His parents didn't know what their 8-month-old wanted. It wasn't nap time; he'd just been fed; he had a clean diaper.

Then his mother, Sarah, who had been teaching sign language to Mitchell, gestured the symbol for "sleep."

"His face lit up, he stopped crying, we laid him down and he rolled over and fell asleep," the Hyde Park mother of two says, recalling that winter day. "He knew what we were saying, and he reacted. That was really huge."

Sarah Kleiner soon enrolled in a class so she could learn more signs to teach to her son, who's now a year old. He can sign at least a dozen words, including "eat," "drink," "milk" and "all done."

As more and more parents and child-care providers in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky discover the benefits of signing with hearing babies and toddlers, sign-language classes are springing up to meet the demand. And some preschools and day cares have implemented signing.

Even Hollywood has weighed in. In the film "Meet the Fockers," a baby "talks" to Robert De Niro's character using sign language.

"It's growing in popularity because it's working. Parents and teachers are finding that it's very successful. And it's something that's easy to do," says Kathy Haders, manager of Children's For Children - P&G, a child-care center for children of P&G employees.

The Clifton center, which is staffed by employees of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, began using sign language with some children soon after it opened in 2000. Babies, Haders notes, can understand spoken language before they can utter words, so for them, "it's often much easier to (communicate) in a physical way than verbally."

Signing fits the bill.

"(Babies and toddlers) can understand us, but they can't get us to understand them. And it's horribly frustrating, and leads to temper tantrums," says Sharon Said (pronounced Sy-eed), who teaches the KinderSigns workshops that Kleiner attended.

The chief benefit of signing is reduced frustration, both for child and parents, Said says.

That's what Brandi Howard of Finneytown discovered when she taught sign language to her 8-month-old son, Andrew, who signs "more," "eat," "milk," "yes" and "no," which he learned at Children's for Children - P&G.

"He's not nearly as frustrated as other babies who don't have any way to communicate besides crying," says Howard, a staffer at the center.

Although baby signing isn't a new concept, recently there's been a flurry of activity locally.

Said has taught child birthing classes through her business, Special Delivery, for 18 years. She added the KinderSigns workshops late last year, expecting to offer them once a month.

"It's grown so much more than that," says Said, noting interest from hospitals, child-care centers and preschools.

Others are picking up on the trend. Community Services for the Deaf, a program of the Hearing Speech & Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati, will begin offering sign-language classes for hearing babies in June.

Gymboree Play and Music of Cincinnati recently began offering Baby Signs classes at its Mason location, and will bring the program to Florence in August.

And Kelly Kowalksi of Mason, a former mechanical engineer and mother of two, was certified to teach Baby Signs classes a few weeks ago.

"You can see the pride in babies when they get their message across," Kowalski says.

Like KinderSigns, Baby Signs is a national program. Baby Signs was developed by two researchers, Linda Acredolo of the University of California-Davis and Susan Goodwyn of California State University-Stanislaus. In 1982, they noticed babies using simple gestures to represent words they couldn't yet say. That led to two decades of research, much of it funded by the National Institutes of Health.

In 1996 Acredolo and Goodwyn wrote "Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk." (A 2002 revised edition is $15.95, from McGraw-Hill.)

Their research indicates that children using sign language tend to develop language skills earlier than non-signing children.

And yet, Nancy Creaghead, head of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Cincinnati, says parents shouldn't think that using sign language is critical for their children. Language development is tied to a number of factors, most notably how much time caretakers spend talking to, playing with, and generally interacting with babies in meaningful ways.

And, she notes, "There's tons of evidence about the critical importance of reading with your child."

American Sign Language forms the basis for both KinderSigns and Baby Signs classes, although the latter program uses modified versions of certain signs. In fact, Creaghead notes, a parent and child could devise their own system of signs.

Although some people might think it odd to teach sign language to babies, parents do it automatically every time they say "bye-bye" and wave. Teaching more words is a natural extension of that, says Kathy Bauer, Gymboree of Cincinnati director.

"It does take a little bit of commitment on the parents' part," she says. "It's not that difficult; it's just getting yourself used to doing it."

Repetition and patience are keys.

"This is an eight-to-10 week investment. You'll have to sign that long until (babies) sign back," Said tells almost two dozen men and women attending a recent KinderSigns workshop.

Said demonstrates about 70 signs to the participants. Most families are able to use 20 to 30, she says.

"A baby quickly learns that signing gets faster results than crying," she adds.

Sarah Kleiner sees another benefit: "When you're signing and teaching (babies) to sign, you're always trying to get their attention and looking them in the eye. It helps create a bond."

By John Johnston, Enquirer