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When speaking to your baby, face him. He needs to see and hear you to figure out how you’re making these sounds come together. Let him watch your face as you’re speaking, so he can observe how to move his mouth, lips and tongue. When you’re speaking, pronounce the words clearly.
Use basic, direct words and sentences. Use descriptive words, such as “Pick up the big, green box,” and “This milk is cold and delicious!” Make sure to use specific, accurate words, such as “This is a police officer,” and “You need to sit in your red car seat.”
Use emotion and excitement to emphasize new ideas: “Quick! Look at the butterfly on the flower!” and “How sweet! I love your kisses.”
Just as important as language skills is the unspoken language that babies develop with their caregivers. Babies have control over their hands long before they can speak, so by teaching your child baby sign language, he will be able to communicate with you using hand gestures. Do you think you don’t use sign language? Think again! You've probably already introduced your baby to signs without even realizing it.
These are all common signs that all babies pick up quickly. Teaching your baby signs to communicate can be that simple. Researchers say that babies who use sign language are less frustrated since they have a way of expressing their wants and needs. Simply put, they cry less.
But even more amazingly, babies who are taught a few simple signs are shown to speak earlier than non-signers, develop larger vocabularies and become better readers.
Teaching your baby to sign doesn’t need to be a complicated process. Try one gesture at a time, and follow the gesture with the example. For instance, put your fingers to your lips, just as though you were putting food in your mouth. This gesture can mean “eat,” so every time you use it, pick up a piece of food and give it to your child Soon, the connection will be made and your child will make that gesture when he wants a snack!
Other sign language gestures can include drinking, sleeping, becoming quiet, reading a book and brushing your hair.
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Babies learn to talk by watching and listening to others—especially their parents! So while you want to be sure you’re speaking with G-rated language, you should also be sure you’re speaking with fairly sophisticated words, too. After all, you want your baby’s vocabulary to be large!
