Ashton Signs - Baby Sign Language

by Michelle Lewis
(West Carrollton, OH, United States)

I had been to a local LLL group and watched another mother sign with her little girl so I picked up a baby signing book when my third son was only a few months old.

I read the book cover to cover and started signing to our little guy at 4 months old. I used the signs in our everyday interactions.

Months and months passed and although he seemed to know what I was signing to him he never signed anything back to me.

Finally at 8 1/2 months we were laying in bed settling in for the night and he looked over at me and signed "milk" to me.

I jumped for joy and congradulated him. I called my husband, who works second shift and told him too. All the time spent had finally paid off.

Now at 16 months he knows about 10 signs. I am working on adding additional signs every few weeks or so. We wait until he has mastered one for a while before we start any new signs.

He has recently started making signing "sentences" by putting different signs together such as "more" and "milk" or "more" and "eat"

He may not do the sign perfectly but we know exactly what he means when he puts his thumb in his mouth and twists his wrist...drink. :)