Baby Sign Language: The Whys and HowsBy Katie QuirkWant your baby to be a verbal powerhouse? Start with signing. Research shows that babies who learned signs when they were 10 to 12 months old had notably more advanced vocabularies as toddlers than their nonsigning counterparts, and their average IQ that was 12 points higher at 8 years old. Introducing a baby to sign language isn’t exactly intuitive - you’re teaching your preverbal child a second language before he learns his first one? - but there are a few key reasons why using signs now aids better verbal development later. And think about it this way: When you wave hello or goodbye, or shake or nod your head to communicate with your little one, you’re already using preverbal signs to communicate with him.Benefits for baby