TinyTalk Sudbury and Great Cornard

There’s nothing quite like the first moment that your baby realises they feel heard and understood, way before they’re able to speak.

I have four TinyTalkers of my own: Lily (7), Jacob (5), Charlie (3) and Milo (1). I have attended with all of them and, having tried many baby groups, this was the one that stuck, as it’s simply incredible to experience the benefits of knowing what they are trying to say from such a young age! I also still have many mum (and dad! ) friends who I met at TinyTalk; it’s such a strong community for making connections that build your village.

Lily was 8 months old when we first joined. Before then, I confess with shame that I was in the camp of believing that, if I taught my baby to sign, surely it would delay her speech, as she would just sign instead?? How wrong I was. At TinyTalk, we use BSL signs AND always say the word too, so babies learn both, just like in a bilingual household. In fact, through teaching the signs and repeatedly saying the words alongside, we believe that Lily actually learnt to say the words sooner as well. By 11m, Lily could use 20+ signs. Suddenly, she could tell us that she was hungry, tired, or she’d spotted something exciting, which just made everyday life so much easier.

Jacob attended his first class at just 3 days old – albeit online due to Covid! Nothing was stopping us now and we continued throughout lockdown, into socially distanced classes and then, eventually, back to the original in-person format, by which time we were expecting Charlie! He, of course, followed on and, just like Jacob, used his first signs at just 6 months. Both were less “performing monkey” than Lily, but firm users of signs when relevant, especially if they needed something.

Nov 2024 we welcomed Milo and I started to attend both baby and toddler classes with him and Charlie. At a year old, Milo (who is more like his sister and happy to perform! ) had over 30 signs, one of his most highly used being *please* - that boy knows how to get what he wants!

When the opportunity to become a TinyTalk teacher arose, I had already known for some time that this was what I wanted to do. I am passionate about baby signing, so giving new parents the wonderful experiences it gave us is such a privilege.

Hope to see you in class soon – remember, it’s never too late to book, as long as there’s space. If you can’t make a session for any reason, I will always try to offer you a makeup class where space allows.

See it. Say it. Sign it!