Hand in hand

Hands signs combined with spoken language and facial expressions can set children on track to becoming good communicators, says Lena Engel From birth, babies use facial expressions, physical gestures and crying to express their needs and to communicate how they feel. Generally, parents learn quickly to understand what their babies want and to interpret their moods correctly. Practical, positive responses accompanied by verbal reassurance are the tools that most parents use to accommodate the basic infant demands made on them.