Benefits of Signing with Children

Some of you have asked me if Signing with babies will prevent them from learning how to speak.

Here's the FAQ I've taken from their website. I hope it clears your concerns.

Personally, Sarah started talking very early. With Baby Signing, I found that Sarah had an extra avenue to express her needs. There are some words toddlers just can't say so easily like "Shoes". With signing, she tells us very easily when she wants to go outside to play by signing for her shoes. It has prevented many temper outbreaks in this case. Even for words she can say like "Milk", she would emphasize her point by adding sign language to her words.

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Many people have sent us questions regarding our video and the learning of American Sign Language (ASL). Rachel Coleman, one of the mothers behind the creation of Signing Time, understands these concerns and questions.

Rachel has a daughter, Leah, who is Deaf. Rachel had to research and learn the answers for herself as she taught her daughter. Rachel's sister Emilie is also teaching her hearing children how to sign - with remarkable results. Both of these mothers' research and experiences demonstrate that all children can benefit from the learning of ASL, whether they can hear or whether they are Deaf. Rachel feels very strongly about the need to teach children everywhere to sign and shares her knowledge and experience with you here.

How early can I start to sign with my child?

Start signing now! You can sign "milk" to your newborn when it's time to nurse or time for a bottle. Sign "sleep" at nap and bedtimes. Take your baby's hands and help them sign "more" in-between each spoonful. This will help integrate signs into your daily routine. Soon the repetition and reinforcement will occur naturally as your infant grows. It will also help your infant realize that crying is not the only way of communicating.

My child is already talking. Why should they learn ASL?

Learning a second language is fun and has many developmental benefits. ASL stimulates learning through different senses. Sign language is a blessing for children that are "visual", "spatial" or "tactile learners." Learning a second language raises your child's IQ. One in ten Americans have some degree of hearing loss. Knowing a few signs can give your child the confidence to engage and interact with a deaf child rather than both children feeling awkward and helpless.

Will learning signs delay my child's speech?

Many parents fear that signing will delay or further delay speech. Our experience has been the opposite. If your goal is communication, then signing will meet that communication need much earlier than speech. "When we found out Leah was deaf, many people warned us to be careful with signing. They said, 'If she gets too comfortable signing, she will never speak.' Their intentions were good, but they were absolutely wrong. Luckily, we first gave Leah a complete language in signs, only then was she able to take time to work on the skill of labeling those signs through her speech. English is a language. American Sign Language is a language. Spanish is a language. But speech, it is a skill...and Leah is a little chatterbox!"

I don't have time to learn and teach my child sign.

Parenting can be very overwhelming because there never seems to be enough time. This is why we created Signing Time-it does the work for you!

Do I have to become fluent in ASL?

No, you don't. We are providing parenting tools for communication through the use of ASL. I think you will be surprised how useful it is to learn even a few signs. The Signing Time series teaches more than 75 signs and exposes you to over a hundred.

If fluency is your goal, ASL, like any second language, takes time and practice. (I have been signing for 8 years and I'm still learning) Surrounding yourself with others that are fluent will really boost your skills and your confidence.

If you are interested in learning more, check out your Community Education Programs and Community Center for the Deaf. Many Jr. High Schools, High Schools, Community Colleges and Universities now include ASL in their curriculum. There are sign language interpreting programs all across the country.

Why do you use ASL and not made up signs?

Since you are going to take the time to teach and reinforce signs, it makes sense to use signs that are part of a living language that have meaning to the hundreds of thousands of ASL users. Additionally, your child's caregivers (Doctors, preschools, daycare centers, and elementary schools) are far more likely to use ASL than to try and learn individual "made up" signs for each child for whom they care.

Hearing children that start out as "baby signers" can comfortably transition into communication with deaf children and adults, and take advantage of other ASL materials (videos, ASL playgroups, etc...). They have also laid a foundation for the study of ASL as a second language later in their academic careers. All of this is possible, by simply using ASL signs instead of made up signs.

And finally, many of our Deaf customers have pointed out that made up signs run the risk of actually "saying" something unintended in ASL, leading to potentially humorous if not embarrassing situations.

My child does not do the signs correctly. Is that okay?

Most children adapt signs to whatever they are physically able to do. As their fine motor skills develop further, their signs will also develop. This is very similar to the pattern in speech development; "Da-da" suddenly becomes "Daddy" or "Dad" or in Leah's case, "Aaron!" (LOL)

How soon will my child start to sign?

It really depends on when you start. If you start signing with your newborn, they may not reciprocate until 8-14 months old. If you start with your 2 year old, they may respond immediately or it may take a couple of months. If your child has physical, mental or developmental delays, take that into consideration. My daughter Lucy had no words and no signs and showed no interest in communication for two long years. Her doctors did not expect that to change. We didn't give up, we continued exposing her to sign and speech, and suddenly she had a language explosion in speech AND sign!

My child can hear. Why should they learn American Sign Language (ASL)?

Most children are not developmentally ready to speak until approximately 2 years of age. Babies are developmentally able to communicate with signs much earlier than that. Some studies indicate children as young as 5- 6 months of age can communicate with limited signs. The inability to communicate causes frustration and tantrums. Sign language is a wonderful tool that allows even very small children to express themselves. Most parents that sign with their babies talk about an unexplainable bond that is felt when their child communicates so early!

I have heard that signing helps with tantrums and "The Terrible Two's".

Many tantrums and the "Terrible Two's" are about frustration and communication. There is less frustration when your child can communicate. The typical child's motor skills develop far faster than their verbal skills.

My children are older than 5 years of age, is that too old for Signing Time?

Children of all ages love "Signing Time." Sign language is a valuable tool at any age! Your 5 year-old will quickly learn all of the signs AND they will pick up the additional signs that we show off in the songs too! Many older children love the idea of sign language as their "secret language." Not to mention it is a real language used by millions of Americans, including Leah!

What research exists about the benefits of using sign language with hearing children?

In a word, lots. Please download our summary of the latest research by clicking here.

BABY SIGNING TIME WITH SARAH


Actually, I had long wanted to teach sarah how to use sign language. As a newmom-to-be, I read in many books when I was pregnant about the benefits of teaching baby sign language to reduce their temper tantrums and frustrations. So when Sarah was born I was quite determined to teach her baby signining.

I went to many book stores to find books on signing for babies but what i saw was many books with only static drawings of the signs on the pages. There were no supporting videos or VCDs to guide the parents. It was because of this that I hesitated to buy the books and resorted to searching the internet. There were 1 or 2 sites that shared a simple video on the correct baby signs. But what I found was that Sarah didn't quite get the idea and didn't respond to it.

When Sarah was abt 13 months old, I read a blog by a Singaporean mom on multiply about how her 10mth old baby started to sign to her. I quickly sourced for it and managed to get my hands on the DVD gift set for S$99! A bit pricey but I thought heck lar, just try lor.

When I finally received it, it came with 2 DVDs and 2 accompanying CDs to play in the car. I played it for Sarah and eagerly awaited for a miracle to happen...and true enough, voila! Within 1 week of watching it, Sarah started baby signing for things : Dog, cat, eat, drink, milk etc. By now, 2 months later, she can sign majority of the things on the DVD. She loved the visuals and the music so much she watched it almost everyday till now. Truth be told, I enjoyed watching it too...very catchy tunes and graphics.

When she's fussy in the car or early in the morning, I play the Baby Signing CDs (coz I don't agree with too much tv in the day) and she's calm. haha! I wish I had found it sooner. Thanks to the mommy on multiply that inspired me! My mother -in-law is very impressed and says that sarah communicates better now (coz she always signs Shoes to Grandma to tell her to bring her out to the garden).

She still has her temper tantrums but at least now for most of the things she needs, she can sign for it.

So this is a MUST have if you want to communicate and develop a better bond with your baby.

I am a firm believer of communication with babies and Signing Times has done a great job with bridging that for me. Many of my colleagues that visit sarah at our place usually get a "free show" of the signs she can do. Her proud grandma never fails to show our visitors how Sarah can communicate with sign language.

Before this, I tried to learn on the web and teach it to her myself. Well, nothing came out of it for 13mths and I just gave up coz she started to talk pretty fast. To my surprise, it simply took the DVD 1 week to teach what I tried teaching her for 13 mths! Amazing stuff.

So don't waste time doing it the hard way...and believe me, there is a better way to communicate with your darling baby.

By the way, the lady who started it, started this project with just a simple vision in mind. Through sheer determination and hard work, this simple project became a hit in the US and has started a new language revolution! Really amazing lady..do read the story of how this lady overcame a family challenge, turned into an entrepreneur with just a simple vision and by charging USD25,000 on her credit cards became successful as a result! You Go Gal! By the way, all the songs are actually written and sung by this entrepreneurial lady!

I'm really so inspired by her! She is one of 3 mothers given the Entrepreneur Mom Award 2007 by Working Mother Magazine for moms who've turned their unique ideas into businesses that make a real difference in their communities, across the country and worldwide. The full article here:

http://vebranch.rgisolutions.com/web;jsessionid=BCCA597FF63D50CC457105E70595DA16.tomcat1?service=direct/1/ViewArticlePage/dlinkFullArticle&sp=254&sp=93

For those who want to know the story of baby signing times, here's the link http://www.signingtime.com/article_info.php?articles_id=2&osCsid=1b606c85b3ffd0e0186cdc7631546fb9

I'm organising a bulk purchase for parents keen on this. For those keen to join in for Baby Signing Malaysia/Singapore, please contact me at eileentan.rm@gmail.com

THE REWARDS FOR CONSISTENCY WITH BABY

Sarah is almost 16mths old and for the past 1mth and a half, she had a home babysitter taking care of her.

Just today, her babysitter came to tell me about how cute Sarah was the other night before she went to bed. She said that Sarah was dozing off while drinking from her milk bottle as she was too tired from the day's activities. The interesting thing was that Sarah would wake up to drink some more before dozing off again. This happened a few more times until she had finished up all her milk, passed the bottle to her babysitter then promptly rolled over to sleep!

Her babysitter says that she will always finish her milk before passing it over to her.

As I think back on how she developed this good habit, I remembered the things I did when she was a little baby.

Every time I made her milk bottle, I would tell her that she needs to finish it up and not waste it. When she stopped or refused to drink anymore and wanted to play instead, I would wait about 5 minutes for her and then offer her the milk bottle again. Most of the time she would drink it and then stop to play again. I would repeat this process until she finished her milk. Of coz there were times when I had made just too much milk for her. On such occasions I allowed her to finish what she could. Then I would be the wiser and make the right quantity for her at those times. By drumming into her the concept of finishing her milk and consistently ensuring it has resulted- in my opinion- this good habit now of finishing her milk (all 8-9 ounces of it) before moving on to anything else.

Similarly for the habit of keeping her toys before moving on to other things. Some people felt that I was too strict when I started enforcing the rule of keeping her toys before doing something else at about 10-11 months old. At that time, she had learnt the concept of "put back" and was quite good at it.

What I did was this: Once she finished playing with her toys, I would tell her," Ok now it is time to put back. Come, Mommy will help you put back. We must always put things back where they belong, ok?" I would then put the pieces into her hands and guide her hand to put it back in the box. She would put one in and I would put one in. It took a long time but I made cleaning up another activity. As she got more adept at putting things back, I let her do it herself and I would instruct her to put her toys back first before doing other things. Sometimes to reinforce the instruction, I would point to the toy in question and say "Put back" and point to the place it should go to.

There are times when playful Sarah decides to push her limits and see whether mommy really enforces it. She would scuttle off somewhere and conveniently leave her flash cards everywhere on the floor. Now most of the time, her grandma and aunt would keep for her, but when I am around, she would not be able to escape. So I would walk over to her and remind her that she has to "put back" her toys first. I would then hold her hand and bring her back to the messy place and say "mommy help you, we keep together ok?" Even if it is just 1 card she keeps, it is a positive step and I encourage her with a "great job Sarah!"

Now, when she plays, she will keep her toys herself. On playful days, I need only to remind her to put back or close the door and she will do it. On really naughty days, I will use my angry voice and put the toy in her hand and guide her firmly to keeping it. She will whine and complain but she gets the idea.

So parents, consistency is the key! Even if you are in a rush for time, having baby keep just 1 card while you keep the rest is considered a job well done.

The Hoedown on Breastfeeding

Okay, this subject is really something. Boy do I have tons to say abt it!

Why do I talk abt it only now? Coz I have been at it for the past 4 months plus and I have defied every “logic” known to the older generation. I think I have earned the right to put wrong everything that IS wrong and save the rest of the ladies who are abt to face what I faced. I hope through my blogs on newmomexpress, other new moms who may be facing what I too faced get solutions and consolation.

You see, I’m one of those really petite, cute looking (some say gorgeous, haha!) lady that proudly defies the laws of gravity (if you get my point ;P)

When you are pregnant, one of those conversations that inadvertently pops up is “Are you planning to breastfeed?” A somewhat innocent question with a less than innocent look to the un-endowed section of my chest.

“Yes”, I say proudly.

“I don’t think you’ll have enough”, was one reply I got from a very senior and important member of my household, eyes resting but just a second on the subject of conversation.

Ok, I think to myself. Never mind. Different generation. Different mindset. Different info. Little do people know that I had been at that time, extensively researching on breast feeding, what works and what doesn’t.

Never in my life did I imagine that breastfeeding is as contentious a topic as religion! I told myself that the only way I can know for sure who has the right info is when my baby grows well and good with only breast milk for food.

So out my baby came on Feb 3, 2006 and hence started my journey. But first, I must say a big thanks to Mt Alvernia hospital nurses for being so encouraging on breastfeeding. The help given by the lactation specialist was so reassuring. She was the first one to tell me that my feeding machinery was doing good in its production despite the many concerned looks and questions I got abt the supply.

Let me share this with you:

Fact No.1 :Breast milk is made from the simple demand and supply concept.

Milk doesn’t just come in on the first day for everyone, esp first time moms. That’s why you need to have the baby suckle on demand and not interfere with the natural process by supplementing it with other milk or water.

Fact No.2: Babies don’t need milk for survival during the first few days of life.

In fact, they have enough reserves to last them for 1 week. So relax, our bodies have more than enough time to respond to baby. Nature’s way of preserving life.

For my baby, coz she was slightly jaundiced, I decided with doc’s advice to supplement her with 1 oz of glucose water until her jaundice cleared. Thank goodness that was only for 2 days….didn’t interfere much with dd and ss.

But back at home, another saga continued.

“Her stomach so flat, not enough milk for her.”
“ She’s hungry again, your milk not enough.”
“Better supplement with other milk”
“Got enough milk or not? You better supplement for baby’s sake.”
“You not engorged? That means not enough milk. Better supplement.”
“ What? So little milk expressed?!”
(As I am writing this, my eyes are rolling and my head is shaking)

Imagine hearing this every day, almost endless within a day itself. Whether or not I was really inefficient or not, it almost drove me crazy! So off I trotted to Mt Alvernia again, 1 week after birth, for a checkup and to seek advice from the experts. Good news was that she was gaining weight and producing 8-10 wet nappies a day (ie she's getting enough milk out of me) but feeding her was hurting, very painful and she was hungry every hour…what was I doing wrong?

Thanks to Sister Kwan at the hospital, she refined the latch on technique and voila! Pain free! Now Sarah could go 2 hours before the next feed. I also found out that jaundiced babies were sleepier than usual so that explains the hourly feeding needed past midnight. Sarah would doze off before finishing her feed, only to wake up an hour later due to hunger. For visuals on proper latch-on, please visit Dr Newman's website http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=42

Kudos to my understanding husband too who would fend off these negative comments for me. Seriously speaking, post partum depression for me would have started from these comments if not for my husband’s support. Thanks dear!

I know the older generations are trying to be helpful and I appreciate that they are only showing concern in the only way they know how based on what they have seen and heard in the past.

My advice is really, dads must come in to stand by your wives. Comments like this don’t help the poor recuperating mother. Read up, be knowledgeable. Only then can you insist on the way and be respected for it. You have to know what you are talking about. I had to accept that the older generation was not educated in breastfeeding (heck many didn’t breastfeed to start or were successful in it for various reasons), thanks to many factors, one being the doctrine set in place by formula producing companies.

Even one of my best friends (in her late 30s) who successfully breastfed her 2 kids exclaimed “Wow, I’m impressed that you have so much milk for one so small-sized!” That’s when I realized that perhaps I should start sharing what I know and have learnt to all men and women around.

Now, the hottest new theory by the older folks is that I have longer human teats than other people that’s why I am more successful in feeding. Sigh! As much as I would like to avoid this topic on size, I hereby declare that my size is no larger or longer than anybody else’s! The good thing abt human teats is that it is very durable and flexible like plasticine. It can fit and shape according to the way the baby sucks. That’s why proper latch on is important if not you look like the African moms.

Another theory by a cousin is that skinny people have more milk as she has a skinny colleague who could breastfeed well. This really made me laugh. :) Amazing, the kind of conclusions people make from their observations.

Recently, a friend gave birth to her first child at a well known hospital in Singapore. The nurse told her that her milk was not enough (commented just within 2 days) and had to supplement with formula milk. What I would give to knock this nurse on her bloody head! It is because of un-informed people like this that deprives babies of the ideal food on earth! It is because of un-informed people like that that makes mothers feel inadequate, insecure and give up feeding. That being said, it is also the responsibility of the mother to DO YOUR HOMEWORK and decide what’s best for your baby.

As what I predicted, my friend couldn't continue with breastfeeding just a week into it as she says she didn't produce enough milk. Please remember the universal Fact No.1 supply and demand. If you are determined to breastfeed your baby, remember Fact No.1 and Fact No.2.

My cousin, who successfully breastfed her 2 children shared her story with me:
Her second child was not able to latch on and suck properly. From the improper latch resulted bleeding and cracked nipples. The baby kept crying as he couldn't get milk out. So determined she was to breastfeed and armed with the 2 Facts, she soldiered on with the pain and the crying. It was only at the end of 1 week did the baby finally learn how to latch on properly and start feeding. I salute her.

Perhaps the stubborn streak runs in my family. Perhaps we are just better informed. I believe the mindset is the most important. If you truly want to, you'll find the resources to assist you. Both my cousin and I were so determined to breastfeed our babies for their health's sake that we would do anything to ensure success.

You'd be surprised at the info available now on the internet alone. Gone are the days where information is limited and we could only believe what our doctors told us. If our mothers only knew what we know now, I'm sure they would breastfeed too.

I'll be honest, the choice to stubbornly hold on to breastfeeding came sacrifices. Firstly, everything evolved around her feeding schedule which was 2 hrs at the beginning and now 3hrs. So I could be off abt my business but had to be back within a 2-3hr window period or all hell would break loose at home. :)D .

As I could not master the art of pumping (which resulted in pink milk appearing by the end of a few attempts), I resorted to hand pumping when I needed to be away for longer hours. For those who have tried, you would know how tiring it is and how time consuming it is.

Breastfeeding in public would be okay if you were in locations that had feeding facilities for mothers. For that I would say that Singapore scores well in this aspect. Try that in Malaysia where there are no such feeding facilities in the shopping malls and even the few that have are so old, unkept and lack privacy. With breastfeeding goes your privacy out the window. You have to develop a thick skin to want to feed your baby anytime and anywhere. When hunger strikes, there's no stopping your baby especially if you have adopted the attachment parenting style instead of the cry-it out style.

I decided early on that I would walk the tough road; take the good with the bad; live with the sacrifices for the sake of Sarah. So apart from natural birthing and non-medication for my baby for her health’s sake, I hereby declare that I will endeavour to breastfeed as long as I can until Sarah is weaned onto solids.

As at now, my baby is approaching 18 weeks old and weighs slightly more than 5.6kg. Solely on breastmilk, thank you very much.

If I can breastfeed, so can you! Haha!