BABIES are learning to sign before they can talk - to help them tell their parents what they want.

Mother-of-two Katie Lawton has launched classes to teach babies sign language at Didcot, Wallingford, Abingdon and Thame.

She is running the weekly hour-long sessions for parents and carers who want to understand the needs of their babies better.

Mrs Lawton has two young children, three-year-old Amelia and 17-month-old Maisie.

She said: "Amelia did her first sign for 'more' at ten months and soon after had a signing vocabulary of 30 to 40 signs, with some of her favourites being food, milk, more, cat, dog and duck.

"I really feel that signing helped us to avoid the frustration that many babies feel when they try to communicate but we adults are unable to understand them.

"Apart from being able to tell me when she was thirsty or hungry, she was also able to remind me if I had forgotten to give her water at mealtimes, if we were out and she wanted to go home, or even to alert my attention to what the latest prank our cat was getting up to.

"I think signing gave her the tools to say what she wanted and to share her thoughts with us."

The first half-hour of classes is spent teaching through singing and signing, the second half-hour in social time with toys, coffee and biscuits.

Cathy Smith, of Brightwell Upperton, whose five-month-old daughter, Hannah, had been going to the classes for three weeks, said: "I found out about it from my health visitor and I thought it would be a good idea because it incorporates singing and actions.

"We both thoroughly enjoyed the classes and I think I'm going to sign up for some more in September.

"The babies don't reap the benefits for a while, but it helps to learn early. I have been showing Hannah the signs for 'milk', 'happy' and 'sad' - very basic words, but you have to keep practising.

"There is no pressure on the child. It is just quite fun and hopefully she will pick it up."

The craze for baby signing has hit the UK from the US and Canada.

Ms Lawton runs the classes through accredited training company TinyTalk, which teaches families and nurseries baby signing.