Trying to figure out what my 15-month-old son is babbling out is very frustrating. And it's as equally frustrating for him. As a three-time mother, I can pick up on little cues to know when he's hungry or thirsty. Logan is a smart little guy and he'll bring me his empty sippy cup when he wants more milk or juice, and he'll grab my hand and lead me to the kitchen when he's hungry.
But for some other things, I have no idea what he's talking about. He has this adorable little voice that rambles on about I-don't-know-what. He even uses little hand gestures, but I still have no idea. Then he gets really frustrated when I keep saying words to figure it out and it's not the right one. He does know about 12 words including the basics: mama, da-da, JayJay (for his older sister), Da-cob (for 'Jacob,' his older brother), Boo-Boo (for our dog, Boomer), 'side' (for outside), ball, no, don't, 'dop' (for stop), hi and bye.
But for other words, we're working on them each day, but it's hard. So I decided to do something about that to alleviate my confusion and ease his frustration at our lack of communication. Logan and I attend Baby Sign language class. We've attended one class and have three more to go to. The first class was last week and was very exciting for us. Logan was able to play with all the other babies from 9 months to another 15-month-old boy.
I met parents who, like me, wanted to learn how to communicate with their babies better. Baby sign language has nothing to do with American Sign Language, but are modified signs that babies and parents can use to communicate when the babies can't talk yet.
For instance, the sign for 'more' is putting all your fingertips together on both hands, then making your hands touch at the fingers a couple of times. We are learning basic words and even some animals. Like snake. The sign is for the parent or baby to stick their tongue in and out. This is Logan's favorite, although I hope we don't run into any snakes for him to show me the sign. :)
By the end of the course we'll have learned aboug 75 signs, and I look forward to seeing and learning the remaining signs. There are some people who criticize BSL and say it delays speech in the babies, but language experts and parents who've used BLS in the past say it actually made their babies want to talk earlier.
I'm teaching my two older children the signs too, so that they can sign with Logan and know what he wants or needs, and then we'll all know when our next baby arrives.
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