We all know that babies don’t generally start talking until after their first birthdays. And we’ve all been in the frustrating position of trying to figure out just what baby wants while she screams her head off. If it’s frustrating for us as fully communicative adults, imagine how frustrating it must be for baby.

After all, she knows what she wants. We’re the ones playing twenty thousand questions trying to figure out what she feels she is communicating quite clearly. In any case, it ends up being exasperating for everyone. But, what if your baby could tell you what she wants?

Many now claim that she can. And while there’s still somewhat of a lack of solid research, the studies which have been done appear to support the notion. No, your baby won’t use verbal speech earlier, but it appears that baby can learn to communicate with you using gestures and signs long before she is capable of actual speech.

It’s called baby sign language, and it’s catching on fast. Proponents claim that babies can be taught to communicate using gestures and signs, similar to American Sign Language.

Of course, you’re not going to be able to get your baby to engage in deep dialogue about the mysteries of the universe this way, but you can teach your baby a few signs so that she can communicate whether she wants a bottle, her blanket, or just to be held.

There are numerous courses available which go into greater detail about how to teach your baby sign language, but the gist of it is this: Whenever you offer your baby something, you also show her the sign for it. In a lot of ways, you’re doing the same things that you will be able to do later with words.

The difference is that your baby won’t be able to accurately emulate your verbal expressions until she’s over a year old. She can, however, begin to copy your gestures and signs from about six to eight months old. That gives you an extra four to six months of your baby being able to communicate her basic wants and needs to you.

The one concern that some have expressed about baby sign language is that it could delay the onset of language. There’s no definitive evidence one way or the other on this, but the anecdotal evidence at this time seems to show that babies who are taught to sign actually start talking earlier, as long as the parents use spoken words along with the signs.

One final suggestion: if you start your baby learning sign language, why not continue teaching her after she learns to speak? American Sign Language is the third most “spoken” language in the United States, and a useful skill you and your baby could continue to use throughout her life.

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