Parents of young children will recognise the feeling of exasperation when the baby won't stop crying and you just don't know what he wants. But a growing band of mothers and fathers are addressing this age-old problem by teaching babies who are too young to speak, to communicate using simple sign language.

Babies are able to control their hand movements long before they can control their vocal chords, which makes sign language an ideal way to help them communicate.

Often children aren't able to speak until they are around two yeras old, but baby signing can usually be taught from around nine months. Some children even start learning at around six months.

Being able to express themselves before they have vocal skills can remove a lot of the temper tantrums that are caused by the frustration of not being able to make themselves understood. It's also great for parents, who can avoid the guessing games that are usually involved when trying to work out what their babies want.

Baby signing originated in America in the late 1980s and now clubs are springing up all over the world.

Most baby signing in the UK is based around British Sign Language, although many parents (and babies) also develop their own signs, with actions that mimic the word meanings being the most effective.

Sceptics have voiced concerns that teaching babies to sign will delay their speech development. However fans of the system say that the opposite is true.

Becuase humans are programmed to communicate, babies will naturally find their voice, and their in-built desire to express more complex thoughts means that their signing will eventually be overtaken by language. In fact, parent, often find that spoken language is more advanced in babies who were taught signing before they could speak.

Most signs that are used in the early stages of signing, relate to basic things that inhabit the baby's world. Signs for food, potty, sleep, bath, mummy and daddy, are usually among the first things that are learnt. Even with relatively few signs, babies can communicate their basic needs which can relieve a lot of frustration and, as they become aware that they can make themselves understood, they will be eager to learn new signs.

Signing can also help with the recognition that objects and feelings are associated with words, which will help as they get older and start to develop speech skills.