When you sign with your baby, there are some basic rules which you should always follow. These are discussed at lengths in our online course, but I figured that now is as good a time as any to bring one of them to light.
When you sign with your hearing baby you always need to say the word out loud as you sign it and when you say the word out lout, sign it. These two scenarios may sound exactly the same, but they aren’t. Signing as you say a word is just as important as saying the word as you sign it. First, signing a word as you say it encourages your baby to sign each time they say a word and saying the word as you sign it encourages your baby to talk. If you subtract either-or, your baby will learn that it’s okay to do one or the other making talking or signing less prevalent. Hearing babies need to learn to do both, so it’s important for parents to model the behaviour they wish to illicit by being good leaders.
Babies are like all people and follow closely what happens around them. If they see their parents do something, they are very likely to do it themselves.
Be a good Mom or Dad and always sign and say the words