Sign language has become a popular way of communicating for new parents.

As a result, it isn't unusual these days to find a circle of moms and babies learning how to communicate through sign language.

Barb Desmarais signs with babies between seven and 18 months old, but says the classes are more geared towards parents

It's a bridge between verbal and nonverbal. We now have the capacity, the ability, for a baby as young as ten, eleven, twelve months old to be communicating to their parents that they want more of something.

Mary Brown says [son] Isaac's ability to sign has helped her understand his needs

"I didn't have to think why is he crying, is he teething? Does he have a headache? Did he have a bad dream? I knew exactly what he wanted."

"That's when I thought, wow this is great."

Parents learn up to 100 signs--many of them through songs. But can signing with your child -- before he or she can talk-- do more harm than good?

The first thing to remember is that there are not a lot of large scale studies to prove the benefit of this.

But pediatrician Dr. Mark Kovacs says small studies have shown a child will feel less frustrated when they're able to communicate their needs and signing could benefit babies who have developmental delays

"The use of the gesture and the hand and the motor skills is a little less complex than forming all the different sounds that are required to produce all the different words,'' he said.

The key is to use words in conjunction with a sign. And that's what moms are learning to do. Mary says signing is a great experience for both parents and babies

"It gives them a thrill to be able tell you about something, draw something to your attention even before they can say whatever it is they want you to think about or notice,'' she said.

There are many products on the market looking to sell parents baby signing books and programs.

To date, there is no substantial research to show that baby signing is beneficial in normally developing infants. The bottom line is: invest time and money in baby signing programs for the enjoyment.

Also if parents are interested, they can get baby signing information for free from our local health units where many of the speech therapists will offer some advice on some of the simple signs to teach babies.

Related links: barb@theparentingcoach.com. Call 604-524-1783 

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Dr. Rhonda Low