My son is turning 14 months and he only knows how to say mama and cathy.. am I falling behind with his vocabulary? At his age, should he be able to speak more words?
He's about right actually, my 14 mo old does the same thing (except the cathy part though ;-). Kids can vary in when they learn; just be there to help.
Don't worry. My son was the same way. In fact, he spoke gobbly gook too like it was his own language. I constantly had to ask him to repeat it or "show me". Eventually, out of concern, I had him evaluated by a speech therapist at his daycare. She told me he was totally fine but to help the muscles (tongue) in his mouth..have him suck on his drinks via a straw.
My son is 12 now..in fact..he skipped the first grade. Like everyone here...it takes some time.
mine is 2 1/2 and only says 20 words. give him time. dont worry yet. just keep repeating words to him when you give him milk say milk when he gives you his tippy or whatever he drinks out of say drink. teach him eat. when you are dressing him tell him what you are doing. put your pants on this leg that leg. lets put your shirt on this arm that arm. to pull his pants up say stand up.this is what i am doing with mine. he is behind on his speech but there are factors there. just keep telling him words he will get there. if he says something be sure to repeat it to him.
YOU aren't falling behind. You don't control his speech acquisition, and can't teach a child to say words. Speech develops differently in different children. Dont' hesitate to bring up your concerns to the pediatrician at his 15 month visit. Good luck
H D.
He is still very young. My son had very few words until he turned two.Then his vocabulary started to expand and now at three he talks non stop.
Try not to get too got up on assessments on what he should know etc. at this age. Let him develope at his own pace.
I think a parent should only worry at this stage if there is extremes of anything showing.
Berne
My son is 14 months old and he only knows how to say dada and mama and he doesn't say those words all the time either. He does babble alot especially ba ba ba. He does know more than 60 words, meaning he understands the meaning of the words but of course he can't say them yet. I think instead of focusing on what he can say right now, focus on testing him if he knows some words like, "where are your shoes?" or "which one is the orange and which one is the apple? " etc..That's what we do to teach my son words.
Totally normal- if I remember correctly, 3-6 words is standard for a 15 month old (I.e. 75% of kids do it before but 25% do it after). Boys also tend to be behind language-wise from girls.
Also, keep in mind that "full" words are not the only ones that count. If he uses the same sound for something that you can understand, at 15 months, that counts. My almost 15 month old points to his belly and says "eeeee", but I know he is talking about his belly. He also says "eeee" for eating, but he always says it when he goes and stands by his chair and it's always when he hears me talking about making lunch or dinner. He can say (but rarely does) mum, ady (daddy), gee (doggie), hi (which is both hi and bye) and eye (we are working on body parts)-so I count 7 words, but most that someone else would not recognize if I didn't first tell them what he was saying.
If at your 15 month check up or 18 month check up, your doctor expresses concerns, you can always ask them if you can wait another month or two to see if he progresses more before you do language therapy (I did that at his 12 month appt because he was not even saying da-da or ma-ma yet and the MD was concerned, but within days of his appt, he started saying all those words so the worry was not warranted).
This boy also has an added "difficulty" in that he is the 2nd kid so everyone, including his 3 year old brother, speaks for him or all he has to do is point and someone gets him what he wants, so why would he want to learn to speak if pointing does the job for him. :-) so now I talk to him all the time and if he points at something he wants, I talk to him about it first before I get it for him, "say _____", "here is your ____". So maybe watch how people (including yourself) are responding to his "wants" and maybe you can get a few ideas too!
Good luck and don't worry about it too much. Like other ladies posted, pretty soon you will be telling him, "Son, I need you to be quiet for a few minutes PLEASE! :-)!!!
No -he's fine. All children talk at different times. My first has always been an amazing talker -started very early and was speaking in full, clear sentences by 2. He has an amazing vocabulary. My 2nd has been raised no differently, but he's a more shy, laid back kid and when he was 14 months basically just said "Mama" and "Dada." He just turned 2 in October, and within the last 2 months his vocabulary and talking have really taken off! He had been gradually adding simple words up until then, but nothing special. I know many children who don't talk at all until well after 2, and they're fine and all talking up a storm now (at age 4). In a few years, you'll actually find yourself thinking, "WILL HE EVER SHUT UP?!?!" ;-)
Ok - I have 3 kids. My boy is the third. The girls were chatter boxes - when they started talking they wouldn't stop!
My son is 19 months old. He understands what I say to him - if I say something about the phone, he goes to find it. But he says nothing. He grunts. "Son, are you cooking?" the response is "uh" actually, that's his response to pretty much everything.....except when he points at nothing and says "oooooooooooooooooooooo".
My point? Kids do things at their speed. I know the docs set mileposts, but if your kid is healthy, don't freak. Eventually, my son will speak actual English - and so will yours :)
God no!
My son didn't even SAY his first word (ball) until he was 15 months old. It was just babble before that.
Now, at 2.5, he won't shut up! LOL! Don't worry about it. Language really takes off anywhere between 18mos and 2.5 yrs.
It is ok. I was worried with my first one also. With our 3rd child (18 months) he doesn't say much at all. He mainly says "dah, dah" "ma, ma" has come out of couple times and he tries to say "up-ah" :o) He will talk up a storm with da this and da that, but no words. I know that before long he will take off and we won't even remember that he was a late talker. Good luck.
Apparently both of my kids were early & often talkers! If you want him to say more, try reading to him. Read books w/a few words on a page (that'll hold his interest better) & point to the picture that goes w/the word (cat, dog, etc) so he can associate the word w/a thing. Both of my boys loved-and still love-being read to & they're chatty cathys now (& voracious readers-my 9 YO just picked up Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire to read). If you're worried he's having problems hearing so he's not speaking well, have his ears checked. My youngest had an ear infection that 3 rounds of meds didn't kick. When we saw the ENT, it turned out he had glue ear (wax so thick it was like glue & wouldn't have drained on its own). He got tubes & had no more problems after that. A friend is on her 3rd set of tubes at 2 year (his ears were too small for the tiniest size tubes so they kept falling out) & her son's vocab has exploded-he couldn't hear well, so he didn't speak much.
If he appears to not hear what you're saying, take him in. If not, wait til his next appt & have the doc check him out. And boys of all ages have selective hearing-mine did at 1 & my 40 YO "boy" still does lol
I'm sure he's fine. All children develop at different rates. Unless your doctor is worried, you shouldn't be!
Hi--
As long as he understands what you are saying and communicates in some manner, there is nothing to worry about at this point. My oldest hardly said a word until he was about 20 months old, and didn't really start talking until he was two. He did use sign language pretty effectively. He's now 6 and the most articulate child in his class. My youngest, on the other hand, never did sign language because he would just say the word. He was speaking in complete sentences by 18 months, and complete paragraphs by just over two. All kids are different. The key is that he understands you.
J.
perfectly normal! He should have a vocab burst coming up pretty soon. Not to worry, he sounds like he is right on track. If he's not speaking more by 18 months then you could have him assessed.
I was also concerned as a first time mom. What I learned through lots of research and asking lots of questions.
Kids that are more gross motor (physically climbing, running, etc.) seem to be less verbal and vice versa.
My peciatrician said she wasn't concerned unless my daughter couldn't say about 3-6 words from ages 16-18 months. These are words that they say and use that have meaning and may not even be real words in the language that is spoken at home.
I just pulled out my daughter's records and at 15 months she was supposed to say 3-15 words. She didn't. She didn't even say Mama or Dadda.
At 18 months she was supposed to say 15 - 50 words. She had about 10, none of them Mama. :( I was very sad.
By 21 months she was recognizing letters in random order, numbers, colors, and shapes.
By 23 months she knew all her letters, shapes, colors, and could count to 10. She was also saying 3 word sentences.
She turns 3 tomorrow and she talks like an advanced 4 year old and is about 3 months from reading.
My point is that time will tell. At this point, there is nothing to worry about. Most kids even out by 24 months old.
You should only be concerned if you do not see receptive langauge (words he understands but can't say) or if he starts to talk and then regresses back to no words. If he is already saying a few words, he already has receptive langauge.
It won't be long and you will be worrying about the next milestone. :) It's what parenting is all about. :)
