Laura Berg uses ASL (American Sign Language) as the basis for signing to her daughter Fireese (aged four) and son Hartford (seven weeks old). Although in UK we use BSL (British Sign Language) to sign to babies and adults, ASL uses similar principles and techniques to communicate via sign.

Laura Berg is currently 34 years old and lives in Toronto, Cananda. She has been signing with her little girl since she was four months old and has already begun with her son Hartford! MBM interviewed Laura to find out more upon Baby Sign and its benefits…

How did you find out about baby sign?

I first learned about baby sign language when I was a teacher and was researching ways of improving our school’s literacy program. I found a great research study that taught the students the manual alphabet to help them learn their spelling words and ultimately their reading skills. I continue my research down this field and found tons of articles on the benefits of signing with babies. This had always fascinated me.

Picture shows Laura and Fireese signing ‘milk’ 

What made you first try using sign language?

I saw the benefits it had with my students and found many positive articles on the use of sign language with babies that I always knew I would sign with my child when I had one. It just made sense to me. Many babies learn to wave bye-bye, raise their arms to be picked up and point to things they want. They want to communicate with you and are able to with the use of gestures so why not give them signs (or a real language) to use to communicate.

How old was your daughter when you began to use baby sign?

I started signing with my daughter when she was four months old. At six months I knew she was comprehending the signs I was making because occasionally I would test to see if she knew the sign without me saying the word. We always encourage parents to say the word when they make the sign but from time to time it’s okay to ‘test’ to see if they know the sign without the word. I would make the sign for ‘milk’ and she would react the same way she did when I said the word. When she was nine and a half months she finally made her first sign. By the time she was eleven months old her signs exploded!

How long after starting to teach a new sign to your children is it before they are likely to respond?

When I first started signing with my daughter it took a long time for her to learn the signs. However, once she was 11 months old she finally understood that everything has a sign and then it was very easy to teach her a new sign. I would only have to show her once or twice and she would then know the sign. It really depends on the baby and how consistent the parent is. Some babies sign back at six months and others not until over a year. The important thing when signing with babies is that you are consistent, always make the sign when you say the word and that you don’t give up!

Picture shows Fireese and Laura signing ‘finished’ 

How did it feel the first time you realised that your daughter was actually responding via baby sign?

I was so excited! I remember very clearly my ‘aha’ moment of why I was signing. My daughter was in her high chair and she was eating Cheerios and signing ‘more’. I’d give her more and she would throw them on the floor and sign ‘more’ again. I said to her, "Then you don’t want MORE… what do you want?" She looked at me and signed ‘more cheese’. I was amazed for two reasons, one, she put together a two word sentence at ten months. And two, there was no cheese in sight. I hadn’t offered her cheese during that snack time yet she was able to clearly communicate to me what she wanted. I could imagine how frustrated she would have been if she hadn’t been able to tell me what she wanted.

What were peoples reactions to you using baby sign when out and about?

People were mainly interested in her signing. They were amazed that a little baby could communicate such complex things. I remember a woman on an airplane one time who saw her signing asked why I was signing with her. I explained the benefits to her and she was amazed at how many signs my daughter knew at 11 months. She said she never knew that a child so young had so many thoughts about things. My daughter turned down a raison and told me she wanted a cracker instead all through sign and without fussing. The woman said that what was so amazing about that is that I knew want she wanted and there were no tears or anger from my daughter. This is very true; we have very few temper tantrums in my house because I always knew what my daughter wanted without having to play a guessing game.

How many signs have you made up yourself to fit in with items which do not have signs but that your daughter uses in everyday life?

I never made any signs up with her. I have very close Deaf friends and they would make fun of me if I made up signs For example, my daughter loved kiwi but kiwi is finger spelled. I would always fingerspell the word with her and when she tried signing it back she would just wiggle her fingers, it was very cute. However, I do tell parents if there is a word that doesn’t have a sign then they could always use the first letter. For example, the sign mango is finger spelled, I say to parents that they can use the letter m and say. “mango starts with m”.

What other activities do you do with your children which you feel is beneficial to them other than baby sign ?

I’m a big supporter of music classes. I’ve always taken Fireese to music classes, as I want her to have an appreciation and love for music. I’ve also always taken her to gymnastic and dance classes to burn some energy. I just like taking classes with her and spending time seeing her learn new things.

If you could give five tips on being a Mum what would they be?

1. Try to talk to your child at eye level whenever possible. I always try to kneel down and talk with her face to face. She tends to respond more (and listen better) when we are eye to eye.

2. When you are having a bad day and your patience is thin and your child is driving you crazy, count to five before responding to him her her… this way your response will be less angry and more the way you’d probably like to respond.

3. Read to your child whenever you can and try to engage them in the story. Ask them questions about the story as you go, children love to participate and answer questions.

4. Have a craft drawer or box. Children love doing crafts. My daughter loves to glue and tape things. She is happy just gluing one thing on another. I always have paper plates and tons of stuff from the dollar store like rocks and shells. I’ll sit her at the table with a paper plate and a bottle of glue and she’ll just glue rocks on the plate, she loves it. Crafts don’t have to be super creative.

5. Spend time with your spouse, go on a date once a month to reconnect. Don’t lose your couple hood in parenthood.

What do you find challenging about being a Mum?

1. The lack of adult conversation. I try to combat this by arranging play dates with other moms so I have someone to talk to during the day.

2. Discipline. I hate this part of being a parent. I now understand when my mom said, “this hurts me more than it does you.” I took my daughter’s story time away from her one night because she wasn’t listening to me and I felt terrible. She was so upset but I had to follow through with it because she needed to know that her behaviour wasn’t acceptable and there are consequences to her actions. I felt bad all night long. When she woke up she apologized to me for her behaviour and was totally fine.

3. Juggling being a mom and being Laura. It’s very easy to lose your identity as a mom!

What do you find rewarding/ positive about being a Mum?

1. I’m sure these answers are going to be corny but they’re true. The most rewarding thing is when my daughter tells me she loves me or my son looks at me and smiles a huge smile.

2. The pride I feel when my children reach a big milestone, like my daughter’s first day of school.

3. Having my relationship with my mother change. Both being mothers and being able to share the feeling of being a mom with one another.

Picture shows Laura and Fireese signing ‘eat’. 

If you were to give tips on how to begin baby sign what would they be?

Pick a few words to start off with and be consistent with them. You can sign as many signs as you want but it is more important to be consistent, which is why I only suggest a few. It will be easier for you to remember to sign a couple then a bunch. The signs ‘milk’, ‘more’ and ‘eat’ are good ones to start out with.

In the UK BSL is used rather than ASL, obviously they are still similar but what techniques or tips would you give to somebody wishing to start out?

Whatever you chose to use you’d go about signing with your baby in the same way. Pick a few signs and stick with it. Don’t give up and be consistent. I’ve never seen a baby not sign whose parents were consistent with the signing. Sometimes it’s easy to give up if they don’t sign back right away but don’t give up! They will eventually sign.

What age would you suggest starting baby sign?

You can start at any age really. Some people recommend starting between 6 and 9 months because the baby is more likely to sign back to you at this age. It’s really never too early or too late. Just keep in mind if you start at two months your child may not sign back until 10 months. If you are the type of person to give up if you don’t get a response from your child then you may want to wait until the 6 or 7-month mark.

Are there any signs which are best to start with?

Milk is always a great sign to start with because milk is such a huge part of a baby’s life. Then it’s really up to you. Some of the signs I suggest are the following; milk, more, finished, eat, mommy, daddy etc. You may also want to find a motivational sign to teach your child. If your child loves dogs then teach him the sign for dog. He will be motivated to learn this sign. If your child hates bananas then he will be less motivated learning that sign.

Anything else you’d like to add?

The one thing I always like to address is the myth that singing may hurt speech. I get this question often, it is probably the most common concern that people have surrounding signing with children. The answer to this is 100% no! There have been zero studies that have shown signing to hinder language. In fact, all of the studies on signing with children show that signing accelerates language in many cases. People confuse speech and language. A child who signs is using language, more language in fact than a non-signing child. Speech is the ability to form sounds to produce the language. Some children don’t develop the ability to speak until much later than other children. The reality is babies want to talk, they babble all the time. When they are able to talk, they will. It is not easier to sign than talk. It is much easier for a child to talk. However, when you don’t have that ability then signing is easier and a great bridge until speech does develop.

I think this concern came from a number of places. People not having full understanding of the language and are afraid that children will be lazy and depend on signing. I’ve always heard that someone has a friend of a friend whose child was signed to and they didn’t talk until they were 2. But the reality is that child wouldn’t have talked until they were two anyway. The one thing does not equal the other. I have a colleague who has two boys and they both didn’t talk until they were two. She said she wished she knew about signing when her boys were young because it would have reduced a lot of frustration in her household.

Imagine, you have two children and they both don’t talk until they are two. You sign with the first child and not with the second. The first child is able to easily communicate with you and use 50 plus words easily, all while building more and more vocabulary until the age of two. The second child is only able to use pointing and sounds to let you know what he wants. When both children start talking at two, who did you think would have the larger vocabulary? Obviously the child who was signed to because he’s used language in a more advanced way through his two years of life. Plus the adults around him are probably talking to him in more advanced sentences than the second child because we know that the child comprehends what we are saying.

Parents should have zero concern that signing would have any hindrance in their child’s language development.

Mums Baby Magazine would like to thank Laura for her time!