Signing more than talking?

H&J will sign more than they talk even if they know the word for the sign. I'm not worried that signing is delaying them because they talk enough. But the fact that they choose the physical display of the word over saying it has me stumped. Anyone else have babies that do this? When did they choose to talk more than sign?

 

My son did this. He didn't really start to talk until he was 2...needless to say I was worried but he's fine and now he doesn't stop talking, lol! Sometimes when he would say a word we weren't clear on what he was saying but when he used the sign there was no doubt as to what he was trying to say. I think he just chose the communication method that was easiest for him.

 

My guys were really different in this regard. Nate almost always talked more than signed; when he first started watching the signing videos he'd sit there verbally repeating the words instead of signing. But Jack signed more than talked until he was probably about 18 months old. He's got "mush mouth" so it's hard to understand him sometimes, and he had his thumb in his mouth for the better part of the second year (amazingly he found ways to sign like that <_<). To this day he still uses signs for things like "more", "please", and "sorry". I'm not sure why, but I almost can't get him to actually say them, though he otherwise talks in complete sentences. ardon:

I think that like the PP suggested, they are easier to understand when they sign, so they get a more consistent reaction from you. When they are better able to enunciate, they'll switch to talking almost exclusively.

 

One of my girls did this...actually until just recently. They are 16 months now, and EMily JUST started actually saying more than she signs. She still has a great sign vocabulary, but it must have been being around all of her family and cousins over the holidays that made her start to say, or try to say, just about everything! I was a little worried about her too, before this. So, I think that they will just do it on their own time. I would only worry if they ONLY use sign and not words...but doesn't sound like that is the case with your guys.

 

I started signing with my girls because they wouldn't talk to me. They were closer to two before they actually began talking a lot, so we signed a bunch. I was worried as well, but my SIL (an RN who has worked with infants/toddlers for years) told me not to worry, they were fine. And they were...it just took them a little longer to talk.

 

It's varied with my kids. Some have stopped using a sign as soon as they can use the word. Some have signed much more than talked, even when they kind of knew the words. And Adam signed much more than any of my children and also talked younger and in much greater quantity and quality. He just did both together. He's 8 and still a little jabberwocky! The only signs he knows now are ones we use with Spencer. I just haven't done nearly the signing with Spencer that I did with some of my older kids, Adam especially.