Thank Goodness for Early Potty Training!

One of the things I’m most proud of is my development, with Dr. Susan Goodwyn, of the Baby Signs® Potty Training Program. The whole goal of the program is to (a) convince parents to potty training earlier than is typical today, and (b) to provide materials for both them and their toddlers to help make it happen. And, just recently I witnessed for myself exactly why training early is such a good idea. Here’s what happened.

It was 2 weeks ago that my husband and I accompanied my step-son, daughter-in-law, and twin grandchildren on their first ever camping trip. The twins, just a bit over 3 years old, were like whirling dervishes—running, jumping, and even somersaulting as they explored the tent, air-mattresses, and the great outdoors. Lay down for the usual afternoon nap? Are you kidding, Grandma?! Don’t throw the sand or the stones? Are you kidding, Grandpa?! Come eat food not cooked or served in the usual way. No way, Mom! Or more accurately, “Noooooooooooo!”

Don’t get me wrong: The twins are wonderful kids—but they are also typical 3-year-olds who have developed what psychologists call a “sense of self,” meaning that they are, for the first time, able to think of themselves as independent beings who can have their own thoughts and can express (loudly!!) their own opinions. This major advance typically begins around age 2 but is in full blossom by age 3—and stays that way until reason begins to reign around age 4 and 5. The achievement of a sense of self is a wonderful and necessary milestone, but it is also one that carries with it the inevitable consequence of tantrums, stubborn refusals, and the increasingly frequent use of the word “no.”

Back to the campsite: Despite all the feverish exploration, uncontrollable energy, and battles of will over many things, both twins went potty predictably and happily in their portable potty chairs time after time after time! What made this happy situation possible was the fact that the twins had already been potty trained for over 8 months. For them, using the potty was just a fact of life, not a novel skill to be learned—or, as is all too frequent with older toddlers, resisted.

And I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Mom and Dad, in describing difficulties their friends with older toddlers were having, said more than once what a nightmare it could have been had they waited. At least in this one important arena, the word “Nooooooo!” was not a problem!

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

When Washing a Car is More than Just Getting it Clean

Suggest to a teenager that he or she should wash Mom’s car and you can just imagine the reply, with pursed lips, eye-rolling, and heavy-hearted harrumphing. Suggest the same to a toddler—as I did the other day while babysitting my twin grandchildren—and the result is excited compliance. The contrast is enough to make one wonder why something that is so clearly unwanted work at one age is such a delight at another. The former is too complex for a simple blog entry, so let’s focus on the latter.

The reason lies in the fact that (a) the human ability to imitate is deeply ingrained and (b) meeting challenges at any age brings a sense of well-being. Let’s address them in order. Even 1-day-old human babies are capable of imitating simple facial gestures they see Mom or Dad make—like sticking out one’s tongue or pursing one’s lips. This ability is astonishing given that babies this young have never even seen their own tongues or lips! How do they do it? Neuroscientists have discovered over the last decade that we are all born with a type of cell in the brain called a “mirror neuron,” a cell whose job it is to both register what we see others do and then mirror those actions. Voila! Imitation!

And what a handy tool imitation is. From the very earliest years, children learn tons and tons of important skills by engaging the ability to imitate---including how to feed themselves, use signs to communicate, learn words, sing songs, put on their own clothes, throw balls—and on and on and on.

What about “b,” the satisfaction of a job well-done. Again, this is something humans are born with. Even very young babies work hard to reach goals—whether it’s successfully getting spoon to mouth, communicating with signs or words, singing songs, getting dressed, or throwing a ball. In other words, the ability to imitate and the desire to meet a challenge work in tandem to help each of us develop the skills we need to survive in complex human culture.

This brings us back to why washing Mom’s car was so exciting to my twin toddler grandchildren, Nate and Olivia. Quite simply, they were reveling in the opportunity to imitate something they’d seen grown-ups do and in the fact that doing so provided them with a sense of being a bit more grown up themselves. They had a “job” to do and doing it was satisfying!

Now, if only we could get our teenagers to feel the same way…..

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

Sign Time, Rhyme Time

As some of you may know, the first edition of the foundational book that launched the “sign language with babies” movement—my book with Dr. Susan Goodwyn, Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk—was published way back in 1996. Since that time we’ve published two more editions, one in 2002 and the most recent in 2009.

In all three editions we accomplished the major goal of helping families understand the benefits of signing, appreciate the fact that the Baby Signs® Program is founded on our government-funded research, and learn easy ways to incorporate signing into daily life within their homes.

However, because of space constraints, we found it necessary in this latest edition to leave out one of my favorite features—a set of simple poems easily combined with signs that parents can recite to help their little ones learn signs in a fun way. Maybe because I personally authored most of these, I was really sad to see them go. Then it suddenly occurred to me that there is no reason I can’t share a few of them here! So enjoy!

Dreamland
One last drink of water (Water or Drink)
My favorite teddy bear (Bear)
A lap to curl up in (Pat lap)
And the old rocking chair (Rocking torso)
A book about kittens (Book; Cat)
A song about love (Love)
And I’m off to dreamland (Sleep)
With the stars up above. (Stars)

Butterfly Wings
Butterfly wings go fluttering by (Butterfly—left to right)
Down to the flowers and up to the sky Butterfly—down, then up)
Butterfly wings tickle your toes (Butterfly to toes)
Butterfly wings land right on your nose! (Butterfly—to nose)

Giraffes are Tall
Giraffes are tall (Giraffe)
Birdies are small (Bird)
But itty bitty fleas you can’t see at all! (Tickle baby)

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