Using signs to communicate with babies does not help in speeding up their language development, a new study says.
A team of researchers from the University of Hertfordshire reached the conclusion after analyzing 40 mothers and their eight-month-old babies.
Baby signs are a variety of gestures used by parents to communicate with babies before they start talking.
For the study, Dr. Liz Kirk from the University of Hertfordshire's Department of Psychology and colleagues instructed mothers to communicate with their babies using gestures or without using any gestures. The participants were followed for one year.
Researchers didn't find the babies using the sign language getting any additional benefit in their language learning process compared with other babies not using the signs.
Apart from that, they found the non-verbal communication making mothers more to respond. In the researchers' view, these early gestures from the babies can predict any risks associated with future language development.
"Although babies learnt the gestures and used them to communicate long before they started talking, they did not learn the associated words any quicker than the non-gesturing babies, nor did they did they show enhanced language development," Kirk, said in a news release.
The study has been published in Child Development.
Following are some tips provided by CDC that help in a baby's healthy development:
* Talk to the baby.
* Listen and reply back, repeating the sounds and some additional words when the baby makes sounds. This will help in the child's language development.
* Read for the baby, that helps him/her in understanding language and sounds.
* Sing and play music to help brain development
* Keep skin-to skin to contact with the baby like holding and cuddling to provide a feeling of security
* Pay attention to the baby and admire him/her more often
* When the baby is awake, play with her/ him
