WFMW: Understand Baby’s Needs
I know there’s a lot of skepticism surrounding this idea, but all of our kids have learned sign language and it’s been invaluable. We bought this book after seeing it featured on our local news. I read it and thought it was worth a shot. It turned out to be worth a lot more.
Starting around six months, we’d begin signing basic words to our babies while saying the words… “Eat,” “Drink,” “More,” “Thank you,” “Down,” “Please,” “Hurt,” and lots, lots more. By the time they turned 10-12 months old, each of our boys could sign what they needed! It saved so many headaches and frustrations. I cringe when I see a baby throwing a frustrated fit in a restaurant. Our kids could tell us when they’d had enough by signing “All done!”
The words seem to follow shortly, but it’s been fun to watch our older kids teach the younger ones to sign, too. We’ve had no negative experiences with this and I’m always happy to answer questions. It’s simple to teach and simple to learn. When it comes to understanding what your children want, sign language definitely works for me!
Now, if anyone has different (i.e. forget saltines, ginger ale, eating before you sit up, etc.) ideas for how to curb morning sickness, please let me know. You can check out my previous post for more info. 
For more great Works for Me Wednesday ideas, go check out Rocks in My Dryer.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Great tip! The only sign I know is for “more” and I just throw my hands in the air for “all done!” My baby is 11 months and does great with these–I’ll have to check the library for that book so I can learn more. Anti-nausea tip: Use Premesis prenatal vitamins. They have an extended-release B complex and worked on my two sisters and me (one sis is adopted, so it’s not compatible just with our family’s DNA!) It stopped one sis’s nausea/vomiting within a couple days. Sis #2 and I took it from the moment we found out we were pregnant and never got sick at all. Good luck!
September 19th, 2007 at 11:30 am
liquid Benadryl - liquid so it works faster and so you can take as little as necessary. I have used it without any problems during my last 6 pregnancies. They are all healthy children. Congrats.
September 20th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Have you tried ginger tablets? You can get them at GNC!
I hope you find something that helps! Congratulations!
September 25th, 2007 at 1:29 am
Great story. Signing with babies was considered ‘trendy’ at one time but is now becoming more mainstream. Why wouldn’t a parent sign - it just makes so much sense! I agree with the comment about children throwing tantrums - they just need to be understood. Please visit my blog to read more about sign language for babies and please, leave a comment.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
My morning sickness was/is very, very tough so I’m on anti-puking medicine as I like to call it. I had to build up to it, but the first thing they told me to do was take vitamin B6, 25mg three times a day and once a day take half of a Unisom tablet. It wasn’t enough for me, but it might help you. None of the regular tips worked for me at all.