Some of the first things an infant learns to do, is control their body movements. By about one year old, they go from gently wiggling around, to reaching and grabbing for things, kicking and learning to eventually stand, walk, hold a cup, etc. All in one year, without even knowing what any of these things were at birth.
But what they aren't focusing on as much in that first year is talking. It's not till around one year old it is expected for them to start trying to pronounce words. Don't get me wrong, I know there are babies well under one year that start talking, and I think that's incredible considering how many other things their little brains are doing during that time.
On top of figuring out their motor skills, they're taking in every singe word they hear and trying to interpret it. Like learning a new language. The more you practice, and repeat the same words, you begin to understand their meaning better and the context in which they are used. Therefor, just because your 7 month old can't say the word "more" when they're still hungry, doesn't mean they don't want to tell you. Obviously we spend enough time with our children and know their que's, but I found it so much easier to communicate with my daughter early on by adding physical motions, ones that she could easily do. Rather than trying to have her say words she knew the meaning of but couldn't pronounce.
This also doesn't mean I discouraged her from talking, and my intentions were always to repeat the word and ultimately teach her to say it. In fact I've been very proud of my daughter for the fact that things she used to only sign for, she now knows the word and pronounces it well and has stopped signing for it all on her own.
Now that she is 2 years old with a vocabulary of more words than I can count, she doesn't sign at all. But I love that she has taken it into her own hands, and says things once she feels confident enough to.
So to the point...
The reason I taught my daughter sign language was to be able to communicate with her well before she could pronounce words.
She picked this up so quickly, because her brain was already working hard on learning the meaning behind the words she hears, and figuring out how to move her hands and fingers.
So by putting those two things together, she was able to tell me things instead of crying as early as 6 months old.
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