15 Month Old? Talking?

K.-
Don't even worry about it. My son is now 19 months old, and chatting away. However, I remember going to his 15-month appointment and telling his pedi. that he only spoke a few words. He understood when we told him things, but wasn't talking. I was also a bit concerned. Although we were already saying each thing that we would give him, cup, blocks, etc., we started to really concentrate on saying EVERYTHING (a number of times) to him. Soon enough, he was attepmting to repeat all of our words. Your son will 'get it' very soon, and then you'll remember the days of quietness. :) Oh, and our son still whines...which also drives us crazy...I don't think that ever ends!

They all talk in their own time. If he whines, don't respond. I have a son who had a long speech delay (he didn't say anything except "no" and "ma") until he was 3. I would play games with him with his toys using the same words often. We'd take his stuffed animals and put bandaids on them and say things like "owie", "ow", "rip" when taking off the bandaid, "boo boo", etc. We'd play in the sand with toys and I'd say "dig", "deep" and when we'd take a pail of sand and upright it, I'd have him destroy it with his foot and say "smash", "bang", etc. I'd name body parts, and try to get him to say them. Part of his speech therapy was repeating sounds, words. I'd do it at home in front of a mirror and reward him with a baby (tiny) M&M. We'd practice things like, lala, papa, tee tee, hee hee, oh oh. I played lots of Disney sing along tapes in the car. We'd do "Im a little tea pot." Anything that was sing song like. Try flash cards with pictures on them rather than books for now. Introduce the books in a couple of months and see how that works. It took a lot of time and energy, but he starting talking in sentences on his 3rd birthday. Amazing. I guess he was just absorbing it all. Don't stress it. He could just be one of those that is soaking it all up and will start talking one day and never stop (like my son).

I think it is great that you are continuing to read to him even if you think you really aren't "reading" to him. What he is doing is getting familiar with books, different pictures, etc....He is exploring and having experiences with books, which is the most important thing, not actually you reading him a story. He is also having time with you, which is another important thing. As for the speech, I agree with the others, they all speak at different times. As long as he is understanding basic instructions and pointing to things that you label, that is fine. If you are still concerned, mention it at his next pediatrician appt.

At my daughter's 12 month appointment our ped said that she will be looking for about 3 recognizable words by 15 months. So it sounds like your guy is right on track! My 13 month old says mama and something like "baby" and a bunch of other attempts at words but I'm assuming more will come! Good luck.

My son is 16 months and does not talk yet. He can say mama dada and yumm. Then he has sounds that i know what they mean. He says "ack" for back and "t" for train. But that is it. My doc said he is right on track. So don't worry. When he has something to say he well talk.