Baby Sign Language Lane Rebelo

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May 24, 2023/

In this episode of the Baby Pro podcast, Lane Rebelo, a licensed social worker and founder of Tiny Signs joins the conversation to discuss the benefits of baby sign language. Lane explains that baby sign language is a communication technique that uses both spoken language and sign language. She also discusses the advantages of infant sign language, such as bridging the gap between receptive and expressive language and reducing toddlers’ frustration when they are unable to verbally express their needs and desires.

In this episode of the Baby Pro Podcast, you will learn the following:

  • How baby sign language reduces toddler frustration and bridges the gap between receptive and expressive language.

  • Tips for incorporating sign language into one’s day-to-day activities, such as teaching signs around critical times of the day such as meals and bath time.

  • The value of utilizing playful signs based on a baby’s interests and advocates putting oneself in their position to identify what they like.

Connect with Lane Rebelo: 

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Resources Mentioned: 

Names from the 1920s that are making a comeback: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/popular-baby-names-roaring-20s-make-comeback-according-100-year-rule

0:00 Use the songs that you already know and add assigned to it. I mean, the games you already play with your baby. Like if you’re playing peekaboo or you’re paying How big is Charlie. So, like those games, those books, those songs, that’s what you can sprinkle a little sign language on to you don’t have to go do something completely new and add something more to list. It’s just adding a little like dressing on top of what you’re already doing.

0:28 Hi, I’m Shelly. And I’m Maria. And you’re listening to the baby pro podcast, where we talk about everything in anything related to pregnancy and through the first year of your child’s life.

0:37 Every episode we will discuss an interview experts and all the answers to the questions expected new parents want to know such as creating the perfect birth plan, infant sleep and tips and tricks for parenting a newborn

0:49 and welcome to the show.

0:53 Hey, Maria. Shelley is finally getting warmer.

0:58 I know it’s actually raining right now. It’s rainy here to the peepers have started peeping I don’t know if you do you have any like ponds or lakes near your house and we’re kind of we’re hearing a rumor birds. That’s for sure. The spring peepers are my favorite sound is the little tiny frogs that come out and start doing their little froggy love dance for like the next couple of months.

1:25 I love that you love that. I love that.

1:31 Out there singing their hearts out right now. And it’s so fun to hear. It’s fun to hear.

1:37 Our chickens have been happy because you know we had that storm last week, right

1:42 the last week or the week before? Sometime in the last 10 days. Yeah,

1:46 we got dumped with two feet of snow. Yeah. And so they were in their coop for like three days straight and now now they’re running all up and down the street and super happy. I had I bought snow shoes because I wanted to try snowshoeing I saw the storm was coming that got delivered the day before the storm. So it’s no late Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And then by Saturday, all the snow was gone.

2:14 We’ve had no snow really last this year, which is super depressing. You know, there’s tons of people out there going now this is great. But like,

2:23 sorry, this isn’t this isn’t okay. What’s really what I you know, it’s not okay. And I feel like it’s really bizarre because it hasn’t really snowed that much. But my kids still had like six snow days. Yeah, because the three times it did snow, it was like big snow. And so they missed two days of school each time.

2:43 So for us out here, we also have like our, I think six snow days. And I can’t even say that for us. I think half of them weren’t even real snow days. But because we’re a regional school district and we have multiple towns that come to our schools. There were certain towns that got hit more with snow than we did. So there was a couple of times where it only ever rained at my house. And I’m like, Well, this is a huge waste of a snow day. But the towns adjacent it was snowing.

3:15 Right. And that’s how it is for us. We have very regional school district two. It’s kind of like you on the local moms groups on Facebook. Half the people were like this is ridiculous. And the other half are like I have 18 inches outside my house where where, you

3:32 know, it sucks and I yeah, I don’t know. I am concerned that we’re gonna have another drought this summer.

3:39 Pretty sure, because we just didn’t have enough snowfall. Mm hmm.

3:46 I came across this article that is predicting the next BBT and comebacks and they’re primarily names from that were really popular during the 1920s. One interesting. So number one is Robert. Robert. Yes. So my father’s name is Robert and then my stepfather’s name is Robert so I always joke with me.

4:09 Like, that’s funny.

4:11 I have not heard anything Roberts.

4:14 My great uncle was Robert. Oh, yeah.

4:17 Yeah. Number two is John. I have worked recently with a couple families who named the Baby

4:24 John. Just straight up John is John. Have you come come across that? I haven’t had any Roberts? Ah, no, I

4:34 haven’t really seen too many boy babies

4:42 but I’m gonna have to start paying attention to that now.

4:44 Number three is James. James is always I feel like popular. I’m always working with

4:50 John Ray like isn’t John just one of those it’s like Maria those it’s just it’s always around right

4:57 like my husband is John but no aren’t too many

5:00 babies until recently. William number four. I’ve had a couple of Williams Charles. So I’ve had some Charles but it’s girl babies are interesting. And they call them Charlie, which I happen to think is an awesome name for a girl well for a boy to or whoever, you know,

5:24 I kind of like those names that are not traditionally one gender and get used for another. Yeah, that’s in the name Morgan can be used both male and female.

5:39 Yeah. Yep. Stacy Stacy can be used for

5:44 males. Yeah, Stacy. Dana has another one. I think for a long time, the name Morgan was actually used more for boys than girls. And then it started coming back around more girls.

5:54 Number six is George. I’ve had one George.

5:59 Haven’t heard any of these baby names. Really? Yeah, maybe

6:03 a lot of times. It’s like, oh, they’re named after their grandfather. You know, kind of situation. Right? Yeah. Joseph. I love the name Joseph. I have seen a lot of Joseph. Babies. Huh? No Josef’s for you. Oh,

6:16 I’m gonna. I’m gonna be working at the hospital this weekend. So I’m gonna be like asking your baby’s name? You’re probably

6:27 you’re probably gonna have more luck with the girls list. Yeah, Richard.

6:32 I know a lot of Richard’s but no baby Richards. Yeah, I

6:34 don’t know any baby which is Edward I’ve had one or two Edwards recently. I really like Edward. I like that name. With a calm any though. It’s always like we call them any number 10 And Donald, that’s okay. All right. Girls names number one, Mary. Mary. Hmm, I’ve had one Mary. I have a friend named Mary. We all have friends named Mary.

7:00 And my great grandmother we used to call her

7:03 grandma Mary. Even though her name was Maria. She was was named after and was two is Dorothy. I love that name. I haven’t had any Dorothy’s. I love that name, though. At number three is Helen. I haven’t

7:17 had any Helens.

7:18 i It’s one of my top three favorite names I think is really Yes. I wanted to name Morgan Hallen but Dandan that he didn’t like

7:29 that. Yeah. And number fours Betty.

7:32 That’d be interest. Nope. Betty, the stray buddy.

7:35 Just straight up Betty given to 283,097 girls born in the 1920s Ah, I haven’t had any buddies. Number five is Margaret. I like the name Margaret. And I liked the name Maggie. And yeah, I see that coming back.

7:55 I had a friend in high school named Margaret. Really? I don’t Yeah, but I don’t think it’s a it seems like a common name. But I don’t think I know a lot of I’ve known a lot of people named Margaret. And I feel like there’s a more people like our grandparents age. Yes. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So it’s it feels like more of that kind of

8:18 generation. Number six is Ruth. My mother in law saying the girl number seven, Virginia. I love Virginia. My aunt is Virginia and we call her change. The ginge sometimes when we’re in Northern

8:35 Virginia. Number eight is Doris. Okay. I like the name Doris.

8:44 I have an aunt Doris. 8:46 Any babies named Doris?

8:48 No, I have not had any babies with any of the same, like striking now everywhere I am. I don’t think I’d seem like I’m gonna go back through all my clients recently, but I’m pretty sure none of them were named any of these names.

9:00 I wish our EHR would like break down. You know how it runs reports for us. At the end of the year. I wish it would show us like most most common baby’s name. Oh, that’d be cool. That would be cool. Number nine is Mildred.

9:15 I actually really liked that name. It seems like such a nerdy name, but I really like it.

9:20 But no babies. I haven’t had any babies. Mildred number 10 is Francis. So that’s another one that

9:27 can go for either boys or girls. That is true.

9:29 Well, that was fun. Hopefully we’ll see some of these names start to pop up. I mean. Yeah, let’s do our question of the week.

9:45 This week’s question was submitted through Instagram and she asks I am pregnant and making my baby registry which breastfeeding pillow is best. Ah. Yeah. I mean, that’s such a such

10:00 Active question. There really is no best breastfeeding pillow.

10:05 It’s what’s best for you? 10:07 Yeah, exactly. Honestly, um, if you’re go to like babies, or s or byebye baby or something like that, and go and try on the pillows if you can, or a friend’s

10:17 house, yeah, if you have any friends that have something like even how long is your torso? How wide is your lap, like, how big is your baby?

10:26 how long you’re gonna have

10:27 because you might need something that’s more supportive or not. But then like, the whole other side of that is like, if you can get into a comfortable breastfeeding position, you don’t really need a breastfeeding pillow.

10:41 I mean, I always found breastfeeding pillows helpful because I could read a book while I was breastfeeding. But you don’t want to like depend like, if you only if you learn how to latch only using a breastfeeding pillow.

10:53 I will say it’s super helpful for like, let’s say, people with maybe C section scars that can’t have a lot of pressure on their belly. I find it really helpful for people with very large breasts as well, because it gives you something more to like lift the girls with rice are learned babies to or really large babies. Yeah, for sure. Every time I do a visit with the family, I always show them how not to breastfeed with their pillow. And it’s not on purpose. It’s just that every time I see these families, and they’re using these pillows, they’re almost always like hunched over the baby in the process.

11:37 Well, that’s the problem, right? Because those pillows instinctively put you in a not so great posture, not a very ergonomic so yes. So unless you’re aware of what your posture should be like, you know, and I have no problem like stacking pillows and putting the breastfeeding pillow on top for like moms with with long torsos. Like I’ll do that. But it’s like, if you only know how to latch in that one position hunched over your pillow.

12:07 And what are you going to do when you leave the house? All that stuff just makes me harder? It does. To give you

12:13 a direct answer, though I will say I lived in my body. I also had very large breasts. So when I was breastfeeding, they were enormous. And I’m not sure I could have survived without a body for that reason. But I have known a lot of other people that really prefer the my breast friend, because it’s really firm support. And they really liked that firm support. I didn’t like it because it felt like I was being strapped into the pillow because you you are being strapped into the pillow. And I just didn’t like that. felt too stiff and awkward.

12:48 I do I do feel like I like this is like a difference of opinion. Right? I feel like I like my best friend better. Yeah, because it’s a little bit more firm, because I find that babies will sink into the Bobby, the if we try to reposition the bobby to like have more the bobby just moves away from the mom’s body. But I will say when I was having babies because my kids are older than

13:12 yours. Bobby was it? Yeah, there

13:16 wasn’t my best friend yet. There wasn’t all these other breastfeeding pillows that were coming out. It was just like you use regular pillows or use the Boppy or didn’t use pillows at all. So when I got the Boppy that was like, I didn’t really have a choice of anything to compare it to. And that’s what I use because that’s what was available. Yeah. Sometimes I think the baby market when it comes to like breast pumps and pillows and broth, it’s so oversaturated we do not need this many choices. Right? Yeah, I totally agree. It just paralyzes people. Yeah. And again, 56 bottles to choose from water bottle do I pick like it’s it’s too much?

13:54 Right? Yeah, it is too much. And most of the models on the market are crap. But back to like breastfeeding pillows, I would really try to take a class or work with a lactation consultant after you have the baby to find a comfortable position that doesn’t involve pillows. And most often that’s like a laid back or reclined position of some kind. You might need like some pills under your arm to support like your your arm or your shoulder for a little bit. But if you’re in a reclined enough position, you’ve got a lot of gravity assisting you and you don’t really need to like be holding the baby up to you because gravity is holding the baby on top of you. Right? And this is like probably 80% of the families I work with, I end up having them in this position and they’re always like, Oh my gosh, this is so much

14:47 more comfortable. Like, and some families are like I’m like okay, we’re gonna ditch the pillow we’re gonna why why like they become like attached to the pillow because they’re like, Well, I don’t know how to latch it looks like Have the pillow the pillow away, put the bedroom and lay back and be like, Oh my gosh, my back doesn’t hurt.

15:05 Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I don’t feel like I need to like squeeze the baby.

15:13 Yeah, for sure. And like I said, there’s nothing wrong with liking these pillows and using these pillows. I use it all the time if I wanted to read or type while I was breastfeeding, but it you shouldn’t become so dependent on it that that’s the only way you know how to breastfeed. Yeah. So that was a great question. And if you have a question that you would like answered on the podcast, you can submit it to us on Instagram actually tapped ibclc.

15:40 Maria, have you? Did you ever to sign language like babies nine with Morgan? I didn’t get in it.

15:47 I did not know I never got into that with her. I never found it difficult to communicate with her.

15:54 Yeah, I did it with my kids. Because I thought it was funny. Like when I say that I did the sign language maybe like five or six sides. Like it wasn’t it wasn’t this extensive vocabulary. It was more or less like, not like nurse was this. And then like more if they wanted more when they were starting solids. And so I didn’t really get too serious into it. But it was fun. And it was nice if we were in the grocery store that they could just sign instead of screaming out. So this week, we are speaking with Elaine from tiny science all about baby sign language and how it can benefit your baby and the communication you have with your baby. That’s exciting. This week we are speaking with Elaine Ravello Elaine Rebello is a mom of two a licensed social worker and author of four popular baby sign language books including the best selling baby sign language Made Easy. She is also the founder of tiny signs and award winning baby sign language program. She offers classes storytimes and support through her virtual membership community club tiny science. You can find her online at Tiny signs and on Instagram at Tiny science. Eileen, how are you? I’m great. Thanks for having me. Oh, excited, you were able to join me because I love this topic. I use babysat language with my kids, not extensively, but maybe like five or six signs here and there that we kind of settled on and used. And I’m so excited that you teach it and you’re here to tell us all about it.

17:36 I love to hear that people used it and that they had a good experience with it. And I’m on a mission. So many people say oh yeah, we did more and milk and I’m like, oh, no, wait and keep going. Because that’s where the magic happens is when you kind of push through like that first handful. So yeah, I love that. I want to know which ones you used. Oh, well, we use?

17:56 Well, we called we call it Nana’s in my house. So we didn’t say milk. We just didn’t Nana’s I think there was more. Yeah. Which I think we might have used with hyung. Like hungry. Yeah. Mom, Dad.

18:09 Thank you. That’s nice. I

18:11 think like those are the base. The very basic one. Yeah, yeah, for some reason, my son really liked orange. And he would just sign it for color and fruit. Just he would get all excited when he’d see either the orange fruit or the orange color and just sign it repeatedly. I don’t know why it was his favorite.

18:27 Because you still like it now? 18:29 Um, no. I grew out of things.

18:35 And I’m always interested, like what sticks and what gets left behind.

18:39 So though, tell us a little bit about yourself anything that you want to share?

18:42 Sure. So I’m a mom of two, I’ve got a 12 year old and a 17 year old, as soon to be my children will be 13 this summer. So I’m almost on the verge of having two teenagers. And it’s not as bad as people say actually love having teenagers. They’re funny. And really, I learned stuff from them all the time. So teenagers are awesome. They have a bad rap. So I’ve got two kids I have I’m a social worker as my background. So prior to becoming a mom, I’ve worked with kids and families here in Massachusetts as a social worker, a clinical social worker. And then I had my daughter in 2006 and stayed home with her. And that’s kind of how this evolved. I basically had heard about this was in 2006, it wasn’t as common as it is now. But there was a little bit of Baby Signing happening. So I kind of dove into it and was you know, psyche. You probably went through this too, when you are a new mommy like reading everything. You’re just like, you know, everything from parenting and development and all that stuff. So I dove into it, and just became fascinated by the language. And I’m very fortunate because where I live, there’s a school for the deaf near me that offers classes to the community. So I was able to start taking classes there at night, which was wonderful because you know when you’re a mom of a b You’d be in changing diapers all the time. And in the trenches, it’s nice to kind of get out for a couple hours and do something that stimulates your brain and learn something new. So yes, when I first started preschool is when I launched tiny science, which is my business, and started teaching classes locally, actually, the first classes I taught were really in my family room, because people would see us out and about at the library or wherever they’d see my daughter signing and asked me how I did it. So I kind of ended up having, you know, a couple groups of moms just come to my house. And there was so much interest in it that then I started offering classes formally, a community center, church basement, that kind of thing. So it started very organically and very local, you know, hung up fliers at the coffee shop kind of thing. Back in the day, and, and it grew from there. And within really just a few years, it had grown to the point where I was having to turn people away, I had just couldn’t, I was getting, you know, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, people wanted me to come and teach. And I was like I, you know, I had two little kids, I was very limited geographically and timewise. With what I could do, but I was teaching at one point, I think 13 was the max classes I taught in a week, which is aligned to little kids. Yeah.

21:16 Oh, wow.

21:17 A week and one that includes the weekend. So like, I would do, you know, Saturdays and stuff. And I and my husband would watch the kids on the, on the weekend. So I could do classes back to back on Saturday mornings, was very popular time for a lot of working parents to was like their thing to come and do a class with me on Saturdays. So yeah, so then I think it was 2014. My second was preschool age. And that’s when I first realized I kind of got maxed out on how much I could do. And I put out an online course. And this was almost 10 years ago, online courses weren’t really a thing, interesting experience, the technology was very different. And but yeah, so I put out an online course in 2014. And that’s kind of how I moved into, you know, doing a lot more online and reaching a much broader audience, because I have families that I work with that are in Europe and South America, and all over the place. So that’s so cool. Yeah, I’ve had South Africa, Australia. So yeah, so I’ve worked with families all over the place now. And more recently, the books. So I’ve done four books over the past. I don’t know how many years. But that’s become more. More recently. That’s a lot of people know me from the books. But that’s, that’s kind of the newer part of my

22:29 offerings. So yeah, and the books look amazing.

22:32 You. It’s funny, because when I was approached to do the first one, I was like, oh, gosh, the author does not need another baby sign language book. Because there’s, you know, there’s a bunch out there, and there’s some good ones in there, some really not so great ones, but I thought the don’t just need to be another one. But then I also thought people always and it’s not a great way to learn sign language, you know, books are a tough way to teach something that’s so visual, the best ways are number one in person, and then two like this, where you can see motion and stuff. So it’s a tough way to teach. But people always asked me for recommendations. And I thought, Well, it’d be nice to have a book that was my way of teaching. And so I thought, What the heck, I’ll do it. And it’s sold a couple 100 1000s of copies now, and it’s like, very, very popular and, and then they asked me to do a second one and the third one, and then a fourth one. So yeah. That is amazing. And my kids were born around the same time, as is your kids. And I remember, I don’t remember the name of the this person, which I feel bad about, because we really liked her as a family. But she did like a show. It was like a baby sign or sign language show for little kids and involved a tree house of some stellar. You’re talking about signing time. That’s Rachel Coleman, Rachel. Yes, yes, yes. And I actually so Signing Time, there was the Signing Time. There were DVDs back at the time, the Signing Time, and then the baby signing time. And then she made either once and I actually we we love those when my daughter was a baby, too. And I ended up working with her so well as part of her Signing Time Academy. And yes, to her, her music and her her way of teaching is really wonderful actually brought her we did a concert. I say my little one was one. So I brought her to Massachusetts for a concert, a Signing Time concert. The concert was in Wellesley. And then she did a private storytime for all my students. Oh, and it was really cool. Yeah, I’ll share the pictures with you. Because you’ll be like, every everybody. It was like Elmo, and then Rachel Coleman. And now there’s like Miss Rachel. And then I remember the first time people were talking about Miss Rachel, who’s like the new YouTube talking about Rachel Coleman. So now there’s two very cool, Rachel is out there.

24:50 Yeah, she’s very popular in the homeschooling groups at the time. And it’s nice that there’s even more resources now than there was back then. But let’s take us Sit back, like for those who might not know, what exactly is baby sign language? And how does it differ from other forms of sign language?

25:06 Yeah, that’s that’s a really, really good question. Because there’s a lot of confusion around that, you know, because baby sign language isn’t really a language. It’s a communication technique. And it’s a hybrid of spoken language and sign language. And some baby sign language programs use American Sign Language, some baby sign language programs use British Sign Language, some baby sign language programs use made up gestures that aren’t based in sign language. So it causes a lot of confusion. So but it’s basically when people say baby sign language, it’s this hybrid approach or bimodal communication where you’re using both spoken language and signed language. So manual and, and verbal language. And when we’re doing that with hearing babies, we’re really just focusing on key words. So it’s like a keyword signing approach. So you’d say, Do you want some milk, and you just sign the one key word of that sentence. So you’re kind of picking a key word of any given sentence and signing that one key concept or idea from the sense. So that’s what baby sign languages and it can be used with English, it can be used with any spoken language. And and if you have a bilingual or multilingual home, you can use sign language and pair it with both or all of the spoken languages that are being used. And it really helps bilingual and multilingual families, it helps those little ones create a bridge between the spoken languages. Because if you think about it, if I said cat, and then I said that, though, you’d be like, it’s the same thing, right? So it really helps little ones make connections between spoken language. So it’s a really, sometimes people say, well, will sign language confuse my baby? Because we’re bilingual? And I’m like, No, it actually will be incredibly helpful to help them make those connections between the different languages. So all that being said, so when I teach baby sign language, I use American Sign Language vocabulary. And so American Sign Language is the sign language of the US, most of Canada, not Quebec. So there’s sometimes people I oftentimes, people think there’s one sign language, but there’s, you know, hundreds of sign languages all around the world. And American Sign Language is very similar to French Sign Language. Oh, yeah. Because it was, came from the man who started was involved in the first school for the deaf in Connecticut came from France. So it was kind of grew out of that. So actually, American Sign Language is more similar to French Sign Language than British Sign Language. But people sometimes think because it’s English as a spoken language, and both England and the US, so it gets confusing, but, um, so yeah, so I use ASL vocabulary. But then sometimes people think if they’re learning baby sign language with me, and they’re learning ASL signs that they’re learning American Sign Language. But they’re not because American Sign Language, they’re learning vocabulary. But American Sign Language is a full rich, complex language, it’s not just English done with your hands. It has its own grammar and its own set, you know, sentence structure. So I just use vocabulary. It’s just vocabulary. And so a lot of times families that kind of fall in love with signing when they work with me, when they when they kind of their kids aged out. And they’re still interested in learning, I’ll, you know, recommend they study with Deaf teachers are the best teachers are learning the language. So I’ll point them in the direction of learning that language richly from someone who’s a real expert in it’s their primary language.

28:45 Yeah, and I never thought about how it would help a violent like, it’s something that you just don’t think about how it helped by like bilingual households. And that’s really cool to create that that bridge, what are some of the other benefits of big babies and language and you talk about on your website, how a baby’s ability to understand language comes before their ability to speak the language. And I do remember, with my second especially, sometimes she’d get really frustrated at not being able to express what she wanted. And that’s when she would really she wasn’t as interested in using the science as my other kids were, but when she would get frustrated, and I’d be like, I don’t know what you wanted, or what you’re telling me. That’s when she would finally like use it. And I’d be like, Oh, okay, yeah. So is that what you would consider, like another benefit? Oh, 100% 100%

29:33 Yeah, I mean, so there’s receptive language, which is what we understand. And then there’s expressive language, which is what we communicate. And so babies receptive language develops sooner than their expressive language, which is why you can have you know, a 13 month old who says, you know, Mama data, Baba, but you can say, Where’s your button and they go, or wish, you know, because they understand the question, but they can’t say where is your note? is because they don’t have those expressive speech skills yet. So that gap is where the frustration lies because they understand what what’s happening. They know that, you know, the dog is in the other room, and they really want the dog. But they can’t say, you know, Mom, please go open the door and let the dog in. So they get frustrated, right. And so if they can sign dog, they can sign cat, they can sign ball, they can sign more, whatever, then you’re bridging that gap. And that frustration, because, you know, toddlers do have a reputation for tantruming. And, and being frustrated. But most of that comes from frustration about not being understood. And if you put yourself in an 18 month old shoes, and you understand, you know, the majority of what’s happening around you, and you’re understanding the conversation that’s happening around you, but you can’t participate in it, and you can’t express your needs and wants, in the context of the, you know, ongoing conversation that you’re surrounded with all day, I’d be real frustrated to, you know, Bobby’s

31:04 been big feelings? For sure. Do you think that’s true? Like the more tools that you give your toddler or your young child to express themselves? The less frustrated? Absolutely, and the more part are involved in the family? They will feel like, yeah,

31:20 yeah, and I mean, I think that’s like, to me, that’s like the fundamental benefit of of this, but for me, my passion about it goes beyond that, because I, you know, obviously signed with both my kids and it, it was like a window into their little brains, like, I just have such strong feelings about the benefits that it created for us, that I feel like, extended beyond, you know, temporary frustration in the moment, as far as building an understanding of the person they are, of, you know, what their interests were, how they saw the world uniquely, it just really allowed me to kind of get in and see the world from their point of view, and through their eyes, because, you know, I’m just trying to think of that can think of a million examples, but like, you know, your your toddler sitting in the shopping cart, and babbling, and you, you know, you can understand a little bit, but it’s mostly just babbling and cute noises, and you stop, and there’s a wall of cereal. And at eye level, there’s Kix, or some other kind of little puff shaped cereal, and your toddler starts signing ball, because they see the box and has all those little circles on it that look like little. And you could say those to look like balls. And you can have this whole conversation that if you didn’t know that, that’s what they were seeing when they looked at that box, it would just look like they’re just looking at the box and whatever. It’s colorful, but they’re making connections, and you can then participate in that conversation. And that’s where I get excited about this, because I feel like the magic starts to really happen. Once they have more vocabulary beyond just, you know, a handful of starter signs, because that’s when things get really cool. And that’s where I get excited about. Yeah, it’s

33:14 like unlocking a secret window and totally have mine. I love that. Do you think? Or do you know? Does it help with your general language development? Or does it hinder because I remember now this was like, 18 to 16 years ago, two of my kids, they didn’t have like speech issues, but they just they were a little slow to start talking. And the pediatrician I had at the time was like was because you do sign language with them. If they’re if they’re, if you’re learning sign language, they’re not gonna want to talk or need to talk because they’re just gonna sign it to you. And to me at the time, that didn’t make sense, because I’m like, Are you using like, six signs? Like, we’re not doing an extensive, we’re not having conversations and sign language? Like, like that. Yeah. And it ended up just being my kids just I took them to speech therapy, and the speech therapist was like, You’re quiet. And then when you do talk, you talk a little fast. And so they’re just trying to take it in. Yeah. And having nothing to do with the sign language and even the FLP I went, it was like, yeah, that’s rubbish. So I was just wondering what your thoughts were that because that is something that I did hear from multiple people like, Oh, don’t teach your baby sign language, because then they won’t talk.

34:21 Yeah, but definitely for sure. When I first started doing this, back in the day, around the same time, that was more of like a thing, like an obstacle that I had that I have question I had to answer over and over again. Unfortunately, these days, I feel like the pediatricians have caught up with the times and in fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics have put out a statement that it does not that it you know, supports language development. So it’s kind of like the final word has been set on that and there’s there’s been a lot of research on it. The research conclusively says that it does not hinder or delay speech. Some studies indicate that it helps language development or I move it along faster. But that’s it results on that part of things are inconsistent. My personal experience is that it does support bigger vocabularies, I find that families that I work with it do a lot of signing, when their kids do start speaking, they have more substantial vocabularies, because they’ve been using that language for longer, but it won’t necessarily make your child speak earlier. But it will help their overall communication and vocabulary development and, and communication skills, because they’re really learning early on that like, give and take of conversation. But absolutely, it does not delay speech. And it’s actually interesting, because, you know, speech delays are very common, you know, minor speech delays, significant speechless, whatever. But I imagine your kids that had maybe were a little slower to talk that you were using science with Imagine if you hadn’t been using signs.

35:55 That’s a good point. Yeah. Like, how

35:57 would that have gone for them? Not? Well, it’s extremely frustrating. Right? That’s the point. It’s like, if you think about it, you know, and I mean, most speech pathologists, a lot of the folks who take my classes are speech therapists who want to build their vocabulary, so they can use it with our clients. Because if you have a kid who’s working on articulation, and all the skills that go into speech, you want to get them communicating. And so SLPs use sign language all the time when they’re working with little kids and I, in addition to working with babies and toddlers, I work with kids with Down syndrome, autism, apraxia, different speech delays, because it’s a wonderful tool for facilitating communication for anyone who’s struggling, or not yet speaking, and saying that, Oh, if you’re signing with them, they won’t talk. It’s like saying, Don’t let your kid crawl. Because if they start crawling, they’re never going to walk. I mean, it doesn’t make any sense. Like kids, if a kid is a toddler, or baby is surrounded by a in a hearing, you know, verbal world, they want to participate in that as soon as they possibly can, which is why babies who use sign language who then start speaking often the signs fade away pretty quickly, because first they want to speak and participate in what’s going on around them. They don’t want just be sit there and be, you know, stuck with a few handful of signs, when everyone around them is talking quickly, like you and I both do. Because we’re New Englanders. Exactly.

37:27 Yeah, I think that’s kind of that thought is also really dismissive of a baby’s capabilities to communicate that, to me, that’s like saying, you know, don’t raise your child in a bilingual household, because if they’re hearing one language, they’re not going to talk in the other language, which is ridiculous. Right? Right. So it’s the same thing, if they’re learning sign language, they can learn another language too.

37:46 Yeah, part of the research also indicates that like, you know, using sign language, visual manual language is processed in a different part of the brain than verbal language. So you’re kind of building connections between the hemispheres of the brain, and it’s all kinds of good brain building stuff. So the benefits are all on the upside, you know, there’s long term benefits as well, as far as the brain building that you’re doing. I mean, my kids still, you know, know the alphabet and can fingerspelling a first time place and, you know, they have to be quiet, they can fingerspell something to me, or whatever sign they need to go the bathroom. Yeah. Yeah, that’s

38:23 interesting. The the point that you made about like, connecting the the brain hemispheres, because music does that, too. And music is almost like its own language. Like when you’re reading the notes, you’re understanding what the notes need. And then you’re transcribing that to finger movements or whatnot. Sounds

38:39 right. Yeah. Very cool. What,

38:42 at what age should can parents start, or should start to use baby sign language with their babies? Yeah, that

38:49 is like the number one question that people ask. And really, you can start when your baby’s newborn you can start when your baby’s 18 months and super frustrated, there’s not like, you know, a window that closes, if you don’t do it, you know, like within this, you know, within 12 hours of birth, if you don’t start it will never work. Most people start once their babies sitting up and kind of has free use of their hands and kind of is in that, you know, that phase where you see babies sitting independently, they’re starting to reach and grab, that’s a great time. But that doesn’t mean if you’ve got a four month old that you can’t start signing milk each time you do a feeding, or whatever. But you know, you know from what you do, that fourth trimester is no joke. And parents don’t need more pressure. So you know, like, if some people are super gung ho, and this is really exciting, and something they want to do, so I have had people take classes with me when they’re pregnant. I’ve had people take class classes when they’ve got like a three week old. That’s fantastic. That’s fantastic. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, but you also shouldn’t feel like oh my god, I have to add on an addition to getting the breastfeed. Getting working out or, you know, dealing with the possible allergies or, you know, the sleep issues, I have to also learn sign language, it’s okay, I find that signing really peaks, most babies start signing back in like the eight to 12 month range. Signing, as far as its usefulness really peaks in the 12 to 24 month range, that’s when you’ve got a, you know, a young toddler who really understands and has very limited speech, you know, has a handful of words. And, you know, from 12 months to 24 months, there’s huge developmental stuff that goes on, speech wise. But man, that’s when I really see toddlers, babies signing really explode in that window for sure. And some babies who, you know, depending on what how their language development might, you know, do a still do a lot of signing into their, when they’re to until they’re three years old, depending, you know, every kid’s different. I mean, you know, some babies make their first sign at eight months, some make their first sign at 18 months. It’s like any developmental milestone, right? They’re all unique, some babies start walking, when they’re nine months, some when they’re 19 months, some when they’re, they’re all different. But kind of like, if you’re looking at the, you know, the big bell curve. Most babies start signing back in that kind of eight to 12 month range with 10 months being about average. So if you know that plan accordingly, you know, so if you have a five month old, and you sign with them, you know, faithfully for four weeks, and they don’t start signing back to you. It doesn’t mean it’s not working. It just means that they’re not able to get out. I mean, that’s like saying like, Well, I’ve been, you know, putting holding my six month old and walking position every day. And every time I let go, he falls. He’s not like, he’s not ready yet. Right? Yeah. So like, you know, sometimes people start early, and they’re like, I didn’t work. And I’m like, Well, that’s because you weren’t there yet. For it to work. And it doesn’t mean that they don’t understand it. Because just like we talked to our babies from the day they’re born that Oh, you’re so precious. Look how beautiful you are, they’re not going to say thank you so much. I really appreciate the feedback. But they’re taking it in, right, they’re hearing your voice, they’re getting familiar with the lilt of the way you speak, like, with finding is the same thing, they’re soaking it up, they’re watching you, they’re absorbing it, but they’re not able to do it back yet. And that comes later. So you have to be patient. And the older the child is, the less patient you have to be. So if you’re not a patient person, wait, you know, because if you have you know, a 12 month old, they’re gonna learn a lot faster than a two month old, right?

42:49 So, yeah, yeah. And that reminds me I’m for the I follow some, a few deaf creators on like, tick tock and stuff, who sign with their babies, because that’s how they communicate. And it it I don’t know why it never occurred to me that this would happen. But when they show videos of their young babies signing, and then they explain like, this is dabble, this is fine. But like, it doesn’t really mean anything. There’s no words are connected to the signs that they’re making. They’re just kind of like having their hands on sign language, which is which I thought was so cool. Yeah. I don’t know why I didn’t think that that would happen that way. But that’s the natural progression of language, whether it’s verbal,

43:27 or with gestures, I guess. Yeah, absolutely. And that’s the thing. So if you do start early, your baby might start babbling at you know, four or five, six months, it doesn’t mean that they’re intentionally meaningfully communicating with you, but they see you doing it all the time. So then they’re doing it. And similar to how hearing babies babble verbally. Deaf babies tend to babble. And some hearing babies who are exposed to sign language can babble with their hands. Just like early words, come out initially, like approximation. So like, Mommy is might be mama. Right? And so the sign for more might be this, or this, or this. So that’s an approximation. So just like, you know, a toddler might say, shuffle Lunt for elephant. A baby might say, Mommy, mommy for mom. Right?

44:25 So I have as the parent, you know what they’re trying to say? Because you understand the context. 44:30 That’s right. That’s right. So you have sign approximations, just as you have speech approximations early on. Babies are so cool. I just see the list. I know. I love it.

44:40 Do you in your opinion, are there like specific signs that parents should start with or just any signs that they prefer?

44:49 I really advocate for a mix. And I talk about this in my classes and in my books about a mix of playful and useful signs because as parents we tend to focus on useful signs right so The ones that are, you know, useful to us, we want our babies to tell us when they’re hungry when they’re tired. You know, those sorts of things. So parents tend to focus on, you know, eat and bed or sleepy or milk, you know, kind of the useful functional ones, which are great, I absolutely support using those useful ones. But I also really advocate for using some playful ones that are based on your baby’s interest. And those are going to be different for everyone. So if you have a cat, you’re going to want to teach your baby to sign for cat. If you have a big aquarium in your living room, you’re probably going to teach them the sign for fish, if you have a ceiling fan, you might want to teach them to sign for fans. So you kind of have to look at your environment, and your unique kiddo and what they seem to be interested in and pick signs based on their interest. I really love the you know, kind of follow your baby’s interests and kind of put yourself in their shoes. And even when they’re even if they’re before they’re wearing shoes, you know, kind of look at the world. From their point of view, you know, if they spent a lot of time laying on a blanket on the living room floor, lay down on the floor and look around like, is there a ceiling fan? Is there a light? Do you see, you know, cars going by? Is there a bird feeder outside the slider? Like what’s your baby looking at and drawn to? And then pick a few signs based on those unique things? Because oftentimes, that’s usually what they sign back first.

46:24 That’s great. That’s great idea. I know that we had talked a little bit about the old idea, if you teach your baby sign language, they won’t talk either nowadays, are there any other challenges or common misconceptions that parents are facing when they are teaching their baby sign language? Or do you feel like everyone’s kind of caught on that this is a really good thing. And no one’s naysaying it anymore.

46:47 I really don’t see the nice thing like I used to when I first started doing this. I do see a lot of folks that, you know, just kind of want to do the basics. And I’d rather see somebody do the you know the basics, then nothing. I mean, there’s absolutely, but I do see some I mean, I guess I would say I do see some people saying that they don’t see the value in it. And you know, I think it just depends on the individual, I see so much value in it like I I can’t imagine parenting those first few years without it. Frankly, I see parents with toddlers that aren’t using science. And I’m like, God bless. Like, I don’t know how one does that if you can’t communicate. But you know, people have you also just don’t know people, some people just you’ve got a lot of people with a lot on their plate. And so if you just can’t do it, then you just can’t do it, you know, but I am of the mind that it makes life so much easier, not harder. And there’s ways to make it fun and easy. I mean, that’s what in my program in my membership of families that we do every month a different theme, and we use songs and stories and I make it as fun and easy as possible to take songs you already know songs, you’re probably singing already to your baby and adding signs to it, you know. So we’re seeing an itsy bitsy spider spider goes up the water spout, hey, now you know the sign for water. So next time you’re in the tub, you can sign water as they’re splashing. Next time you give them a sippy cup with water, you can sign water, but we learned it in Itsy Bitsy Spider. And it’s an easy way to learn and practice it with a familiar song. So I really focus on the fun and easy part of it. Because it’s a little daunting when you’re a new parent to think I’ve got to learn a whole nother language when you really just need to strategize and learn the right vocabulary for your particular kid. And it’s not as hard as that sounds.

48:36 Yeah, in that example that you gave, like, that sounded like a really good way to just integrate it into the daily routine and the daily play. What other tips do you have for integrating it within the the daily routine? Yeah,

48:50 I mean, really just building it into, you know, the key points of the day things that you do every day. So you probably change a diaper more than once a day. And so, you know, there’s a couple ways you could approach that you could use functional signs like change or diaper or whatever, and talk you know, kind of narrate to your child as you’re changing their diaper and integrate a few signs. Or you could put some pictures next to the changing table of things that you that you know will catch their eye it also helps when you’ve got a score maybe because I don’t know about you, but my kids love to do the like rotisserie thing when I was trying to change their diaper. You know, putting a couple pictures on the wall that catch their eye that they can look at and then teaching them the sign because I mean that’s a great time you’ve you’ve got great eye contact, you know when your baby’s on the other side of the room. It’s tough but like at mealtime when they’re in their highchair and you’ve got close proximity when they’re in the tub and you’re down on your knees and you’ve got good eye contact. Were on the changing table and your eyeball to eyeball. Those are great times to integrate signing because you’ve got good eye contact and your hands are right between you and them. So yeah, so use those opportunities when you have their attention to, you know, integrate science into your daily routines and put some fun ones in there to through pictures or songs or storytime. We use books and songs a lot in my program are my two favorite tools, sign songs and stories is really kind of my signature. And that’s why my more recent, most recent book, The one up there is all about songs and games, make it fun, because if it’s not fun, then it’s just, it’s just, it’s just, we have enough things to do that are chores. And this shouldn’t be a chore, you know, it should be something that you look forward to, and that, you know, brings joy to your day. And, you know, lights up your baby and lights you up as you connect, and creates memories that down the road, you’ll look back and be like, oh, you know, I’m actually jealous of new moms that, you know, I had a cell phone when my baby was a baby. But I didn’t have an iPhone or a smartphone yet. And moms moms now walk around with these incredible recording devices, they have all this video of their babies. And I don’t I have, I have some video, but not to the extent that that moms these days to where they can just constantly capture these little clips of their little ones. And I mean, could have so much fun looking back at videos of the way. Like, just as I was saying before, how babies approximate signs early on. You know, sometimes parents want to kind of fix those approximations. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, don’t like just keep you keep you keep modeling it the right way. Just like if your baby says Flint, you say That’s right. And elephant, you know, you don’t say yeah, that’s a full full lunch, you know, you model correctly, and they do their best. And it’s the same with science. And those kinds of mistakes become like the most precious memories as they get older. You know, the things they did kind of wrong, in their best attempt at 16 months will be the thing that you remember more than the day they got it perfect.

52:07 Right? Just like with the verbal language to like you said, like, yeah, if my kid was calling elephant by a funny name, I remember that and be like, yeah, Amber, when she used

52:17 to call out this? Yeah, she said Boschetti instead of and then when she says, and then she says spaghetti. And I’m like, oh

52:26 think nobody correct or 52:29 badly. Yeah. So if

52:32 you have a family that you’re working with in the in the parent is like, I really want to learn signwave I want to teach my baby sign language, but I just have a hard time staying consistent with it, because but then a skill consistency is important. But maybe they’re just going through the whole day. And that’s the end of the day. And they’re like, I just completely forgot to use any of the signs that I had learned. What advice would you give that family? Is it worth them trying to, you know, because like you said, people couple of things going on, and sometimes staying consistent with a skill is not not in the bandwidth at the time.

53:07 So what advice would you give? Alright, so that is a really important question. And I would say focus on quality over quantity, I would much rather see a family, do a few minutes of like connected like when I was talking about before with like the eye contact at mealtime, your baby’s smiling, you’re smiling, you’re connected, having a few minutes of incorporating signs into that moment, versus like signing all day as you’re rushing from one thing to another. And you’re haggard and rushed. Don’t worry about it. It’s really about the quality of the interaction. And there’s some days where just won’t happen. Baby’s got a fever, you’re got a big project for work, and it doesn’t happen. That’s okay. You don’t, you don’t go backwards. You just don’t go forwards. So that’s fine. You might lose a whole week because everyone’s sick. That’s okay, pick up when you when you feel better. It’s okay. It’s not like, if you miss a day, it’s all ruined or or, you know, I just want to I remember this one woman who was telling me how her her toddler son hated signing. I was like, stats, and I was like talk like I asked, I won’t tell you the whole story. But I asked a bunch of questions to kind of understand. And what I realized was, is that you know, this mom had heard correctly that signing could reduce frustration. So every time her son was frustrated, she started using science with him. I felt like well, right. So it’s like, you know, it’s really important to to have quality interactions of connection to model the signs so that your baby can then use them when they need them. But you can’t teach her none of us can learn something new if I was like, I just got a flat tire. And I’m late for something and somebody was like, came over and tried to, you know, teach me something new. I’d be like, not, you know. And so when your baby’s melting down because they missed a nap, or they’re hungry, they can’t learn anything new in that moment, when you need to teach them when they’re primed to learn. So, when they’re, while they’re happily eating, not, you know, not when they’re frustrated and really hungry. But like when they’re happily eating, or you’re playing or, you know, you’re having to, you know, blowing raspberries on their belly as they’re on the changing table. That’s when you can, you know, your baby’s smiling, you’re blowing, you know, raspberries on their belly, and then you say more, and then that’s the time to teach. So, to answer your question about somebody who just can’t do it, don’t cassette, you know, that’s not the day to do it. Anyway. We all have those days, weeks.

56:00 It’s okay. Yeah. Yeah, that was very reassuring. Yeah. Because that parent was me.

56:07 Oh, my gosh, yeah, no. And then I am like,

56:09 very type a type to like, strive for perfection. I do remember feeling like actual guilt. If I went the whole day without doing any signs. And you know what, my kids turn out fine. It’s okay.

56:21 And that’s the thing, too, it’s like, you know, if somebody’s like, I do not have the bandwidth for this, like, that’s great that people do this. And I just can’t, that’s okay. You will be fine. Yeah, you know, I mean, if it’s not for you, I used to, when I first start doing this was kind of like, on a mission. But you know, I don’t it’s, I know how I get excited, because I see how much families end up enjoying it, and how fun and easy and rewarding it is. But I also am not here to guilt, anybody. If it’s not for you, you’re totally maxed out. And I’ve been maxed out, you know, there’s no guilt, no guilt, and if it’s something you want, and the other thing too, is that during your baby’s first year, you just might not have the bandwidth, but now they’re 20 months old. And you might have the bandwidth but you think it’s too late? Well, unless they’re speaking in full sentences, it’s not too late. And unless you can understand every word they’re saying, because intelligibility is also an issue with toddlers, because, you know, they might be saying a lot, but you will get like 50% of it, because the rest is kind of hard to understand. So it’s never too late. Unless your baby’s speaking like you and I are speaking right now. Yeah, check to add some sign language in so yeah,

57:36 and I love, love, love your point about doing having the connection being the important part. Because it’s like that for a lot of things with babies. Being a lactation consultant, I do a lot of sub training exercises, therapeutic tummy time, things like that, that I show parents to do. And I always explain to them, because the first question is, well, how many times a day should I do it? I say, well, let’s shoot for this number of times a day. But it’s more important that when you do it, that you’re not trying to do it when your baby’s crying and hungry or overtired that you’re trying to do it when your baby’s calm and content and making eye contact with you. Because the most important part of like timing time is the engagement with you. So I love that you really strengthen that point with the families that you work with

58:18 100% That’s the most important part. If it if it feels just another kind of chore on the list that you have to do. And you don’t want to be doing it, then don’t. Because it’s not you’re not going to be being bringing the right energy to the interaction, you know, you should be making your life easier, not

58:38 harder.

58:39 That’s right. That’s right. And it’s I’d much rather, you know, a parent or caregiver use milk when they’re holding their baby and they’re connected. And do it once like that, then do it 20 times a day, as they’re rushing and like checking things off a list, kind of like but not really fully present and connected.

58:58 Through baby, I imagine the baby’s not going to pick up on it as quickly at least if there’s no connection there. Like if you’re just haphazardly, like Oh, I’m gonna do this really quick, because I have to do it this many times a day. Versus if you are making that eye contact and you’re offering your breastfeed and and you’re signing and you’re smiling and you’re saying do you want you know, yeah,

59:18 milk or whatever? Yeah, connection? Yeah. Quality over quantity.

59:23 Always. Um, what are some? And I do

59:27 want to hear about your resources to where families can find you. But what are some resources or tools that parents can use on their journey of teaching their baby sign language?

59:39 I mean, use what you have, like, you know, use the books that you have in your collection in your basket of board books, use the songs that you already know, an ad assigned to it. Really, I mean, the things that you work the games you already play with your baby. Like if you’re playing peekaboo or you’re playing How big is Charlie serving I like those, those games, those books, those songs, that’s what you can sprinkle a little sign language on to you don’t have to go do something completely new and add something more to list. It’s just adding a little like dressing on top of what you’re already doing.

1:00:18 Really.

1:00:20 I just love your philosophy of not stressing parents so much like, thank you for that. And I’m sure every parent listening is like, yes, thank you, because we want to connect to me, you want to do these things that benefit our family with but we don’t want to be stressed out about it.

1:00:35 Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We want to do just like, do what you’re already doing well, and then sprinkle a few signs on top of it. And that’s it. That’s it. Easy peasy. Easy peasy. That’s what I mean. That’s what I do with my students all the time. We just take the books you have, you know, take the songs, you know, and, you know, I’m not just don’t want to make it harder, but just do what you’re doing. And then it’s like, kicking it up a notch more. That’s all. You

1:01:04 have a favorite sign. A few favorite signs.

1:01:08 Let me think I really love the sign for sea turtle. I just love it. Okay, so there’s two sides for tourists. So regular garden variety turtle is like this way to get it back up a little bit so you can see my hands. So you make a thumbs up and then you put your curved hand over the back. So it’s like a shoe. So it’s like, looks like a turtle right? Yeah, but sea turtle, you take your flat hands, and you stack them like this. And you rotate your thumbs and it looks like

1:01:35 it looks like a swimming.

1:01:39 Yeah, animal science or my favorite. Like that’s, I love teaching animal signs. I choose zoo animals and farm animals and forest animals and I love see animals. So I love animal science and Toddlers love animal signs. So and it’s Yeah,

1:01:55 I love your your little videos on Instagram where you it’s usually like three signs. You’re like three signs to teach your baby for Easter or whatever. And I love those because it’s like, three signs. So quick, so easy. And you and I like that you focus it around, like upcoming holidays or upcoming season so that you can just put it into your daily routine. Coming up. Let’s start using some Easter Sunday. Yeah, this

1:02:20 is bunny this I have been so good on on social media lately, because I’m so busy with my members. But I love a theme. And so every month we have a different theme. So this theme now so it’s we’re recording this in May. And the theme this month is let’s go outside because you know it’s springtime and the weather’s nice. So it’s all nature science. So we’re learning like bug and butterfly and grass and flower and tree. So every month we have a different theme and I love and I do it somewhat seasonally. So like in February, we did feelings because Valentine’s Day

1:02:51 Oh, and I love that you’re you’re doing some science for feelings too. Because again, little bodies, big feelings. And just giving them more ways to say like, this is how I’m feeling and expressing themselves. Yeah. So Elaine, tell us a little bit more about your your membership. And we’re where parents can reach you your books where they can find your books. So the books,

1:03:18 there are four and you can find them anywhere books are sold. So this one here that that’s the first one. And that’s, you know, the kind of the intro one, that’s the best one to start with. There’s another one, if you can see it, it’s kind of behind me here. That’s the second one that has more vocabulary. The third one is like a picture book. So that’s when you can read what people always kind of asked me what’s the differences. So that’s why I’m done. That’s a picture book that you read with your baby. And then the blue one up there is the songs. That’s kind of more advanced, like, once you’ve got the basics and you’re looking for more songs and things to do with them. So those are the books and then my websites tiny science.com. And there’s a Free Dictionary on there that has hundreds of signs vocabulary, so you can just go and sign up for it. You have to be a subscriber but you can it’s free. So you can sign up and watch the videos to learn any signs. And then club tiny signs is my membership and that’s kind of like my heart and soul these days. So we have a members only area each month we have a theme learn a bunch of vocabulary, there’s a comprehension quiz, I give prizes for people who get, you know, an 80% or above. And there’s songs related to the theme. And then there’s a packet with a printable so it has illustrations of all the signs book recommendations, lyrics to songs, I put together a whole and then we do a live storytime on Zoom to kind of practice it all together live. That sounds so much fun.

1:04:44 So many resources. And I love that the club like you’re you’re building a community out of it so you’re not feeling like you’re just this one family. Yeah, that you know, that’s just trying styling you which like you can go and hang out with other families because right we’re doing the same thing. That’s awesome. them. Yeah.

1:05:00 And we have a Facebook group, it’s not as busy as it used to be, because I feel like people aren’t on Facebook as much. But there is that community there. And I actually just added something new because you know, I would do a monthly q&a. But the thing is, is if you’re, if it’s Tuesday, and you have a question, you don’t want to wait till the q&a next Saturday. So I have this ask Lane thing. So you can basically, this is a members only thing, but they can ask me a question. You can say, I won’t answer you at two in the morning. But you can send a question to me anytime directly. And I’ll give you a video response. That’s like a members only thing. So people are like, my baby’s doing this. Is this a sign? I don’t know. Like, they can send me a video of their gift their baby in a big, we can get that one on one support. So that people need so yeah, it’s a lot. It’s a lot for for a small amount each month. So yeah, I love it.

1:05:49 That’s awesome. And we will put the links to to your books and your website in the show notes as well. But thank you, Elaine, for sharing your expertise on baby sign language. This has been a really fun conversation. It’s brought back a lot of memories for me for what I was signing with my kids and I I did enjoy it. I didn’t do a lot of it. Like you said, like I mentioned I was that parent that was like, oh, it’s been a couple days since I’ve actually done any science. But they still picked up on it. And I still found it extremely useful. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That’s awesome.

1:06:21 I mean, you did more than almost, you know, most of the world out there. Especially, you know, back then. I mean, I know I was in my group of like mommy friends, the only one who was doing it. So the fact that you were doing it at all is

1:06:32 like

1:06:33 fantastic. No guilt. No guilt. Exactly. No guilt. And is that your motto for this year? Yes.

1:06:41 No guilt.

1:06:43 Thank you so much, Elaine. It’s been really nice talking to you. Oh, thanks for having me.

1:06:51 Thank you for joining us this

1:06:51 week on the baby pro podcast. Make sure to visit our website Shelley chaff ibclc.com where you can check out more options for support to pregnancy and beyond, including the baby pro Bistro, our parenting community. You can also follow us on social media at Shelly tap ibclc on Instagram. If you love the show, please leave us a rating or review on iTunes to help our episodes reach more parents like you. Thanks for listening

 

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