A baby sign language chart is a visual reference guide that displays common signs used to communicate with infants and toddlers before they develop spoken language skills. These charts typically include 17 to 22 of the most frequently used signs—such as mommy, daddy, more, all done, water, milk, eat, sleep, diaper, bath, car, ball, and book—printed or laminated in an easy-to-reference format. A standard portable laminated chart measures 8 by 16 inches, making it convenient to keep on the refrigerator, in a diaper bag, or by the changing table. While baby sign language charts are simple tools, they can help caregivers establish a consistent visual communication method with preverbal babies, potentially reducing frustration during the early months when spoken language hasn’t yet emerged.
This article covers what you’ll find on these charts, the ages when they’re most useful, what research reveals about their effectiveness, the different formats available, and important limitations parents should understand before investing time in signing with their baby. Baby sign language differs from American Sign Language (ASL) or other formal sign languages—it’s not a complete language system, but rather a simplified set of hand gestures created specifically for hearing families with hearing children. The signs on baby sign language charts are drawn from ASL but are often simplified to be easier for babies to produce with their developing motor skills. Understanding both what these charts include and what they don’t is essential for setting realistic expectations about their role in your baby’s development.
Table of Contents
- What Signs Are Included in Baby Sign Language Charts?
- When Should You Start Using a Baby Sign Language Chart?
- What Does Research Say About Baby Sign Language Effectiveness?
- Types and Formats of Baby Sign Language Charts
- Important Limitations: When Baby Sign Language Charts Might Not Be Right for Your Family
- Using Baby Sign Language Charts Effectively
- Moving Beyond the Chart: Teaching Baby Sign Language Long-Term
- Conclusion
What Signs Are Included in Baby Sign Language Charts?
Standard baby sign language charts feature between 17 and 22 essential signs that cover the most common communication needs in early childhood. These signs focus on daily routines and frequent requests: food and drink (milk, water, food, eat), caregiving activities (diaper, bath, sleep), family members (mommy, daddy), actions (more, all done, help), and playtime objects (ball, book, toy). The most frequently included signs are “more,” “all done,” and “mommy”—these three alone allow a baby to communicate some of the most essential messages during the preverbal stage. Larger, more comprehensive baby sign language reference guides exist with up to 67 basic signs, which include additional vocabulary for emotions (happy, sad), animals (dog, cat), body parts (nose, mouth), and more complex ideas (please, thank you, yes, no).
For families who want a deeper resource, comprehensive charts offer flexibility, though research suggests that mastering the core 17 to 22 signs is typically sufficient for meaningful communication with a baby. The difference between a minimal chart and a comprehensive one matters for how you’ll use it. If your goal is simple, everyday communication during the most intense preverbal months (roughly 6 to 18 months), the standard 17 to 22-sign chart serves that purpose well. However, if you have a second child, work with your baby regularly on signing, or want to continue beyond the first year, investing in a 67-sign guide provides room to grow without needing to purchase multiple charts.
When Should You Start Using a Baby Sign Language Chart?
Babies can begin paying attention to and learning signs as early as 4 months old, though most families introduce signing between 6 and 9 months when babies show increased interest in their caregivers’ hands and faces. The first recognizable signs from a baby typically appear between 6 and 9 months, though this varies widely. For context, research on deaf children learning sign language natively shows a similar timeline: the first recognizable sign typically appears around 8.5 months, the tenth sign arrives near 13 months, and first sign combinations emerge at approximately 17 months. This timeline applies to both deaf children learning sign as a native language and hearing children learning sign language as a supplementary communication tool, suggesting that the biological readiness for sign learning follows a predictable developmental pattern.
However, if X then Y: if your baby isn’t showing interest in signing by 12 months, don’t interpret this as a failure on your part—some babies move directly to spoken words or babbling, and that’s equally normal development. The window for baby sign language is relatively short compared to spoken language development. Because benefits of signing appear to fade by age 3 (discussed further below), starting around 6 to 9 months gives you roughly 18 to 24 months to benefit from the communication advantage signing provides. Starting before 4 months is unlikely to be effective, as babies don’t yet have the motor control or attention span for this method, so there’s no advantage to using a chart before your baby reaches at least 4 to 6 months of age.
What Does Research Say About Baby Sign Language Effectiveness?
The American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed baby sign language in 2011 as a legitimate temporary communication method for preverbal children, recognizing that signing can meet a real communication need during the preverbal phase. Research studies have observed short-term benefits: signing children showed larger receptive vocabularies during the middle phases of research studies, suggesting that having a signing parent or caregiver does accelerate vocabulary during the months when signing is the primary communication tool. This means that a baby who learns 20 signs between 6 and 18 months has, during that period, a larger overall vocabulary (signs plus babbling plus emerging words) than a baby exposed to words alone. However, this advantage is temporary. Once children reach age 3 (typically around 30 to 36 months), the long-term benefits of signing disappear entirely—research has found no significant lasting differences between children who learned sign language as babies and those who didn’t.
In other words, signing does not create a lasting cognitive or linguistic advantage that persists into childhood and beyond. Importantly, research has also found no adverse effects of baby sign language. Signing does not delay or interfere with spoken language development in hearing children, and there is no risk that learning to sign will harm your child’s eventual ability to speak clearly and fluently. One important caveat: signing appears particularly beneficial for children who show initially low language scores, suggesting it may be especially helpful for babies who are slower to develop early language skills—whether due to hearing loss, developmental delay, or environmental factors. This means a chart-based signing approach may be most valuable for families with a child who has an identified language delay or hearing loss, rather than for all babies universally. For children developing typically, the benefit is primarily the short-term communication bridge, which some families find valuable and others don’t.
Types and Formats of Baby Sign Language Charts
Baby sign language charts come in several formats, each with different advantages depending on your household needs. Laminated charts, typically measuring 8 by 16 inches, are durable and waterproof—ideal for a kitchen or bathroom where they might get splashed. Laminated versions are also affordable and portable, making them suitable for families who want to carry a reference guide to daycare, grandparent visits, or while traveling. Paper charts are lighter and take up less space but wear out quickly with frequent use. Digital formats—apps or PDF downloads—offer searchability and often include video demonstrations of each sign, which some parents find more helpful than static images. Poster versions, larger than the standard 8-by-16 laminated chart, work well if you’re planning to teach signing to multiple people in your household or child care setting.
The trade-off is that larger posters are less portable, while digital formats require a device but offer the most comprehensive information. Another significant advantage of some charts is language variety: many baby sign language charts are available in English, Spanish, and French, which makes them useful for bilingual or multilingual families. When choosing a format, consider your primary use case. If you want to reference signs multiple times daily, a laminated chart on the refrigerator is ideal. If you want to teach other caregivers, a poster size or shareable digital resource works better. If you want video demonstrations of how to produce each sign correctly, a digital resource or video-based guide is essential, since a static chart shows only the hand shape and position, not the movement or motion that completes each sign.
Important Limitations: When Baby Sign Language Charts Might Not Be Right for Your Family
A critical limitation is that baby sign language charts address a temporary communication window. Because the developmental benefits of signing disappear by age 3, charts are designed for the 6-to-30-month window approximately. If you’re considering signing primarily for the long-term cognitive or language benefits—hoping it will give your child an advantage as they grow older—research doesn’t support that expectation. The advantage is immediate and context-specific: better communication during the preverbal months, reduced frustration, and potentially a larger vocabulary during that specific period. Once your child transitions to spoken language, the signing advantage evaporates.
This doesn’t mean signing is a waste of time—many families find the temporary communication bridge extremely valuable—but it’s important to understand that the return on investment is measured in months, not years. Additionally, static charts have a limitation you won’t experience with video or in-person instruction: they show the hand shape, position, and general location, but they don’t show the movement or motion essential to many signs. This means a chart alone may not be sufficient for teaching signs correctly. Many parents find that pairing a chart with video demonstrations, real-world observation, or guidance from someone already fluent in sign language produces better results. If you’re working with a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, a baby sign language chart is only a starting point—you’ll want instruction from a qualified sign language instructor to ensure your child learns a complete, grammatically correct sign language system, not just isolated signs.
Using Baby Sign Language Charts Effectively
To use a chart effectively, start with the 5 to 8 most common signs—typically “more,” “all done,” “milk,” “mommy,” and “daddy”—and practice signing these consistently during relevant moments throughout the day. For example, sign “more” every time your baby eats, signs “milk” whenever feeding happens, and signs “all done” when meals end. Consistency across caregivers is important; if one parent or daycare provider signs and others don’t, the baby receives conflicting input and progress may slow. Many families find that laminated charts work best in high-traffic areas where you’ll see them frequently and be reminded to use the signs in the moment, rather than as a reference to study later.
The most effective approach combines the chart with repetition in real-world contexts—signing the word as you perform the action, waiting for your baby to attempt the sign (or watch you sign), and celebrating any approximation your baby makes. A practical limitation: your baby may not imitate signs the way you expect. Babies learn through observation over weeks and months, and a baby might watch you sign “more” 50 times before attempting a recognizable version. This is normal development, not a sign of failure. The chart is a reminder tool for the caregiver, helping you stay consistent, as much as it’s a teaching tool for the baby.
Moving Beyond the Chart: Teaching Baby Sign Language Long-Term
While baby sign language charts are designed for the preverbal phase, some families choose to continue with more formal sign language instruction after that initial period—particularly families with a deaf child, or hearing families who want to maintain bilingual communication with deaf relatives. If you move beyond the basic chart into genuine sign language learning, the nature of your goal shifts from temporary communication scaffolding to language acquisition. At that point, you’d benefit from instruction in a complete sign language system (such as ASL) from a qualified instructor, rather than relying on simplified baby sign language resources.
Some families find that the experience of signing with a baby during the preverbal months strengthens their interest in learning formal sign language later, making the baby sign language chart a gateway to deeper linguistic and cultural engagement. For most hearing families with hearing children, however, the chart serves its purpose during the preverbal window, and transition to spoken language typically follows naturally as the child develops language skills around age 2 to 3. There’s no expectation that parents should continue signing beyond the point where spoken language becomes the primary communication mode.
Conclusion
A baby sign language chart is a practical reference tool for temporary communication with preverbal babies, typically featuring 17 to 22 common signs like “more,” “all done,” and “milk.” Research from the American Academy of Pediatrics confirms that signing is safe, beneficial during the early months (ages 6 to 30 months approximately), and causes no harm to typical language development. The key value of a chart is enabling caregivers to establish consistent communication during a narrow developmental window when many babies experience frustration before spoken language emerges. Charts come in multiple formats—laminated, digital, posters—each with trade-offs between portability, durability, and comprehensiveness.
However, parents should understand that baby sign language provides a short-term communication bridge, not a lasting developmental advantage. Benefits observed during the preverbal phase disappear by age 3, and the signing itself is distinct from formal sign languages like ASL. If a chart interests you as a way to reduce frustration and improve communication with your baby during the preverbal months, it’s an accessible and low-risk tool to try. Start with a standard laminated chart featuring the core signs, practice consistently during relevant moments throughout the day, and approach it as a communication aid during a specific developmental stage, not as a long-term language or cognitive intervention.