To teach baby sign language step by step, start with three to five core signs like “milk,” “eat,” “more,” “all done,” and “help,” and pair each sign with the spoken word every time the context naturally arises. That means signing “eat” while you say the word at mealtime, signing “milk” while you offer a bottle, and signing “more” when your child reaches for another spoonful of applesauce. There is no need for flashcards or formal practice sessions. The learning happens inside the routines you already have.
Most families can begin introducing signs around six months of age, and babies typically start signing back on their own between ten and fourteen months. This approach works because motor skills develop ahead of verbal speech. As pediatrician Dr. Shannon Thompson explains, “Motor skills, like using your hands to share your thoughts, develop earlier than verbal speech skills, so learning a few signs can allow babies to share their needs earlier.” The result is a child who can tell you what they want before they can say the words, which tends to mean fewer meltdowns at the dinner table and a stronger connection between parent and child. The rest of this article walks through the specific timing, the step-by-step process backed by expert consensus, the signs themselves, and what the research actually says about long-term benefits and limitations.
Table of Contents
- When Should You Start Teaching Baby Sign Language Step by Step?
- The Step-by-Step Process for Teaching Baby Sign Language
- The First Signs to Teach and How to Make Them
- How to Build on Early Signs and Expand Your Baby’s Vocabulary
- What the Research Actually Says and Where It Falls Short
- Handling Common Frustrations and Setbacks
- Where Baby Sign Language Fits in Your Child’s Bigger Communication Picture
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
When Should You Start Teaching Baby Sign Language Step by Step?
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests introducing baby sign language at around six months old, though AAP spokesperson Dr. Howard Reinstein notes that most babies have the physical dexterity and cognitive ability to absorb sign language at about eight months. The gap between those two numbers matters. Babies begin forming connections between signs, words, and objects as early as four to six months, even if they cannot reproduce the gestures yet. So starting at six months is not wasted effort. You are laying groundwork. Think of it the way you talk to a baby long before they talk back.
The input matters before the output arrives. Where parents sometimes get discouraged is the waiting period. You might sign “milk” at every feeding for two months and see nothing in return. That silence is normal. Babies typically begin actively signing on their own between ten and fourteen months, and once they start, they tend to add signs rapidly. The timeline varies widely, though. A child who starts daycare at eight months and sees multiple caregivers signing may pick it up faster than a child in a quieter environment with less repetition. If your baby is not signing back by twelve months, that alone is not a concern, but it is worth mentioning at your next pediatric visit to rule out other developmental factors.
The Step-by-Step Process for Teaching Baby Sign Language
The expert consensus on teaching baby sign language follows a straightforward progression. First, choose three to five practical signs. Baby sign language instructor Lane Rebelo recommends beginning with “useful and practical signs like ‘milk,’ ‘eat,’ ‘more,’ and ‘all done.'” These cover the moments of highest frustration for preverbal children, the moments when they want something and cannot say what it is. Second, always say the word out loud while making the gesture. Baby ASL expert Laura Payne, MDE, emphasizes signing while saying the word and always embedding it in context, such as signing “eat” while using it in a full sentence. This dual input, spoken and gestural, reinforces the association and supports verbal speech development simultaneously. Third, embed these signs into daily routines rather than setting aside separate practice time. Mealtimes, bath time, diaper changes, play time, and reading time all offer natural moments for signing. Fourth, be consistent.
Research shows repetition is critically important for learning, so use the sign every single time the context arises, not just when you remember. Fifth, make sure your baby is actually looking at you before you sign. Make eye contact first. Babies have short attention spans, and signing into the void accomplishes nothing. However, if you are the only caregiver signing, progress may be slower than the timelines suggest. Many of the faster results described in parenting literature come from households where multiple people, parents, grandparents, daycare providers, are all reinforcing the same signs. If your partner or childcare provider is not on board, the system still works. It just takes longer. Share a short list of your target signs with anyone who regularly cares for your child and ask them to try. Even inconsistent reinforcement from a second person helps.
The First Signs to Teach and How to Make Them
Choosing the right starter signs matters more than most guides suggest. Rebelo recommends mixing need-based signs with “playful signs like ‘dog,’ ‘cat,’ ‘ball,’ and ‘light,’ as these are fun and motivating for babies.” A child who only learns signs for demands may use them, but a child who also learns signs for things they find exciting, a dog walking by the window, a ball rolling across the floor, tends to engage with signing more enthusiastically. Here are the core signs and how to form them. For “milk,” open and close your fist repeatedly, mimicking a milking gesture. For “eat,” hold the fingertips of one hand together and bring them to your mouth. For “more,” tap the fingertips of both hands together in front of your chest. For “all done,” hold both hands up with palms facing inward and fingers spread, then rotate your palms outward. A real-world example of how these play out: a nine-month-old sitting in a high chair finishes their banana slices.
The parent signs “all done” while saying “All done with banana?” The child stares. The parent does this at every meal for three weeks. Then one evening, the child holds up both hands and flaps them, a rough approximation of “all done.” It is not a perfect reproduction of the sign, and it does not need to be. Baby sign language is simpler than full American Sign Language. It uses modified ASL gestures without complex grammar, focusing on individual signs for basic needs. The goal is communication, not linguistic precision. When your baby makes any attempt at a sign, respond with enthusiasm, repeat the correct sign back, and honor the request. that positive feedback loop is what drives continued learning.
How to Build on Early Signs and Expand Your Baby’s Vocabulary
Once your baby starts signing back, the temptation is to flood them with twenty new signs at once. Resist that. The expert recommendation is to add new signs only as the baby begins signing back the ones they already know. A reasonable pace is two to three new signs per week once they are actively using their first few. This is where you move beyond need-based signs into descriptive and emotional ones. Signs for “hurt,” “scared,” “hot,” and “cold” give your child a way to communicate discomfort. Signs for “please” and “thank you” introduce social conventions early. The tradeoff here is between breadth and depth. Some parents pursue a large vocabulary of fifty or more signs, essentially teaching a subset of ASL.
Others stick with ten to fifteen high-utility signs and let spoken language take over as it develops. Neither approach is wrong, but they serve different goals. A large signing vocabulary can bridge a longer gap if verbal speech develops on the slower end of the normal range. A smaller vocabulary with faster transition to spoken words works well for children who are already babbling meaningfully by twelve months. Pay attention to your child’s trajectory rather than following a rigid program. If they are picking up spoken words quickly, you do not need to keep expanding their signing vocabulary indefinitely. The key distinction experts emphasize is that you should always speak alongside signing. Baby sign language is a bridge to verbal communication, not a replacement for it. Every sign should be accompanied by the spoken word in a natural sentence. This dual approach is what the research supports, and it is what separates effective baby sign language practice from simply waving your hands around.
What the Research Actually Says and Where It Falls Short
The benefits of baby sign language are well-documented but deserve some honest caveats. On the positive side, research published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis found that baby sign language does not delay speech. Some studies go further, suggesting it encourages speech development. Children taught baby sign tend to develop larger vocabularies and more advanced language skills earlier than non-signing peers. Northwestern University researchers found that ASL exposure promotes cognition even in hearing infants as young as three to four months, offering advantages in forming object categories. Additional research shows baby sign language increases early literacy skills, including letter recognition and phonemic awareness.
Parents consistently report fewer tantrums and less stress, because signing gives preverbal children a way to express emotions and needs. The AAP states that sign language can “break down communication barriers and build positive interaction between baby and parent.” However, the research landscape is not as airtight as the enthusiastic headlines suggest. A 2005 systematic review by Johnson, Durieux-Smith, and Bloom examined 1,208 published articles on sign language with hearing children, and only seventeen met their inclusion criteria. The researchers concluded that most reports “lacked methodological rigor.” That does not mean the benefits are fabricated. It means the evidence, while encouraging, comes largely from smaller studies and parent-reported outcomes rather than large-scale randomized controlled trials. More rigorous experimental studies are still called for. If you are deciding whether to invest time in baby sign language, the existing evidence tilts strongly positive, but it is worth understanding that the field has not yet produced the kind of gold-standard research that would settle every question definitively.
Handling Common Frustrations and Setbacks
The most common complaint from parents is that their baby does not sign back. They have been signing “more” at every meal for six weeks and nothing happens. This is almost always a patience problem, not a method problem. Remember that the typical range for babies to start actively signing back is ten to fourteen months. If you started at six months, you may be waiting four to eight months before you see a return. During that time, your baby is absorbing input even if they are not producing output. One useful benchmark: if your baby starts to look at your hands when you sign, or gets visibly excited when you make a familiar sign, they are processing the information.
Production will follow. Another common frustration is inconsistency between caregivers. If one parent signs regularly and the other forgets, or if daycare does not sign at all, progress can stall. The practical fix is to pick your battles. Focus on the signs that correspond to the highest-friction moments. If mornings are hard, make sure everyone knows “milk” and “eat.” If bedtime is a struggle, prioritize “all done” and “help.” You do not need universal buy-in across every caregiver for every sign. You need enough consistency at the moments that matter most.
Where Baby Sign Language Fits in Your Child’s Bigger Communication Picture
Baby sign language is one tool in a larger developmental toolkit, not a standalone program. It works best when combined with regular verbal interaction, reading aloud, singing, and responsive parenting. The children who benefit most from signing tend to be the ones whose parents are already talking to them frequently. Signing adds a visual and kinesthetic channel to a communication environment that is already rich.
Looking ahead, many parents find that signing naturally fades as spoken language takes over, usually between eighteen and twenty-four months. A few signs tend to stick around longer, particularly “more” and “all done,” because they remain useful even after a child starts talking. Some families continue with formal ASL instruction as the child grows, which is a separate and worthwhile pursuit. But for the initial goal of bridging the gap between a baby’s desire to communicate and their ability to speak, the step-by-step approach outlined here, start small, stay consistent, embed it in routines, and be patient, is well supported by both expert consensus and the available research.
Conclusion
Teaching baby sign language comes down to a handful of principles applied consistently over time. Start with three to five practical signs around six months of age, always pair the sign with the spoken word in context, weave signing into your existing routines, and wait patiently for your child to sign back. Most babies begin producing signs between ten and fourteen months. The research, while still evolving, points toward real benefits: larger vocabularies, reduced frustration, stronger parent-child bonds, and early cognitive advantages. The most important thing is to actually begin.
Pick your first three signs today, ideally “milk,” “more,” and “all done,” and commit to using them at every relevant moment. You do not need a course, a kit, or a curriculum. You need your hands, your voice, your child’s attention, and the willingness to keep going when it feels like nothing is happening. Something is happening. Your baby is learning to communicate, and you are meeting them where they are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does baby sign language delay speech development?
No. Research published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis found that baby sign language does not delay speech. Some studies suggest it actually encourages verbal development. The key is to always say the word out loud while making the sign, which reinforces spoken language rather than replacing it.
What age should I start teaching baby sign language?
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests starting around six months. AAP spokesperson Dr. Howard Reinstein notes that most babies have the dexterity and cognitive ability by about eight months. Babies form connections between signs and meaning as early as four to six months, so earlier exposure is not wasted, but do not expect signing back until ten to fourteen months.
How long does it take for a baby to sign back?
Most babies begin actively signing on their own between ten and fourteen months. Some take longer, and that is within normal range. The lag between when you start signing and when your baby responds can be several months, which is the phase where many parents give up too soon.
What are the best first signs to teach?
Start with “milk,” “eat,” “more,” “all done,” and “help.” These cover basic needs and high-frustration moments. Sign language instructor Lane Rebelo also recommends adding playful signs like “dog,” “cat,” “ball,” and “light” because they are fun and motivating for babies.
Is baby sign language the same as ASL?
Not exactly. Baby sign language uses modified ASL gestures but without complex grammar. It focuses on individual signs for basic needs and objects. It is a simplified system designed as a communication bridge, not a full language. However, the individual signs are drawn from ASL, so your child is learning real signs that carry over if you pursue formal ASL later.
What if my baby’s daycare does not use sign language?
Signing at home alone still works. Progress may be slower without reinforcement from other caregivers, but consistency in your own interactions is what matters most. You can share a short list of your target signs with daycare providers and ask them to try, even occasional reinforcement from a second caregiver helps.