Late Potty Training: Legacy of the Diaper Industry

Back in the 1980s when my children were young and not yet potty trained at 30 months, my mother-in-law would gently chastise me by saying that her kids were all trained by 18 months. At the time I thought that was pure exaggeration—the result of faulty memory or the desire to inspire me to get the kids trained. Now I know she was telling the absolute truth!

It turns out that before the 1960s children were routinely trained by 18 months—some estimates being as high as 95% of children. Given how distasteful and time-consuming it was to deal with the cloth diapers of the day, such an early age is understandable. Cloth diapers had to be rinsed out in the toilet, laundered in strong detergent and hot water, hung out to dry, folded and stacked—all steps that had to be repeated just a few days later. No wonder moms were eager to get their children out of diapers!

All this changed in the early 1960s with the invention of the disposable diaper. The good news was that their absorbency meant that babies stayed dryer and their ease of use meant that parents’ work was reduced. There was good news for the diaper industry’s bottom line, too, given the rapturous response parents had to this incredible new invention. It shouldn’t be a surprise, therefore, to hear that the industry began promoting the idea of later and later training.

By persuading both parents and pediatricians that later was better and by creating bigger and bigger diapers, the diaper industry has managed to move the average age of completion from younger than 18 months to over age 3—and still climbing! Most recently the industry introduced a size 7 diaper that can accommodate 6-year-old kids! And don’t let the name “pull-ups” fool you. They are simply disposable diapers in the shape of underpants.

The trend toward later and later training would be fine if it was good for children—but it’s not! It’s not good for children or their parents—and it’s definitely not good for the environment.

I’ll explain all this soon. Stay tuned. . . .

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

A Cat by Any Other Name is Still a Cat…Sort Of

Every once in a while, I use my weekly blog to share stories that have come to us from parents who have enjoyed our Baby Signs® Program, each one illustrating how creatively babies use signs. The following story is another example, this time demonstrating that a baby’s use of signs often provides a window into how smart babies can be.

Sixteen-month-old Sara had learned a sign for CAT that involved stroking the back of one hand and arm with the opposite hand, all the way from finger tips to elbow. She used the sign a lot, her cat “radar” being in evidence as her mom read her books or took her for walks in the neighborhood. It’s amazing how many cats there are in the world once a toddler starts looking for them!

On one occasion, however, it wasn’t a full grown cat that caught her attention. In the local vet’s waiting room was a box with four kittens. These were the first kittens Sara had ever seen, and she was clearly fascinated. As usual, Sara turned to her mom to tell her, with a sign, what was in the box. But it wasn’t the usual CAT sign. Instead of a full swipe from finger tips to elbow, with a smile of wonder on her face, Sara substituted a tiny swipe just the length of her fingers. Her message? Big sign is to big cats as tiny sign is to tiny cats! In formal logic terms, an analogy!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
and
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs® Program

Baby Sign Language in Action!

One of my favorite topics for this blog is describing how creative babies are in their use of signs. While it’s true that they use them effectively for routine needs, like more food or drink or being “all done,” these are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ways that babies communicate with signs. Here are some stories that illustrate my point.

• Baby Aubrey’s mom wrote to us about how Aubrey used the signs for COLD and OUTSIDE when her mother opened the door to let the dog out and used them again—along with an emphatic shake of the head for NO—when her mom started to put Aubrey’s coat on to leave the house.

• Here’s another story where a dog played a prominent role. Henry’s mom told us how Henry came to her and signed DOG plus DRINK—and sure enough, the dog’s water bowl was empty.

• I particularly like the creativity shown in the following story. The signs for FLY (actually, BUG) and WATER came in handy for a 16-month-old when she wanted to play with a common utensil—the “fly-swatter!”

• And then there’s little Julia who, upon seeing a mom wearing a front pack with her baby’s arms and legs hanging out and head peeping out the top, got a quizzical look on her face and signed TURTLE!

Over the years I’ve learned that many people don’t “get it” about baby sign language until they hear stories like this. What a wonderful way to show people unfamiliar with babies that there truly is “somebody home in there!”

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
and
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs® Program

Baby Sign Language: A Boon to Multilingual Classrooms

Last week I wrote about how children being raised in bilingual households benefit from having signs added to the mix. As I pointed out, the logic is simple: When the baby, as an example, hears “leche” from Mom and “milk” from Dad and both parents pair the word they say with the MILK sign, the parents are making the job of understanding the equivalence of the two words much easier. Far from increasing a child’s confusion, it decreases confusion, thereby making the child’s task of conquering the individual languages easier.

Of course, signing has another advantage in multilingual settings, especially in child care classrooms where teachers and families speak different languages: The signs provide a common language so that toddlers who are learning the family language can still make themselves understood. Just such a situation exists at the Center for Child and Family Studies at the University of California, Davis, where graduate students from all over the world routinely enroll their infants and toddlers. In the 22 years since the Baby Signs® Program was first introduced, teachers and parents alike have been amazed at how much more smoothly daily life in the classroom proceeds. The signs have enable children who speak different languages to communicate with their teachers and each other. In one case, for example, a toddler from Israel and a toddler from Taiwan were observed reading a picture book together—with the first girl turning the pages and pointing at objects while the second girl made the appropriate signs!

Bottom line? Signing is clearly a boon to children facing the challenge of hearing multiple languages—an increasingly common occurrence these days—whether at home or in the classroom.

Visit www.babysigns.com for more information about Baby Signs® resources to help you and your baby enjoy all the benefits that signing can bring.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
and
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs® Program

A Story Illustrates an Important Advantage of Signing

One of my favorite personal Baby Signs® stories involves my son, Kai (who you see in the photo below with me way back in 1987 doing his sign for airplane--an indication of how long I've been involved with signing). We were in the mall; he was 12 months old and in his stroller as we passed by store after store. Suddenly, he turned around in his stroller, smiled, and did his sign for “crocodile” – clapping his palms together like the jaws of a crocodile. “You see a crocodile—in the mall?” I asked, looking around in vain for such a critter. I knew to trust him, though. He clearly was trying to tell me about something he saw. I let him out of his stroller, and he immediately toddled over to the window of the store we had just passed—a men’s store with racks of men’s shirts in the window. Where was the crocodile? You probably guessed it! The IZOD insignia on the shirts!

I’m telling this story to illustrate a point about why signing with babies speeds up language development.

Imagine yourself in my situation. Do you think I just calmly said “Oh yeah, that’s a crocodile,” plopped him back in his stroller, and went on my merry way? No! I was flabbergasted that he had seen those crocs from his stroller and thrilled that he wanted to tell me about them—so I excitedly flooded him with words like: “You’re right! Those are crocodiles! There are lots of crocodiles! They’re like the crocodile in your book! You are the smartest baby in the world!” (Probably not my exact words, but close enough.)

His use of the sign resulted in him hearing lots and lots of words that he otherwise would not have heard—and who picked the topic? He did! Think about it. We all pay more attention to things we are personally interested in, and that’s true for babies and toddlers, too. When we join them in attending to what they are focused on, chances are much greater that they will listen closely to what we’re saying—and learn! In fact, we know from research done at Emory University that this is true for verbal words even when signs are not involved: children are more likely to learn words they hear while the parent is talking about something the children have chosen.

The magic thing about signs is that it enables babies to pick the topic so much earlier than if they had to wait for words to come along. We shouldn’t be surprised, therefore, that signing gives babies such a lovely jumpstart in learning to understand words and to talk.

Happy Signing

(and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
and
Co-Founder, Baby Signs Program

What’s the News About TV and Babies?

One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to teach babies important signs is by watching our Baby Signs® DVDs. ( In fact, a coupon for 20% off a complete set of our 6 theme-based DVDs—plus a bonus video dictionary DVD for parents--is this week’s “Weekly Wow.”) But are DVDs good for babies?

Perhaps you’ve heard the concern voiced by pediatricians that babies under age 2 should watch no TV at all. This strong prohibition was issued a decade ago by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) as a safeguard against parents who expose their very young children to hours and hours of general, non-educational programming, using the TV simply as a babysitter that keeps them occupied and happy for long stretches of time without providing any lasting benefits.

Since that time, more and more research studies have revealed that the content of what’s watched matters a great deal. In fact, educational programming specifically designed for babies and toddlers—especially programming with clear, simple language, that elicits their participation—can have positive effects on their development. This includes shows like “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues” that research indicates can actually speed up language development.

It’s also critical that programming for babies avoids the frantic pacing and complex imagery typical of shows for older children and adults. In fact, new research has shown that even having adult fare playing in the background tends to disrupt infant play behavior.

It was with all these factors in mind that Dr. Susan Goodwyn, Co-founder of the Baby Signs® Program, and I created our Baby Signs® DVDs. The components, chosen to attract the attention of even the youngest audience, include simple animated characters called our “DiaperDoodles™,” real babies signing, BeeBo® our Baby Signs Bear, and funny monkey puppets. They model the signs slowly and repeatedly, thereby giving babies lots of time to notice and even practice the actions. In addition, the language is extremely simple, encouraging the baby to sign along, and the pace is very slow. And best of all, these DVDs actually teach something shown by research to be useful—signing!

Of course, everything in moderation is still the best advice. We would never advocate hours and hours of even our own DVDs! And whenever possible, it’s always good for parents and babies to enjoy our DVDs together. We just hope that well-meaning parents understand that slipping our DVDs video into their daily routines with their babies is much more likely to help than hinder their development!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Signing: A Priceless Gift for One Little Girl

Ever hear someone say, “Oh, signing---that’s just parlor tricks for babies. You say a word and they produce the sign. How is that any different from a dog who rolls over when you say the words?” Whenever I hear comments like this I know that that person has been around a signing baby enough to see Baby Signs in action. So, what do I say in response? I tell them the following story:

Heather, a Baby Signs instructor in Iowa, had a baby daughter who started using signs at about 10 months and became quite the signer by 14 months. It was at this point that the baby began to have what looked like severe temper tantrums. She would flail her arms and legs and twist her head back and forth, often falling to the floor. When Heather sought help, she was simply told that it was probably just the terrible-twos starting early. But then Heather noticed that each time her daughter had one of these “spells,” she would tap her index fingers together—the sign for HURT. That’s when Heather knew something serious was wrong—and she was right. Heather insisted that she see a pediatric neurologist who discovered that her daughter had Childhood Epilepsy! Fortunately, because it was diagnosed extremely early, she escaped any long term neurological problems and has done so well that she was spared long term medication.

Certainly doesn’t sound like “parlor tricks” to me! How about you?

Happy Signing! (And don't forget to visit us on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program (the original and onbly research-based sign language program for hearing babies)

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

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Baby Signs "Sign of the Week" BUNNY - with free poster

Happy Spring! The sign of the week is "BUNNY." You will see a demonstration of the American Sign Language sign and of the baby-friendly sign. Choose the sign that works best for you and your baby.



Watch previous Sign of the Week videos
Request a sign


APRIL SAVINGS Buy 1,Get 1 Free!
Buy the My Bedtime Signs DVD Fun Pack and get the My Getting Dressed Signs DVD Fun Pack - absolutely FREE!No promo code needed. Offer expires 5/1/10
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Animal Signs Printable Poster Pack
Printable Poster Pack with 12 animal signs: Dog, Cat, Bird, Fish, Duck, Frog, Horse, Cow, Bug, Turtle, Butterfly, and Bunny. Get a PDF document to print your own 8.5 x 11-inch posters for your baby's room. Just $6.99.
Buy Now!


Download this free sample poster here.

Baby Signs "Sign of the Week" Video - and FREE Poster

In celebration of Dr. Suess' birthday, March is National Reading Month. Research conducted by Baby Signs Founders Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn show that babies who sign develop an early love of books and reading. Why? Because signing helps babies become active participants in reading instead of just passive listeners.



Watch this video with your baby and learn the American Sign Language sign for "Book!"

Download this free Baby Signs poster

Watch previous Sign of the Week videos
Request a sign

Baby Minds Video Tip: Create a Crawling Challenge For Your Baby!

Watch this video by child development expert Dr. Linda Acredolo (co-author of Baby Signs, Baby Minds and Baby Hearts) and learn how you can build challenging crawling landscapes to help build your baby's mind as well as his muscles!



Purchase Baby Minds: Brain Building Games Your Baby Will Love

25 Days of Christmas! 25% off Bath DVD and Free Bath Poster

Today's Deal: Get 25% off My Bath Time Signs DVD
Baby Signs DVDs do more than entertain, they actually teach infants and toddlers how to sign using baby-friendly pacing, repetition, signing babies, animated characters, puppets and engaging music.
My Bath Time Signs DVD teaches the signs for Bath, Bubbles, Water, Toothbrush, Frog and Duck.(Total run time: 22:15)

Today's Code: BATH25
Extended! Good through 9 a.m. PST 12/19/2009. Instructions for using codes


Today's Freebie:
Baby Signs Poster: BATH

25 Days of Christmas: Day 16, Get 25% off Signing Flash Cards

Wednesday December 16

Today's Deal: Get 25% off the Baby Signs Concept Flash Cards

Concept Flash Cards Set 1

Concept Flash Cards Set 2

Today's Code: CC25

Extended! Good through 9 a.m. PST 12/18/2009.
Instructions for using codes

Today's Freebie: The Sleepytime Song (great for bedtime!)

25 Days of Christmas: Day 13

Back by popular demand!


Get 25% off the Baby Signs Potty Training Kit!

Promo Code: Potty25

25 Days of Christmas: Day 11

Friday, December 11

Today's Deal:
Save 25% on the MORE Sign, Say & Play Kit
Retail price $69.99, with coupon just $52.49

BeeBo is the star of the show in this fun package of Baby Signs products that teach important safety, feelings and birthday signs, as well as signs for going outside, to the farm or the zoo. Kit includes:

• BeeBo's Playhouse
• Baby BeeBo Plush Toy
• Sign Along with BeeBo DVD
• BeeBo's Big Birthday Surprise Book
• Music CD and Songbook

Today's Code: MORE25
This code is good through 9 a.m. PST 12/12/2009.
Instructions for using codes

Today's Freebie:
Audio file and Lyrics Poster for "Here at the Zoo,"
a song from the music CD in the MORE Sign, Say & Play Kit shown above.

25 Days of Christmas: Gift Suggestion for your Childcare Provider - and Free Poster!

Wednesday, December 9

Today's Deal:
Save 25% on BeeBo the Baby Signs Bear

Looking for a great gift for your child's caregiver or child care center? BeeBo the Baby Signs Bear is the perfect fit. Just sit BeeBo on your lap, slip your hands inside his gloves, and you are ready for signing fun and imaginative play. BeeBo makes it easy to provide enriching, playful, and heartwarming learning experiences for your child.

Today's Code: beebo25
This code is good through 9 a.m. PST 12/10/2009. Instructions for using codes


Today's Freebie:
Baby Signs Poster: BEAR

25 Days of Christmas: Day 7 Snuggle with Baby BeeBo

Monday, December 7

Today's Deal: Save 25% on Baby BeeBo!
Regular Price $19.90, with code just $14.99.

Your baby will love Baby BeeBo, the "baby" version of the Baby Signs character that stars in all the Baby Signs DVDs. This soft and lovable 12" teddy bear makes a great companion for your baby while signing along with a Baby Signs DVD or book, or simply as a cozy friend for cuddling at nap time or bedtime. (Hat not included.)

Today's Code: baby25
This code is good through 9 a.m. PST 12/8/2009.
Instructions for using codes

Today's Freebie:
Watch this video with your baby and learn the sign for LIGHT!

7 Great Signs for the Holidays: LIGHT

Watch this video with your baby and learn the sign for LIGHT!

Visit us at www.babysigns.com

7 Signs for the Holidays: #3 LOVE

Watch this video with your baby and learn the American Sign Language (ASL) sign for LOVE!
Click here to download a FREE signing poster!

How to Prepare Your Baby for Cold and Flu Season

As children go back to school, they become exposed to new viruses and bring them home to share with the family. If you have an infant in the house, there’s a good possibility that you’ll be caring for a sick baby at least once during the upcoming cold and flu season.

Sometimes it’s hard to know when a baby is sick. Your baby might have a low-grade fever, but when she can’t talk, there’s no way for her to tell if her throat hurts or her ears ache. With the H1N1 “swine flu” virus looming on the horizon, it’s especially important for parents to know that they CAN communicate with their baby when it comes to health issues.

We encourage you to start now to each these simple signs that will help your baby:

• tell you if he’s feeling (HOT, COLD, SICK)
• tell you where he’s feeling pain (HURT)
• know what to expect during a visit to the doctor (HELP, DOCTOR, MEDICINE)
• understand when pain will end when getting an immunization (ALL DONE)
• communicate about health-promoting activities (WASH)

Download your free Health Signs Poster!

Have you had experiences using these signs (or others) to talk with your baby about health issues?

Contest! Win a V.Smile Baby™ Infant Development System from Baby Signs, Inc.

Win a V.Smile Baby™ Infant Development System for your baby!

V.Smile Baby provides fun and enriching ways for parents to interact and learn with their babies. Parents plug the console into the TV and insert their baby's favorite Smartridge™ (Learn & Discover Home Smartridge™ is included). Together, parent and baby play with the activity panel to interact with the delightful learning environments they see on the TV screen. With V.Smile Baby, you can share the joy and excitement of learning as you watch your baby grow.

V.Smile Baby Infant Development System teaches numbers, shapes, colors, animals and signs. Dr. Susan Goodwyn and Dr. Linda Acredolo, authors’ of Baby Signs: How To Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, have helped VTech provide a great start for signing with your baby.


How to Enter

MANDATORY ENTRY:
Visit the online store at BabySigns.com.
Post on this blog to tell us which product you would love to have.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
For additional entries, post a blog entry when you:

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• Blog about this contest (include link to your blog in your post)


• Tweet about this contest. You can tweet the following daily:
  Win a V.Smile Baby Infant Development System for your baby! Sponsored by Baby Signs, Inc. http://babysignsinc.blogspot.com
  

CONTEST RULES:
Due to shipping restrictions, this contest is only open to readers in the United States. Giveaway will end 8/31/2009 at 10:00 am PST. Winner will be chosen using http://www.random.org/. If winner does not respond within 5 business days, an alterate winner will be chosen. Please allow 10 business days for shipping. Baby Signs, Inc. reserves the right to revise the terms and conditions of this contest at any time.

Good luck to all entrants!

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