A Little Help On The Road To Talking with Baby Sign Language

From the moment your baby is born, they begin to learn language skills from the people and environment around them. They slowly go through various stages of language development from babbling to gesturing until they finally develop speech. This final stage of language development is acquired through your baby listening to people talk, talking to others and also playing with sounds and words.So how can you as a parent help your baby on the road to talking?By introducing baby sign language into your home you can assist with your baby's language development and vocabulary building. Baby sign language helps bridge the gap of communication for parents by enabling pre-verbal babies to communicate using basic sign language.Baby sign language can help your baby's receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive skills are where your baby begins to understand what they are hearing. These receptive skills then later develop onto expressive skills or speech.To help encourage speech:- Talk to your baby.Talk to your baby frequently and make sure that you speak slowly as this will allow your baby the opportunity to listen to the words you are saying and the sounds you are making.- Focus on single words from your baby's everyday life.Baby sign language can help as you introduce one key word and sign at a time from your baby's environment such as eat, drink, milk, more etc.- Use a variety of other words.While focusing on the keywords that are important in your baby's life don't forget to use a variety of other words around your baby to help expand their understanding of their environment.- Wait for responses from your baby.Give them a chance to "talk" back, listen to the sounds they make as they try to communicate. Also watch for those early gestures as they try to imitate signs you have introduced to them.- Encourage their efforts.As they begin to express new sounds imitate these sounds back to them and praise them for their attempts.- Listen to your baby.When playing and talking with your baby listen to them and what they are trying to communicate to you, the same as you would in an adult conversation.- Play with your baby.Use games such as hiding games or peek-a-boo to encourage actions, facial expressions and sounds.- Read to your baby.Use books with bright colours and pictures. As your baby develops, their interests in books change. To find out more information on early literacy visit http://www.australianbabyhands.com/baby-sign-language-articles/earlyliteracy.html.- Sing to your baby.Have a list of songs that you sing regularly to your baby. Singing traditional nursery rhymes that make you repeat words over and over may be a tedious task for you but it is great for your baby's learning.- Develop your baby's hearing skills.Point out sounds to your baby as they occur such as a dog barking, the doorbell ringing, a car starting or a plane flying by.Most babies' begin on the road to talking between 12 and 18 months of age. Once this occurs, your baby will be constantly adding to their vocabulary and by the age of two and a half, will begin joining words together. Baby developmental guidelines for baby's from one month to 24 months can be viewed here http://www.australianbabyhands.com/baby-sign-language-articles/development.htmlSo When Should I Seek Help Concerning My Baby's Language Development?As highlighted by Speech Pathology Australia on their website, here are some pointers to look out for if you are considering seeking help concerning your baby's language development:- your baby does not seem to listen to you, enjoy sounds or respond to them- your baby has difficulty sucking, chewing, swallowing or biting- your baby isn't using real words by 18 months of age- your toddler is frustrated by not being able to speak to others- your toddler has trouble understanding what you say- your toddler stutters- your toddler has an unusual voice, for example it sounds husky- your toddler isn't trying to make sentences by two and a half years.As a parent you play a very important role in your baby's language development. By using any of the points mentioned above you can actively assist in your baby's language learning and help your baby on the road to verbal communication.

Incorporate Creativity In Your Baby Shower Invitation Ideas

Incorporating creativity in your baby shower invitation ideas will set you apart from others and will prepare the stage for a wonderful pregnancy celebration. The baby shower invitations are an expression of your intense desire to cordially invite your friends and relatives to the baby shower party. As such, these invitations should reflect your intense emotions to invite your near and dear ones to come to the baby shower and share your happiness. You can base your baby shower invitation ideas on the theme that you might have selected for the party. There are many other ideas for the same and some of them are being enumerated below.Baby Bassinet IdeaBaby shower invitations based on baby bassinets are one of the most attractive baby shower invitation ideas. The invitation for the baby shower is decorated with baby bassinet that has a baby inside it. This works for both boys and girls but if twins are expected, then you can use two baby bassinets.Baby Bib IdeaUsing the baby bib is also a great baby shower invitation idea. The invitation can be made in the shape of a baby bib and this invitation can be used for both boys and girls.Baby Blocks IdeaThis is one of those baby shower invitation ideas that use baby blocks of alphabets and numerals for decorating the invitations. These invitations can be used for both girls and boys.Baby Bottle IdeaYou can use any item connected with a baby to make the invitation. A baby bottle would also be a great baby shower invitation idea. The invitations could be made in the shape of a baby bottle or the invitation edges could be decorated with petite baby bottles.Stork IdeaTraditionally, the stork is depicted as bringing the newborn baby. As such, this is a great baby shower invitation idea. You can find plenty of such invitation cards in the stores and you can select the cards that have pictures of a stork delivering a baby. Such an invitation card can be further decorated by you and you can add a cute caption and your personal touch in the form of a loving message.Lovely AnimalsBabies love cute animals such as furry teddy bears or small dogs. As such baby shower invitations in the forms of these animals would be a great idea. Small furry teddy bears, dogs, ducks or butterflies can be placed on the invitations for decorating the same.In general, any item connected with a baby would be an excellent idea for incorporating in an invitation card for a baby shower. These items could be any of the following: burp cloth, bib, basket, towel, diapers, baby bottles, nipples, bottle cleaners etc. If you know the sex of the baby, you should use blue color for a male baby and pink color for a female baby. If you do not know the sex, you can use neutral colors like yellow and green.There are many baby shower invitation ideas that you can incorporate in the invitations but using your creativity will enhance the effect greatly.