When you first take up signing, it’s boring, seriously. It’s repetitive and unrewarding. I’m not going to even beat around the bush on this one. For starters, your baby is going to start off as unresponsive, dismissive, and disinterested. Second, it might take weeks or even months for your baby to start signing back. My little guy was no different. We started signing with our son at about 9 months or so give or take and it wasn’t until about the 10th month when he finally started to get it.
This is more about staying motivated, pushing through the lag time, experiencing the moment, yet looking forward to the results you will achieve at around the 11 month mark. I’ve always been a proponent of waiting to sign until later on especially if you are the type to give up easily. A parent giving up on signing is the single biggest reason a baby fails to sign back – because nearly all babies (with only very rare exceptions) can use sign language to communicate. So this is your big shove, keep signing no matter how boring it is right now. I promise you a big payoff down the road and by the time your baby gets over the hurdle of the first 20 or so signs, you’re going to see signs added at ever increasing frequency.