Parenting Joy site syndication http://www.parentingjoy.com 2008-09-05T20:44:46+01:00 http://www.parentingjoy.com http://www.parentingjoy.com/images/M_images/mambo_rss.png text/html http://www.parentingjoy.com Angela Ng http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/view/234/66/ It is great to have the kids learn some sign language. It is like learning a 3rd language, except that they don't have to slog over books and grammars and exams. If you have a child who is taking his time picking up speech, sign language is a great alternative to communication. It really helps with the frustration level. When Dominic was little, he was a little slower in picking up words. I decided to teach him some simple signs and it did help with communication. Don't worry about sign language making speech delay worse. When the child is ready to pick up speech, he will naturally drop the signing and just verbalise what he wants to communicate. This was what happened with Dominic. The best part is that with practice, they actually will remember the signs they learned. text/html http://www.parentingjoy.com Angela Ng http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/view/229/43/ I have briefly touched on the this topic in Graduating to Solids (http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/view/226/43/). To recap, delaying the introduction of solids to babies until at least 6 months old is in line with better growth chart (http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/view/189/42/), it should address this issue. text/html http://www.parentingjoy.com Angela Ng http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/view/226/43/ There are plenty of books and online resources that elaborates on the 'how-to of introducing solids to babies, so I will not repeat the same thing here. There are also plenty of baby food cook books which you can refer to for recipes and ideas. I have also shared some of my Baby Food (http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/category/7/73/45/) and Baby Porridge (http://www.parentingjoy.com/content/category/7/93/45/) recipes. What I am going to share are a few basic principles I adhere to regarding feeding solids.