Babies are busy creatures. They are constantly checking out the world around them and learning all sorts of new things. They have very short attention spans and are not likely to focus on any given thing for very long. For that reason, you may find that it is sometimes difficult to get your baby to pay attention to your signing efforts.

Unfortunately, there is no way to force your baby to watch you as you sign. The good news is that you are not missing out on valuable learning time when your baby is unfocused because babies absorb the most information when they are in a state of quiet attentiveness. It is important to watch for these moments of attentiveness in your child. So, for example, if she is not paying attention at the start of her feeding, when you would normally demonstrate the sign, perhaps she will be attentive by the middle or the end of it. If so, use that opportunity to demonstrate the sign. If your baby goes through the entire feeding and doesn’t gaze at you for more than a moment at a time, just wait until the next feeding. You will eventually find a time when your baby is attentive and alert and therefore ready to participate.