My son is 14 months old. He is not walking, not talking, and he is very stubborn. He is very active, he cruises and plays with toys. I have taken him to the park a few times, and he HATED it. He didnt like swinging or anything. He wont walk, so he would just sit in the mulch and watch all the other kids playing. Including is nearly 4 year old sister. My daughter is a little tom boy and my son in the EXACT oposite. He hates to be dirty. Its hard because I want him to play with the other kids, explore, etc.. He would rather just sit and watch. I know its just his personality but its hard to have kids to oposite of eac other.
Eddited to add: Thank you for all your suggestions and replies. I just wanted to add that I do get down on thr floor and play with my son daily. I try and encourage him to repeat sounds and point to objects in picture books. He just seems stubborn in so many ways. He dosn't have any of the symptoms on the "red flag list" He makes eye contact, he responds to his name, he smiles and laughs when he is happy. He just WILL NOT SPEAK. He also will not walk unassisted.
He will not even try to say simple words like dog. eat, cup, ect... When he wants something he looks at it or reaches for it and whines/cry. I have tried encouraging him to speak with no sucess. He only gets fustrated and cries.
My nephew is 5 weeks older and he can point out animals in a book and make animal sounds and has a voculabary of about 2 dozen words. This makes me feel like something is wrong with my son. Maybe I should contact a speech therapist or early intervention? What would you do?
Some kids are just like that. My daughter is 2 1/2 and she needs to sit away from new kids for a while before she will play. If the kids seem to rowdy to her, she won't join in at all. So, don't worry about it. They just do things differently.
Y.
The normal age for walking has been moved back since kids have been sleeping on their backs. My ped says that walking at 18 months is still within the norm these days. Walking at 12 months is now considered early where it used to be more the norm. So I wouldn't be concerned about that.
We did sign language with my kids, but they developed language very differently. My daughter used her signs regularly, but really wasn't verbal until more like 20 months. She's still shy about talking to others but has strong language skills at 3. I have an uncle that is an orthopedic surgeon and my grandmother always talks about how he never needed to talk since he had 2 older brothers and really didn't until he was 3 - they thought he couldn't hear, but he got along ok without talking so he didn't. My son started with signs, but moved past them quickly. He just said everything early. He'd learn words and then learn signs to match them afterwards. He also picked up on pronouns and sentences quickly and by 18 months he was basically talking in full sentences that most people could understand.
Both of mine are picky about being dirty. I just make sure to have lots of wipies with me any where we go and they get the majority of mess off to keep them happy until it's time for a full bath. There are tons of different textures at the park and some kids are sensitive to that. Just try to expose him to the textures by places a couple wood chips on his hand and then let him choose to explore or not. Swinging is also a different sensation. Let him try and then let him choose to stop too. Maybe try a small slide - sit behind him and hold him and go with him at first to help him adjust to it.
All kids learn differently. Watching others play is one style of learning - observing. In time he'll develop an interest in interacting more with the environment. For now, let him process the many new sights, sounds and smells in his own way.
14 months is really early for interactive play. I wouldn't expect that most 14 month olds would really be playing with other kids unless they were older and the older child was initiating the interaction. Kids that age aren't necessarily even parallel playing yet (playing the same thing next to each other but not really interacting). From my experience, when they have a close sibling, they do develop play skills a bit earlier as they have a built in playmate 24/7, but that also depends on their personalities.
Hope that helps a bit - it really sounds like he's doing just fine from your description.
Hello S.:)
I am a mother of one and teach in an early intervention preschool class. While all children develop at their own rate (and there is a wide age range for developmental milestones) there are some signs to look for to indicate if a child may need extra help as far as development. Here is a link to a web page that has good information as to what to look for.
http://specialchildren.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?z...
I hope you won't be upset by this advice, but I know well how powerful a difference it can make for children to get needed help as early as possible. I would recommend looking over the page at the above link and clicking on the link that starts "first signs". If you feel your son is displaying a number of the "red flags" listed you should take him to a developmental pediatrician (which is different from a typical pediatrician) to be seen and evaluated. The developmental pediatrician may well say, "Nope, your son is within the typical range of development." However, I think it is so important to catch any needs early and address them. They are often much less effectively helped when interventions are started at later ages. As his mother, you know your son best and if you have concerns it is best to have them addressed....if it turns out that everthing is fine you will know for sure and be able to relax.
E.
If he is really not talking at all, you might talk to your doctor and ask about having him evaluated for speech and/or motor delay through the Early Intervention/Birth to Three program. This is a federal program run by the states and it is terrific. When, at 20 months, my daughter had only one or two words, we did this. After 6 months of speech therapy, she is a charming chatterbox, like the rest of her peers. The therapist will come to your home, at your convenience, and play with your child. The results are amazing. All children develop differently, and of course, all children learn to talk and walk. But what I noticed right away with my daughter was that once she could communicate, she became a happier and more confident little person. This made a huge difference in our family life; the early intervention was worth it.
I guess what I am saying is that what you describe could be your son's personality, but he might also be refusing to talk and play because he doesn't think he can. He just might blossom with some targetted attention by a professional.
I wouldn't worry my son is 16 1/2 months and he just started to walk.
hi, S.. my son is yet to be 14mths old, but i know a lot about psychology and i'm learning more and more about child psychology. until kids go to school or play groups, they learn most of their behavoir from us. i'm definitely not saying you are doing anything wrong. when he has play time, do you ever get down o the ground and play with him? and how often? that's where he will learn is social skills. he should really be expressing personality right now, huh? i read that this is the age where they are unsure of their surroundings and may often look to you for support. just try to encourage him as much as you can because it can be the pathway to his social and emotional future. sorry, not trying to put pressure on you; i just think of that with everything i do with my kid.
S., take a deep breath and then read what I would suggest. while it is totally normal for kids to start walking at different rate and even talking later than most kids, the one issue i'd be worried about is a lack of interest in socialization.
that said, you may test him a few times before entering the world of tests and evaluations (which i did with one of my girls and never regretted it).
you may start inviting one mom with a boy about your sons age a few times and see if your son warms up to him after a few attempts. see if you can try to create some sort of interaction between them eitehr by playing with blocks our an outdoor play at a playground or your own yard. if he still dislikes being around that boy then call EIP which stands for early intervention program
as for him disliking to be dirty well only from personal experience i can shed some light on it. one of my girls has hated being dirty from the moment she realized what getting dirty means. now she is two and a half years old and if she gets a bit of juice on her shirt or pants or whatever she will freak out until i clean it.
when this started happening i heard from my husband's family constantly how she might have this or that (don't like labels therefore i don't exactly remember what they were worried about). she is fine.completely and i do not worry about it.
as for speech, my other daughter didn't coo until 6 months of age while her sister started cooing at 5 weeks of age (twins). so at 15 months while she was still not saying much i took her to ENTS and such and turns out she has some hearing loss in one of her ears. immediately started speech therapy for her through EIP and now she is talking, though nowhere close to the level her sister is talking but for me this is huge. she communicates her needs, moods understands me so i will let her progress at her own pace.
so, the best you can do is get some answers. if everything turns out to be ok then relax and let him find his voice.
good luck
vlora
My sisters little boy was this way. He is finally starting to come out of it. The best thing to do when he starts whining and pointing to things dont automatically give them to him. Also make sure sissy doesnt do everything for him. When he wants something encourage him to say what he wants. If he is whining for his cup say do you want your cup. tell mommy cup and you can have it. Another suggestion is to teach him sign language for the items he wants. Hope this helps
I am a Speech-Language Pathologist. If I were you, I would have him tested, just to be sure, for speech and physical milestones. It is early yet, but if there is a problem, it's best to catch it early. Kids usually speak their first word by 12 months and should have approximately 50 words by 18 months. Some parents have had great success with baby sign language classes or videos. Also, babybumblebee.com has great videos for language. My son is extremely stubborn too and has been in Speech since he was three. He wasn't too interested in socializing until age three. My oldest is the opposite, like your kids. It sounds like your little one is an independent soul, but that's not a bad thing. I had my youngest in Gymboree for awhile with kids his age - it's a fun class that's developmentally based from infants to age 5. I don't know if you have it where you are or something similar. That could help with his motivation. That's from a mom's perspective, not professional. I hope things work out for you.
