Teaching babies a handful of basic signs can meaningfully reduce crying and tantrums by giving them a way to express needs before they can speak. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health, conducted by Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn at the University of California during the 1980s, found that children who learned to sign during infancy had fewer tantrums compared to non-signing children. The underlying mechanism is straightforward: infants’ motor pathways mature earlier than their speech centers, allowing babies to form signs around 8 months old””well before they can articulate words. When a baby can sign “milk,” “more,” or “all done,” they no longer need to scream to get their point across. Consider a common scenario: an 11-month-old in a high chair begins crying and arching her back.
Her parents cycle through possibilities””more food? Too hot? Wants down?””while the crying escalates. Now imagine the same child signing “all done” by turning her wrists back and forth. The interaction shifts from guesswork to communication. One experiment specifically documented that crying and whining were replaced with signing once sign training was implemented, offering concrete evidence that this approach works in practice. This article examines what the research actually says about baby signs and crying reduction, which signs prove most useful, realistic expectations for results, and the important caveats parents should understand before diving in. The evidence is more nuanced than many websites suggest, but the core finding””that giving babies a communication tool reduces frustration””holds up to scrutiny.
Table of Contents
- Why Do Baby Signs Reduce Crying and Tantrums?
- The NIH Study: What the Research Actually Found
- Which Signs Work Best for Reducing Frustration?
- Realistic Expectations: What Parents Should Know
- When Signing Does Not Help
- Looking Ahead: Signing as a Foundation
- Conclusion
Why Do Baby Signs Reduce Crying and Tantrums?
most child development experts identify frustration from the inability to communicate as the primary cause of toddler tantrums and meltdowns. babies understand far more than they can express verbally. By 8 to 10 months, many infants recognize words like “bottle,” “dog,” and “mama,” but their vocal apparatus simply cannot produce speech yet. This gap between comprehension and expression creates a pressure cooker of frustration. According to the Mayo Clinic, babies can begin signing around 8 months old because their motor development outpaces their verbal development. The hands mature before the mouth.
This biological reality means signing provides an earlier exit valve for communication needs. When babies can request what they want, protest what they dislike, or share what interests them, much of the motivation for crying disappears. However, signing does not eliminate all crying. Babies still cry from pain, overstimulation, fear, and genuine distress that no amount of communication resolves. Parents who expect signing to create a cry-free household will be disappointed. The reduction targets communication-based crying specifically””the “I want something and you don’t understand me” variety that dominates the pre-verbal period.
The NIH Study: What the Research Actually Found
The landmark research on baby signing and reduced frustration came from an NIH-funded study involving approximately 100 babies starting at 11 months old. Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn tracked signing and non-signing children over several years, finding measurable differences in tantrum frequency and parent-child engagement. At an 8-year follow-up, the signing group showed IQs averaging 12 points higher than the non-signing control group. These findings sound impressive, and they sparked the baby signing movement that continues today. But important context exists.
A 2005 systematic review by Johnston and colleagues evaluated 17 studies on baby signing and concluded that the research did not support claims that signing enhances developmental outcomes. The review noted methodological weaknesses including lack of randomization and reliance on potentially biased parent-report data. Benefits detected in early studies were described as weak and not statistically significant at 30 to 36 months. What should parents make of conflicting evidence? The conservative interpretation is this: signing likely provides short-term communication benefits during the pre-verbal window, which can reduce frustration for both babies and parents. Whether it creates lasting cognitive advantages remains unproven. Parents should approach signing as a practical communication tool rather than an intelligence-boosting intervention.
Which Signs Work Best for Reducing Frustration?
Not all signs carry equal weight for crying reduction. The most effective signs address immediate physical needs and strong preferences””the categories most likely to trigger frustrated crying when unmet. Signs for “milk,” “more,” “all done,” “eat,” “water,” “hurt,” and “help” give babies language for their most urgent communications. Comparing categories: need-based signs like “milk” and “eat” prevent crying before it starts by letting babies request before becoming desperate. Preference signs like “more” and “all done” give babies control during meals and activities, reducing the powerlessness that fuels tantrums.
Emotional signs like “hurt” and “scared” help babies communicate distress without relying solely on crying, though these are harder to teach because the associated situations are unpredictable. Signs for interesting but non-urgent things”””dog,” “bird,” “flower”””are delightful for building communication but do little for crying reduction. A baby who cannot sign “airplane” will simply point. A baby who cannot sign “milk” will scream. Prioritize high-stakes vocabulary first, then expand to enrichment signs once the foundation is established.
Realistic Expectations: What Parents Should Know
Studies suggest that parents who use signs with their babies experience less stress and frustration themselves. Research also indicates that signing babies appear more engaged and connected with their parents. These findings rely partly on parent self-reports, which introduce bias””parents invested enough to teach signing may interpret their babies’ behavior more positively regardless of actual differences. The tradeoff parents face: signing requires consistent effort over weeks or months before babies respond. Many families start enthusiastically, then abandon the practice when results do not appear quickly. Babies typically need to see a sign paired with its meaning dozens of times before producing it themselves. Parents who expect results within days will likely give up before the investment pays off. Parents who commit to several months of casual, low-pressure signing during daily routines are more likely to see their babies begin signing back. A practical benchmark: most babies who are consistently exposed to signs begin producing their first signs between 8 and 14 months, with a burst of new signs often appearing once they “get” the concept. The pre-signing period can feel fruitless, but babies are absorbing the patterns even before they demonstrate understanding.
## The Criticism: Why Some Experts Remain Skeptical Over 90 percent of website information on baby signing refers to opinion articles or promotional products with little research basis. This sobering statistic from academic reviews means parents must navigate a landscape where commercial interests often outweigh scientific accuracy. Many claims about signing””that it dramatically boosts IQ, eliminates tantrums entirely, or accelerates speech development””extend far beyond what research supports. The methodological criticisms deserve attention. Studies showing benefits often lacked proper control groups, meaning the positive outcomes could stem from increased parent-child interaction generally rather than signing specifically. Parents who teach signs also tend to talk more, read more, and engage more actively with their children. Separating the effect of signing from the effect of engaged parenting proves difficult. Parents should be wary of any resource claiming guaranteed outcomes or extraordinary benefits. The honest case for baby signing is modest but real: it can reduce some frustration, it provides an earlier communication channel, and many families find it enjoyable. Claims beyond these should be viewed skeptically.
When Signing Does Not Help
Some babies show little interest in signing despite consistent exposure. Others learn signs but continue having frequent tantrums for reasons unrelated to communication frustration. Babies with sensory processing differences, developmental delays, or particularly intense temperaments may cry frequently regardless of their communication tools.
For example, a baby who melts down primarily from overstimulation gains little from signing “more” or “milk”””the problem is sensory, not communicative. Similarly, babies going through developmental leaps often become fussy in ways that no communication addresses. Parents should recognize signing as one tool among many, not a universal solution.
Looking Ahead: Signing as a Foundation
Families who establish signing during infancy often report that the communication benefits extend beyond the pre-verbal period. Toddlers who signed as babies sometimes continue using signs during moments of high emotion when words fail them.
The early experience of successful communication may also build confidence and willingness to attempt verbal speech. Whether or not the long-term cognitive benefits from early studies replicate, the short-term experience of understanding your pre-verbal baby””and having them understand you””carries its own value. For many families, reduced crying is simply a welcome side effect of a richer connection.
Conclusion
Baby signing can reduce frustration-based crying by giving infants a communication tool before speech becomes available. The NIH-funded research by Acredolo and Goodwyn found measurable reductions in tantrums among signing babies, and the biological basis is sound: motor development precedes verbal development, making signs accessible earlier than words. However, parents should approach signing with realistic expectations, understanding that systematic reviews have questioned whether benefits extend beyond the immediate pre-verbal window.
The practical path forward involves starting with high-priority need-based signs, maintaining consistency over several months, and viewing signing as one component of responsive parenting rather than a miracle intervention. Parents who enjoy the process and stick with it tend to see results. Those expecting instant transformation or guaranteed outcomes will likely be disappointed. For families seeking to reduce crying while building early communication, baby signing remains a reasonable, evidence-informed approach””just not the magic solution that commercial websites often promise.