want to eat or whether their diaper is dirty, but also the things that they see in the world around them. It's also useful to teach babies about safety signs and ways to describe when they are sick, when something is too hot to touch, etc. One thing is that the book totally didn't mention was teaching politeness, etc. I think that baby sign language could also be a valuable way to teach children about please and thank you before they can talk.

I agree with other reviewers who think that this book is more about why you should use baby sign language rather than how you should teach it – although the authors claim that it's simple to introduce as a part of your everyday life and therefore doesn't need much tutorial into how to introduce it. We'll see whether that's true or not when my baby is old enough to try sign language.

However, I totally disagree with the reviewers who say that the book should teach American sign language rather than a babyfied version. The criticism is patently ridiculous. ASL is its own language. Parents are unlikely to be able to learn it, with all its grammar, vocabulary, and nuances, well enough to teach their children true ASL. Indeed, the goal isn't for children to be bilingual in English and ASL; it's for children to be able to communicate before they can form words with their mouths and vocal chords. Would these parents refuse to accept their children's communication if they said baba instead of bottle? Many of the signs in this book are taken from ASL, while others have been created or modified to be easy for children with immature coordination to make, and that are easy for parents and babies to remember. I can see how they would provide a valuable bridge between children with no means to communicate and spoken English.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is not a description for how horrible i thought this book was! I thought about buying from the library so that no one else would borrow it.

The authors of this book encourage parents to just make up any old thing as a sign, as long as you and your baby can understand each other. It describes the author's own homesigns, and they even include a dictionary in the back of the very limited signs they've made up... admittedly a few are actual ASL or signed english signs.

This is a bad thing because as a parent it's not all that hard to figure out what my baby wants. What I want is for my baby to learn to comminucate with others becides me. She needs to know how to let her babysitters know that she's hungry, or even communicate with other babies who can sign. It is actually easier to get a signing dictionary and look up the actual real sign and the two of you can learn that. Most ASL signs make sense. And it's a real language- what these authors have done is basically taken baby babble and turned it into an acceptable communication style. Would you let your baby continue to say "ba-ba-ga-ga" for apple? If you knew what she meant, you'd say "oh you want an apple. Here, have an APPLE." You should do the same with signing. You don't teach your household, babysitters and friends to say ba-ba-ga-ga instead of apple. that's outragious!

I couldn't believe what I was reading. Steer clear of this one!

[Shira and Ari Evergreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is awesome. It's full of clear instructions and useful diagrams and photos showing how to use symbolic gestures to communicate with your baby before your baby can use spoken language. This speeds spoken language acquisition, increases bonding between parent and child, builds self-esteem and self-confidence, and helps prevent a lot of frustration and stress.

It's not a very vegan-friendly book, but the authors appear to be sensitive to other issues and they encourage families to make up their own signs, so this didn't keep me from liking their message generally.

Baby Signs has an interesting relationship with ASL - it borrows some signs and replaces others with easier-to-make, more literally symbolic signs that the authors say will be easier for babies to learn and use. They view Baby Signs as a stepping stone toward spoken language and note that most children abandon their signs when they learn enough spoken words to use instead. I wonder if children would perhaps be better served by learning ASL, a second language that could be of lasting use.

Besides these quibbles I loved the book. Everyone should read it - we'd all have a lot more respect for babies and their abilities!

[Skylar Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I asked for this book years ago, back when my first child was a baby, because I wanted to try Baby Sign Language. The book was helpful in that it gave me some basics to work with, and my daughter was able to tell me, beginning at about nine months, when she wanted "more" or was "hungry" or wanted "milk." (I wish I had been more persistent in teaching more signs. I started a bit early and the lack of pay-off perhaps discouraged me, as this book warned it might. I'd suggest not starting until 9 or 10 months. On the other hand, I didn't bother at all with signs for my second child, and he spoke more clearly sooner.)

Though it provides some basic help, most of the book reads like an infomercial, complete with testimonials and much redundant information. If you're picking up this book, you probably have already decided to try signing and you probably don't need to be convinced.

More time spent illustrating the signs (with multiple pictures for a single sign) and the inclusion of more signs (where's balloon, for instance?) would have helped. I also would have liked to have seen the ASL signs for each word, in addition to the baby signs. ASL signs are given for only about half the words--the rest are invented baby signs.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This idea intrigued me because I loved how it allowed us to communicate (aside from basic gestures and body language) with our baby before she could talk. So, I read this book to learn how to do it.
Rachel (our first child) learned over 70 signs and I believe they helped her learn to talk faster because she loved to communicate with us. She is 2 years old now and speaks in complete sentences. Her signing started to fizzle out around 18 months because by that time she could pretty much say all these words so she didn't need the signs anymore.) However, we know she still remembers them because we asked her if she wants to help Michael (our 5 month old) learn Baby Signs so he can "talk" to us and she was happy to jump on board. As we've watched her sign to her brother, it's evident that she hasn't forgotten those first "words" she learned so long ago.

[Heather Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got this book when our daughter was 7 months. She started signing by 8 months ! It was so neat to be able to communicate ideas like "more" "sleep" "sad" "again" and even later, "more milk" "More Juice" (she would sign MORE but say JU) and eventually, at 11 months to 1 yr, bigger concepts like "light" -in fact one day she kept signing "light" and I thought she was just fascinated with them, and then looked up and realized she was trying to tell me that one of the light bulbs in our 5-bulb dining room light was out! The book was easy to read and follow and go at our own pace. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to sign with their baby as a companion to teaching them to talk (as soon as she had enough words, the signs stopped - around 18 months, but we loved that we had the signs when we most needed them!)

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before your Baby Can Talk is a book, by three authors Linda Acredolo, Douglas Abrams,and Susan Goodwin , for parents and caregivers. I re-read this book when it was returned to me two years after I loaned it to a young couple trying to cope with their frustrations.

A lot of the author’s suggestions have wonderfully proven results in baby communications. And on top of that, many tricks to put early smiles on even very new baby’s faces. Parents and grandparents or any other children, brothers and sisters can learn these techniques and also give and receive smiles.

I have delivered hundreds of babies, and have been suggesting to parents in their first baby office visits to check this book out. It’s in my new child instruction sheets.

I highly recommended book to anyone interfacing with little people.

[Charity · Rating 2 out of 5]

The authors in this book encourage parents to work with their children and make up their own signs. This might be an effective approach for some families, but it wasn't for us. For one, I could never remember the signs we made up. Having set ASL signs helped give me a reference to remind me what I was teaching my daughter so I could be consistent. Also, my daughter has signing cousins and it was important to me that she learn actual ASL signs so she could communicate with them (in baby talk, of course). I loved signing with my daughter, but this book wasn't the right approach for my family. I preferred Sign with Your Baby, by Joseph Garcia.

[gone-plaid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super basic content. I'd recommend this book if you already haven't done preliminary research on benefits/details of signing with your child, if you haven't decided to do it but are considering it, or if you buy the physical book so you have the free DVD and baby-signing dictionary to use tangibly.

Otherwise helpful. I appreciated the tips specific to potty training, and the list of first words to use that are easiest/most important which we've already started doing.

Not bad, but not the best. It just kept repeating the same few things in each chapter. Was super easy to breeze through in a couple hours.