"He can communicate with us sooner through sign language than he can through speech. So we're excited to get some communication back from him, and he's already doing some signs of his own. He'll raise his arms up when he wants to be held, so we know he has the ability to gesture what he wants. We're just teaching him new gestures," Ford said.

Hearing and speech experts at Children's Mercy Hospital say 6 or 7 months is a realistic age to introduce simple signs.

"I would start with more milk, eat, sleep or bedtime smiles. Those are the easiest for the child to reproduce," audiologist Amy Lane said.

Lane said to get the child's attention, make sure they are watching and say the word as you do the sign frequently and consistently. In a month or two, your baby will be reproducing the signs you teach. Experts said that using baby sign language will not delay normal speech.

"Once they learn the word, they'll just drop the sign because it's a lot easier to just say what they want than to get someone's attention to look at them and do their sign," Lane said.

As your child masters a few signs, start adding a few more.

Eckerman reported that baby signing is becoming more popular because communication can mean less crying, and some research shows babies who sign, go on to score higher on language and intelligence tests.

Children's Mercy Hospital is offering a free class in baby sign language Jan. 30. To sign up, go to https://www.childrens-mercy.org/classreg/class/default.asp?pkClass=128

Source: http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/health/6031198/detail.html