I have tried teaching sign language to my first born but failed big time because she couldn't do much with fine motors. By the time she could master some skills, she has already started to communicate verbally. She's coming to 3 years old and could barely cope with alphabets. 1. When is the ideal time we can teach our baby sign language? 2. Is there a specific time frame how long each session should last? 3. How do we go about teaching it? I have a guide book and flash cards.

I got interested with baby sign language when I saw videos of young kids doing it on YouTube and I was very impressed. I read that it's great for their development too. I went and bought the book and cards and started when my baby was 6 month old. But it took me months and plenty of frustrations and tears before I begin seeing the results. And as they say, practice makes perfect and never giving up is the key. Here is what I did: 1) Devote a time and place where you can practice with your lo. Not before bedtime or after meal. 2) Be consistent. He may not sign back but he understands. 3) Reward. It may be a cheer or a clap or give him his toy :-) 4) Maintain good eye contact. In short concentrate yourself and devote that period for your baby. And have lots of patience :-) Hope this helps and good luck!

Babies can learn simple signs as young as 6 months but its safe to say that baby may not have the hand control to be able to sign back to you until she's older, about 8 or 9 months old maybe. As for duration of lessons, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect so whenever you can, you should practice with your child. It's just like any other language, the more you practise, the more fluent you get :)