I have a 14 month old girl, who still has not uttered a single word. At her 12 month well-baby checkup, the pediatrician told us to come back in two months, and the appointment was last week. At this appointment, I told the pediatrician that my daughter still hasn't said her first word. After I mentioned that my daughter understands words like book, water, milk, let's go, etc. and that she points and grunts/makes other noises to tell me what she wants, the doctor assured me that some kids just talk later than others and that I shouldn't be concerned and that if she still hasn't said her first word by the time she's 18 months old, then she will send her to audiology to make sure her hearing is okay (I am certain that my daughter's hearing is fine since she jumps when there's a sudden loud noise).
So should I be concerned or give her some more time? When did yours first say their first word and mean it?
Thank you all for your input. I was thinking of contacting early intervention, but after reading your responses, I think I will give her some more time. I was concerned because the books say kids should say "mama" or "dada" and mean it by the time they're 13.5 months old. Another thing was that everyone says girls are quicker to develop language skills than boys, but I know plenty of boys my daughter's age who can say multiple words and mean them. My daughter is an only child for now, but my husband and I are very good at anticipating her wants and needs. Maybe if we start to back off a little, she'll be forced to verbalize her wants and needs.
Nope. My first didn't utter a word until he was 15mos, and my second until she was 16mos. Now I can't get either of them to shut up! (5 and 3)
Nothing to worry about.
As long as she's communicating at all, which is sounds like she is, she's totally normal.
My oldest was 14 or 15 months when he said his first word. In German.
He was a late talker, and today is an extremely intelligent 12 year old.
Don't worry about it. Get her hearing tested, and if it is okay, just wait. She'll talk when she's ready. Just keep showing her and telling her what things are. She's learning and taking it all in.
At 14 months we weren't concerned, but our little guy kept having ear infections and we didn't know it. Turns out he needed ear tubes ... Had them out in at 26 months and his speech took off. We didn't know he couldn't hear well ... Like your little girl, he responded to directions and jumped with loud, sudden noises, but he still had problems with fluid. You may need tubes. Ask for an ENT and let them check her out first. She's not delayed yet, but a referral and "baseline" never hurts.
I had one that didn't start talking until 3 or 3.5. We just started forcing him to talk. He would point and grunt or squeal. We just got to where we wouldn't give him what he wanted until he said the words. He finished high school in the top 10% of his class.
Nothing to worry about. Good luck to you and yours.
My son didn't say a word til he was almost 3!!!! Then he started talking in full sentences. It was weird! Come to find out he is a perfectionist so it fits his profile. Didn't want to do anything until he could do it well. He's 13 now and still evaluates everything he does.
Your daughter is probably fine. Just go through the testing etc. to make sure because if something is "off", the sooner it's caught the better. I know you're worried but try not to be. They all develop at such different rates.
I told myself if my boy didn't talk by 2 yrs then I was going to do ECI (early childhood intervention) and he didn't so I did. by his 3rd bday he was talking great. no probs. it's free, it's there to help and it's available for even a baby as young as yours. :)
I don't think it's time YET, she just turned one year, but either way. just think about it..."put it in your pipe and smoke it", as my mom used to say. :)
good luck to you & your sweet baby :)
They are doing the right thing by checking her hearing. Just because she jumps to a noise doesn't mean that she hears in the right way for learning to talk. They should also do a tympanogram to make sure that there isn't fluid behind her ear drum. Make sure you ask for that.
I am a big proponent for speech therapy because of my own son's experience. So know that when I tell you that I think that you should still give it some time. 14 months is very young still and well within the window of normality. You can help by not jumping to her every grunt, but saying "Do you want water? Wah-wah. Point to your mouth and wave your finger out with each syllable. Wah-wah." Little things like that. The first time you get something that even sounds like a word, go with it and try to develop it. And as she gets a little bigger, if she gets frustrated, try to teach her to say "Help me" by teaching her 'ep me. (Leave out the H and the L." )
There is a wide spectrum of "normal" between 12 months and 24 months. However, what is expected after 24 months is very different and you need to be aware of it. If I were you, I'd have her evaluated at 18 months if she doesn't get a lot of words by then. If she seems to be doing okay with it, then schedule an eval for right after she turns two. Do not wait until she is three.
Another thing you can do at home is work on her oral musculature. Find some of those sippy cups that have a straw that can't be squashed. You need one that is actually SHORT so that she can't grip it with her teeth. What you want is for her to have to use her lips to suck the liquid from it. I found several with straws that were too long and my husband cut them to a short length (made sure it wouldn't hurt her lips by sanding it) and that worked well. My son was also quite the drooler, and strengthening these muscles fixed that as well as helping his speech. We made milk shakes for him so that he had to WORK to suck on the straw, too.
There are little whistles that also have windmills on them that they blow on. This helps strengthen the musculature too, and it's fun. But you have to sit there with her and let her do it and then take it away (she's too little for you to let her just have it - choking hazard if she bit pieces off...)
These are actually things that speech therapists use, in case you're wondering. You can do this now in order to prepare her muscles.
Also, read a lot to her. Talk to her a lot. The more she hears, the more her mind makes the words and prepares her to be ready to talk.
Good luck.
I said the same thing to my ped when my son was 15 months and my ped also told me that it was early to be concerned. But I got it on the record, right?
I mentioned it again at the 18 month appointment. Again she said it was a little early to be concerned but said she would refer him to a speech pathologist and have his hearing checked if I wanted to. I said yes to both.
The ped admitted that while many kids are not talking at this point but if it were her kid she would want them tested.
You got it on the record. That's important. For now, keep talking to her. When she's in a good mood, if she points to something and grunts you could try saying, "that's a drink. Do you want a drink? If you want a drink, say, 'Drink.'"
If she starts to get upset, you can back off. But if she's really trying, you might hold off on giving her the drink until she tries and makes a good effort or comes close to saying the word. It's not abnormal for kids to grunt and point and make us guess. So rest assured, that is not inappropriate for her age. But it will help her if you begin to really encourage her to try and say the words.
And be prepared at the next ped visit to have a specific list of things she can say and things that she does instead of talking. It isn't going to hurt to have her evaluated by a speech pathologist. It will give you some specifics and really help you feel better.
If you decide to do an eval for speech therapy, early intervention etc. Do be sure to speak with your ped re: the relevant age brackets which are used when doing the eval.
These aren't the actual numbers, but used by way of example, if for instance, a 5-10 words are within range for a 15-18 month old, a 18-24 month old might be expected to speak 10-50 words. If your child speaks say 9 words at one day shy of her 18 month mark, no services, but if she speaks 9 words at 18 months and 1 day, the evaluators can tick the "d/n meet expectations box" and you might qualify for services.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
My granddaughter is 15 months and says a whole lot, BUT, she is not walking yet! Usually cannot do two big things at the same time lol. Did she babble as a baby. My grandson never did that at all. He was evaluated at 21 months and has been getting speech for a year and a half now and he is talking. He understood everything!
I am sure she will talk when she is ready. My first had many words at 10 months. Once she started to walk, she stopped talking. She was almost three when she started. Then it was sentences. That was 38 years ago. Today she would have been evaluated.
Just keep talking to her. If she wants something and points to it, say the word. As long as she makes some sort of sound give it to her. She will get it. They all do things at different times.
If your daughter understands everything then she probably just isn't ready to talk. Does she have older siblings? I found that some kids with older siblings talk later. My husband didn't talk until he was almost 3. His older sister translated for him before then.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
My child was 16 months. I worried too but the pedi said that she would evaluate him at 18 months if there still was nothing. She said it was significant that my son wasn't delayed in any other area - like your daughter, he understood things, and his hearing appeared to be fine. He was also developing normally with fine motor skills, gross motor skills, a growing degree of sophistication with his play, and so on.
Try not to worry. Your daughter is growing in many other areas! Kids just do things in different orders sometimes.
I don't think this was the entire reason, but I do think I was anticipating his needs so well that there was no need for him to talk anyway! At 16 months, he was grunting and pointing at the cabinet. I was so sick of the whining, I just blurted out, "Look, whatever you want, you can have, but I've had a long day and I need you to stop that ridiculous noise!" The kid looked at me, and clear as a bell, said, "Cookie!" Okay, so his first word wasn't "Mama" - I can live with it! And he never shut up after that, and was putting together 2-word and 3-word sentences very shortly thereafter. I'm betting this will happen with your daughter.
I agree with Lianne that if there are older siblings, the talk later. That's because everyone anticipates what the baby wants and gives it to the baby without requiring the baby to "ask" for it. I think you might want to try to encourage her to speak by not anticipating everything and not jumping when she points and grunts. Expect something from her and you might get something.
If she hasn't started speaking by 18 mos. I would take her back for the audiology but I would also contact early intervention by her 2nd birthday if it is not much improved. Who knows - she may just start blurting out sentences one day. Some kids "practice" by themselves and when they think they have it down, out it will come to the amazement of everyone.
If you polled the average parent, most would tell you that their children didn't talk until around the age of 2, and then there was a language explosion. Of 8 kids, one was severely delayed, 5 didn't utter a word (although some meowed and woofed) until 2, one was saying some things around 19/20 months, and one was talking around 18 months...but she was not the norm at all.
Relax, as long as comprehension is good I would not be worried.
I raised 4 girls that seemed to come from the womb speaking...THEN...I got 3 Grans all together to raise! The youngest boy was 13mts. when he arrived, EVERYTHING was, EINE (pronounced as in nine w/o the 1st 'n') until he was 3!!!! I was beside myself, I took him to the Ped. more than once, she was unconcerned as everything else was perfect in his little body. Just a month after his 3rd BD he began talking like wildfire and to this day you cannot shut him up, he is THE SMARTEST KID I have EVER had! He is in 10th grade now & has been on the Honor Roll since K! He is amazing! Hang in there, if your Ped. says she is OK then give her time, she will begin talking when SHE is ready.... ;)
My son probably said a 'first word' at around 18 or 20 months, I can't remember. It was kee-kee, for kitty. Or maybe 'da' for daddy.
No, do not worry. I used to work with toddlers and some of the children I had in my group didn't really start talking until 20 months or so... and then, boy, were they chatterboxes, always pointing at objects and wanting the words for them.
Give it plenty of time, be sure to talk to your child. Limiting tv/screen time is the BEST way to help kids along with this, in my opinion, because screens are not truly interactive linguistically. Read to your child, sing to your child, tell her about what is happening as it happens. Remember, 14 months is still a baby. :) Enjoy this time. I have known more than a handful of kids who weren't talking until 30 months or so, and then it was pretty much whole sentences. Not to say 'don't look into it' if your child hits twenty months with no expressive language (most kids by that point will have some expressive language) but just not to worry for now.
