A language is a medium we use to communicate or rather convey messages with other people. It is a fact that people need to communicate with each other, since it grants the satisfaction of a social need of an individual. Effective communication simply means that it facilitates quick and understandable conveyance of a message. However, there are various barriers to communication, such as Distance, Age and Language. 

 

It is for this reason that sign language was created where those who have difficulty in speaking, could express their ideas by way of facial expressions, movements and gestures. You might now wonder what baby sign language is? The answer for this question is explained below. 

 

So What is Baby Sign Language? It is the means of communicating with babies by way of using hand gestures, facial expressions, easy words and/ or signs, so as to understand their wants and needs. This system has grown by leaps and bounds due to its huge success. Originated in the United States of America, this system is what is now used by most parents to communicate with their infants. 

 

This concept originated from the concept of sign language, which was used for communication among those who had hearing disabilities. As this technique was highly successful for such communication, it was believed that the same could be used to communicate with infants too, since they lack the ability to talk at their infant age. 

 

In the initial stages, it is a fact that babies cannot talk, but they do hear and understand what their parents talk. This is where they start learning and what they learn is what they use to express their feelings and thoughts. However, their inability to speak words is what makes them use their eyes, limbs and/ or face to communicate with another. Hence, if they express some feeling or want, they would rather show it off in the form of a gesture or else make simple sounds, which would be difficult for adults to pick and understand. But once understood, the infant’s wants and requirements would be felt by the parents, which would make the child happy and healthy. 

 

The benefits of baby sign language are many. It facilitates easy comprehension and communication between the baby and his/ her parents. This therefore builds a better relationship between the parents and the child. Not only that, with the increased use of symbols, signs and bits of words, there definitely is going to be a huge development in the IQ levels of the child as he grows older. 

 

Some of the words that could be expressed through baby sign language are: milk, eat, sleep (bed), cold, water, drink, play, baby, thank you, airplane, bath, banana, and book. The sign for milk is by squeezing one or both hands as if you are milking a cow. The sign or gesture for sleep or bed is what we all very well know, which is by resting your head on our hands (with the palms touching together) at your cheek, as if you are lying on a pillow. It is simple once learnt. 

 

To learn more about baby signs, there are plenty of resourceful websites that provide greater insight on the subject, with animations resembling those gestures and movements.