Baby signs are simple hand gestures to help your baby communicate before he or she has mastered speech.

They are used simultaneously with the word they represent, making it easier for your baby to understand the keyword of a sentence and therefore understand its meaning better.

An infant’s ability to speak develops more slowly than his cognitive ability in the first months/years of his life.  His motor skills develop sooner than his verbal skills, making it easier for a baby to learn simple signs for common words such as „sleep“. „milk“,  „dog“, „play“, „cookie“ etc..., before they can say these words.

By continuously using signs along with the spoken word, an infant will learn that the sign has a meaning and start using them when he, for example, wants more banana but cannot say “banana“ nor “more” yet. It works the same way as learning that waving means „good bye“. Baby signs just give your baby more signs to „talk“ with than just the most commonly used ones: blowing a kiss or waving for „good-bye“ or clapping his hands for „Bravo“.

The signs are based on German sign language but have been simplified to make them easier for your baby’s hands to copy.

One of the most frequent questions parents have in regard to bilingual babies is the following: Won’t adding baby signs just make the task of mastering two or more languages more difficult?  The answer is a strong and resounding “No!” Adding signing to the mix actually makes the child’s job easier, not harder.
Here’s why:

The signs are used as a bridge between the two languages. For example: the child hears “Milk” from Mummy and “Latte” from Daddy. He has to learn that both words mean the same. So when Mummy says” Milk” she also signs “Milk” with her hands. Daddy says “Latte” and uses the same sign for “Milk“ as Mummy does. Therefore, giving the child a clue that “Milk” and “Latte” may sound different but are the same yummy white stuff that he can drink.

The same goes for any word. Mummy says the word in her language and Daddy in his but both use the same sign for this word.

Another worry many parents have is: “Won’t my child’s speech development be delayed when he or she can communicate so well using the signs?” Again the answer is “No!”. There has been research showing that using the signs along with words is more likely to speed up your child’s language development by helping him or her grasp the concept of language at an earlier age.

Research in the US by Acredolo et al., 1999 [9], and Goodwyn et al., 2000 [10] says that those using sign language with their children reap rewards such as:

•            Larger expressive and receptive spoken language vocabularies;

•            More advanced mental development;

•           A reduction in problematic behaviors like tantrums resulting from
             frustration;

•            Improved parent–child relationships.

Most importantly baby signs are fun. It is amazing to get an early insight into your child's head and therefore into his thoughts. It is great to learn that when looking out of the window, your child is not interested in the neighbor’s cat wandering around but rather saw a very small bird nesting on top of the last tree at the back of your garden. Or when she is waking up at night she can sign you that she needs to hear another lullaby to fall back to sleep, which means you do not have to work out what her problem is while you are half asleep yourself.

In Switzerland there are several institutions offering Zwergensprache courses. They are also a great opportunity for you to learn many Swiss nursery rhymes and songs and to meet Swiss moms. Furthermore, they not only help you learn the signs but also improve your Swiss German at the same time.

If Swiss German is too difficult for you, there are some Zwergensprache instructors that offer baby sign workshops in English, French and Spanish.

For more information go to:
www.babyzeichensprache.ch

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