About the Baby Signs® Program
Have you ever wondered what your baby is thinking?
Babies have the gift of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. What if you were able to understand what your baby was thinking about and provide an enriching interaction based on that knowledge? The Baby Signs® Program allows you to do just that!
Babies can learn and use simple hand gestures, or sign language, to communicate what they need, want, or see as young as 5 months old. Imagine if your 6-month-old told you she wanted to nurse without crying, your 11-month-old told you he saw a dog across the street without grunting, or your 14-month-old told you the sidewalk was too hot for her bare feet without screaming!
This basic ability to communicate before talking gives babies a great boost to their self-esteem, helps parents and caregivers appreciate their babies' intelligence, and can dramatically reduce the frustration that parents and babies experience when communication is difficult. The founders of the Baby Signs® Program, Dr. Linda Acredolo, and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, have completed intensive research that demonstrates using signs with pre-verbal babies helps them learn to talk and gives them a jump-start on their intellectual development in addition to other benefits.
Why not give your baby the gift of communication?
Baby Signs®, the ORIGINAL sign language program for hearing babies, has been bringing powerful, research-proven benefits to babies and their families around the world for over 30 years. The Baby Signs® Program is the world’s leading program for hearing infants and toddlers because it is the only program that:
The Baby Signs® Program helps children develop both language and cognitive skills. Studies show that babies who sign develop speech sooner and have larger vocabularies when talking. The Baby Signs® Program is based on groundbreaking research which began an international movement to teach hearing babies to use signs. After 20 years of careful study, researchers proved that using signs enhances language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. The Baby Signs® Program offers parent workshops and classes to teach parents how to use the Baby Signs® Program at home. To learn more about classes and products, please look through our website or email us with your questions.
Meet the Experts Behind the Baby Signs® Program
Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn are child development experts, researchers, and co-creators of the Baby Signs® Program. Their groundbreaking research on signing with hearing babies helped launch an international movement in early communication and inspired bestselling parenting books used by families around the world.
Continuing their shared passion for helping parents and professionals benefit from child development research, they co-authored Baby Signs®: How to Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk (now in its 3rd edition), Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love, and Baby Hearts: Giving Your Child an Emotional Head Start.
Their work includes decades of research exploring infant communication, symbolic gesturing, language development, and parent-child connection during the earliest years of life.
Dr. Linda Acredolo, PhD
Co-Creator of the Baby Signs® Program | Professor Emerita of Psychology, University of California, Davis
- Internationally recognized developmental psychologist and child development researcher
- Professor Emerita at UC Davis with decades of research in infant development and communication
- Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society
- Principal investigator on NIH-funded research examining the impact of symbolic gesturing on infant development
- Co-author of peer-reviewed studies on infant signing, early language, and cognitive development
- Co-author of bestselling parenting books including Baby Signs®, Baby Minds, and Baby Hearts
Dr. Susan Goodwyn, PhD
Co-Creator of the Baby Signs® Program | Professor of Child Development, California State University, Stanislaus
- Professor of Child Development with over 20 years of scientific research in infant development
- Earned First Honors in Child Language Development from the University of London and a PhD in Psychology from UC Davis
- Dissertation focused on mother-infant interaction and spontaneous symbolic signing in infants
- Published extensively in leading developmental journals including Child Development and Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
- Co-author of bestselling parenting books and peer-reviewed research on infant communication
- Co-author of bestselling parenting books including Baby Signs®, Baby Minds, and Baby Hearts
Research Highlights
- Developed by child development experts Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn
- Includes NIH-funded research examining the impact of symbolic gesturing on infant development
- Supported by peer-reviewed publications on early communication and language development
- Used by families, educators, and professionals in 40+ countries
- Supports early communication, parent-child connection, and language development
- Informs classes, instructor training, and professional development worldwide
- Developed through decades of peer-reviewed research in child development and infant communication
- Research published in leading journals including Child Development and Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
- Created by university researchers from UC Davis and California State University
Selected Publications & Research
The Baby Signs® Program is grounded in decades of research on symbolic gesturing, early communication, and infant language development. Selected publications by Dr. Linda Acredolo, Dr. Susan Goodwyn, and colleagues include:
- Acredolo, L. P., & Goodwyn, S. W. (1988). Symbolic gesturing in normal infants: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence. Child Development, 59, 450–466.
- Goodwyn, S. W., & Acredolo, L. P. (1993). Symbolic gesture versus word: Is there a modality advantage for onset of symbol use? Child Development, 64, 688–701.
- Goodwyn, S. W., Acredolo, L. P., & Brown, C. (2000). Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24, 81–103.
- Acredolo, L. P., & Goodwyn, S. W. (1990). Sign language among hearing infants: The spontaneous development of symbolic gestures. In V. Volterra & C. Erting (Eds.), From Gesture to Language in Hearing and Deaf Children. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- Acredolo, L. P., Goodwyn, S. W., Horobin, K., & Emmons, Y. D. (1999). The signs and sounds of early language development. In C. Tamis-LeMonda & L. Balter (Eds.), Child Psychology: A Handbook of Contemporary Issues. New York: Psychology Press.
The Baby Signs® Program is operated by Baby Signs Too, LLC, based in Elk Grove, California. Baby Signs Too, LLC manages training and certification for new Baby Signs® Independent Certified Instructors in the U.S. and internationally, supporting families, instructors, agencies, and early childhood programs in 40+ countries.
Michelle Cromeenes is the founder and operator of Baby Signs Too, LLC. She is a passionate advocate for the Baby Signs® Program and has been an Independent Certified Instructor, District Manager, and Recruiter since 2004. Michelle's goal is to spread the benefits of the research-based program to families and professionals around the world. She experienced the benefits of communicating with her twins using the Baby Signs® Program in 2003, which sparked her passion for the program.
Michelle has over 30 years of experience facilitating workshops and training programs for staff, entrepreneurs, parents, and child development professionals. She also has over 30 years of experience in management, franchise support, and business operations for an international network of instructors and franchisees.
We are committed to providing high-quality training and support to our instructors, so they can effectively teach the Baby Signs® Program to families and professionals. We believe every baby deserves the opportunity to communicate early, and we are proud to be part of the Baby Signs® community.
Government Contracting
Baby Signs Too, LLC is a federally certified EDWOSB, an Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business, and a certified Minority-Owned Business. Baby Signs Too, LLC is also certified by the State of California as a Small Business.
Government Contracting Identifiers
Unique Entity ID: QNE7PBBLY849
CAGE Code: 9BGF9
Cal E-Procure Cert ID: 2036449
Not Sure How to Get Started?
The Baby Signs® Program offers parent workshops and play classes through Independent Certified Instructors worldwide.
These fun and interactive classes teach everything needed to start signing with your baby and benefit you from a one-on-one consultation with an experienced instructor.
If you are new to signing with your baby, unable to attend a class, or do not have an instructor in your area, become a Baby Signs® Independent Certified Instructor.