When will my baby sign back is probably the single most common question parents have when the first start teaching their baby to sign. The easy answer is that baby will sign back just as soon as they are ready and not a moment sooner. Babies just aren’t in a rush (unlike busy parents) so they work by nobodies timeline or schedule (oh the bliss!). That might be why parents get a bit antsy when baby seems to understand exactly what’s going on, but just isn’t doing it the way we expect them to.
No sense in getting all worked up over this though. I can promise with certainty that your baby isn’t delaying things on purpose and further to this can guarantee that they are doing the very best that they can. This much is true, so don’t apply more pressure to your baby to sign or shows signs of frustration. They’ll get plenty of pressure as they age so now’s really not the time.
Most babies reach their peek receptivity at about 11-12 month. Some babies have been noted to sign back at 4 months, although rare, and some still will sign back pushing 15 months plus. Like crawling, walking and eventually talking, signing is a milestone which happens when a baby has mastered coordination coupled with sufficient mental development. Babies also need require long term memory for which to write their signs upon so they can be recalled later. Some babies have all this pulled forward, while others play catch-up to the norms. Whatever happens, never forget that your baby is on their way, but it’s you who’s defining success, not them. All your baby knows is the moment. Take a page from their book and look at things in the here and now.