Communication is more than words

This video is too cute. It's a dog playing with a baby. How are they able to communicate without anybody saying any words, and what kept the dog engaged in the activity? Cause and effect and positive reinforcement. The dog ran around the coffee table and the baby laughed. The dog understood the laugh meant the baby liked it, so he/she did it again. The baby kept laughing so the dog kept going.

The requirements are similar for encouraging your baby to sign. First, cause and effect, and the more immediate and consistent, the better. When your baby signs MORE for example, you give them more. Just like the laugh kept the dog going, and the dog running around the table kept the baby laughing, your baby getting what they want more of will keep them signing.

Notice how the play was very short, once around the table, one big laugh. The baby didn't keep laughing, he stopped and waited for the dog to run around the table again. And the dog stopped and waited too. It didn't just kept running round and round the table. It was very percise and consistent. The same thing over and over again. That's what we need to do to when teaching and establishing the sign with our baby. That's why I suggest using small amounts of food your baby likes when teaching them how to sign MORE. Cheerios work well but it could also be a spoonful of food. Give them one spoonful then wait for the sign.

Sometimes when the baby does not do the sign spontaneously, we give up to soon. There's no reward for us so we stop trying. Same thing goes for your baby. If your baby signs MORE and you don't notice and give them more pretty quickly, they will give up trying or the lack of consistency will confuse them. So we have to really be paying attention to our baby's behavior, and we have to lead the activity, not follow. So after you give them a spoonful of food, wait for the sign. If they don't use the sign yet, try showing the sign to them while asking if they want more and see if they will imitate it. If that is not working yet, you can gently take their hands and help them make it. Then quickly give them another spoonful of food. And a clap or two and a cheer help too - the dog and baby sure seem to understood that! Then you keep doing that over and over until your baby starts getting tired or the jar of food is finished! How many times you have to help them depends on your baby and their age. It's a very individual thing. It might be 2 times or 200 times but it in the end, it will happen if you don't give up!

Hope you enjoyed the video - there is nothing like a baby's laughter!

AAP endorses the use of baby sign language

The following is a quote from a chapter on signing in a recently published parenting book issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Heading Home with your Newborn (2011):




This endorsement is also referenced in a recent Momformation blog entitled "Baby Signing Develops Language" by Dr. Lisa Dana on the Momformation blog - here's the link: http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/baby-signing-promotes-infant-development/

Great video on learning language through play

Face-to-face interactions are important to your baby's development

I love this new video from Baby Signs and Dr. Linda Acredelo about the importance of face-to-face interaction with your baby. Not only is it important for your baby's emotional development, but it is also the start of turn-taking, an essential language development skill.

Baby Elizabeth
To the children in your life, YOU are the most
important thing in their universe
and the "apple" of their eyes.

These simple interactions are something that we don't even notice we are doing, yet how important they are! I learned this very early. My parents were missionaries in Swaziland, Africa, and I used to volunteer in the hospital maternity ward helping to wash the newborn babies every Saturday when I was about 10 years old. We would wash about 30 of them, so I must say, I was quite an expert at washing babies!

One Saturday I noticed that every week I saw the same baby girl in the room where they kept all the babies. She was so large that they propped her up on pillows so she would fit in the crib. I asked about her and they said that she was an orphan who had been left at the maternity ward. I discovered that she lay in the crib day after day and although her basic needs were being taken care of, the nurses did not have enough time to interact with her. She was left lying in the crib most of the day with no one holding her and talking to her. She could not smile, sit up, or even lift up her head although she was 6 months old!

I got permission and started taking her out and playing with her every afternoon after school. She had the most beautiful dark brown eyes, and I remember discovering how when we were looking at each other, I could see my reflection in her eyes. I realized that the picture she was forming of who she was was what she saw on my face and expressions! With this face-to-face interaction and a little attention, even from an inexperienced 10 year old like me, she learned to smile, laugh, lift up her head and even to sit up in the next three months.

This story had a happy ending because a lovely English family adopted her, but how sad it would have been if she did not get that face-to-face interaction and stayed immobile in that crib!

My father going to the OR or "Theatre"
as we called it in Africa. 

The entrance to our mission station in Manzini, Swaziland,
with the hospital pictured behind.

Winter Signs and a Memory Building Video Tip

First, here's some important Baby Play and Signs news:

Lorraine and I are going to be out of town this Saturday January 30th so there is no Baby Play and Sign in the Library. We will be back the next Saturday, February 6th, at the usual time, 10:30 am, and we hope to see you then!

We also have some things to share with you:

Winter Signs:

With the weather being so cold and rainy and the snow on the mountains, here are some Winter signs for you to learn and use.





And here is a Baby Minds Video Tip from Dr. Linda Acredolo on how to use your video camera as a teaching tool for building your baby's capacity for memory, a foundational skill for learning.




Have a great week!