My parents are deaf so I am fluent in sign language. I taught my DS sign from around 4 months. It wasn't until 12 months that he finally 'got it' (he was premmie so he was 10mths corrected age). It was fantastic to have him tell you what he wanted. If he wanted more dinner, or if he was finished. He still uses some signs now, although he talks very well for his age. I did find that once he started saying words, he preferred to say rather than sign. My sisters DD however was very different. She was signing from around 7 months and continued to learn sign even after she was saying words. Although at this stage it wasn't necessary for her to sign, she sure was a great party trick!
Thanks for taking the time to reply It's great to hear your positive experiences, I am really looking forward to starting this with DS now.
I have been looking at the Auslan site tonight, thanks jackrose, it's great!
Georgi, wow, 7 months, that's great when did your sister start signing to her?
I was thinking of starting with a couple of signs...more, finished, bed, bath but was wondering, did you wait til bub started signing before you moved on to more?
Glad you are inspired Happy Chick! It is exciting!
I would personally start with only one or two signs, something that is really meaningful for your DS. For example if he loves his food, use 'more' to encourage him to ask for it and be motivated to use the sign. Same with if he loves a bath... I used 'milk' for our first sign as DD loved the stuff! Once she had that one sign, she was off and racing and I added more signs as quickly as I could learn them!
Skeetaboat, I am not sure if I can post the link but when I googled auslan, the first link that came up was the one I used. It is the Auslan Signbank. Hope that clarifies! If not I can pm you!
Well, we have started! I am excited and can't wait to see how long it takes for DS to start signing back. I have decided to start with 'more', 'finished' and 'bath' as DS loves bathtime and I'm thinking more and finished will be very helpful.
I loved the Auslan site but got a bit confused where there is a couple of different signs for the same word so I have ordered the Baby Hands pack and will see how we go with that to keep adding to the signs. They use Auslan as well which is great and the pack comes with a poster, book & DVD. I like the idea of the poster so that I have an easy reference point.
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It's great to hear your positive experiences, I am really looking forward to starting this with DS now. 
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