Rosemary McKenna has a special trick up her sleeve to cope with toddler tantrums. If her son Tadhg, 2, is in the middle of a meltdown, she will use baby sign language to catch his attention and break the kicking and screaming cycle.
McKenna, who lives in Ballymoney in Co Wexford, first heard about baby signs from a friend in the United States. She and husband Éamonn started signing to Tadhg, who has no hearing difficulties, when he was 14 months old and just starting to talk.
Together they learned a vocabulary of signs from an instructional DVD, and Tadhg also began to say the corresponding words. "As he was learning the signs he was learning the verbal words to go with them and the signing seemed to help him focus," she says.
"I think it is brilliant as a means of communication, and even just for something to do together with your child."
Tadhg is now signing to his little brother, Zack who, at nine months, responds to signs and is just starting to master his own gestures. "It's lovely to know that Zack understands what we are saying," says Rosemary. "You think they are just these little babies but it's amazing, they can do and understand so much."
Claire O'Connell