Talking - Clinton,IA

Babies don't say much until closer to 2. If she's not saying at least a few words by 18 months, then you can start worrying. By 2, she'll be saying phrases and by 2&1/2 it will be full sentences. Don't worry. She's fine.

I didn't talk till I was three and now everyone says that I haven't stopped since. I would not worry too much.
Jess

My friend had similar concerns, but her doctor told her that as long as she had 6 words by 18 months, there was no reason to be concerned.

It sounds like you're already worried, so getting her hearing checked will probably put your fears at ease. But honestly, this doesn't sound at all out of the ordinary.

Babies can say their first word any time between 10 months and 18 months. She just may not feel the need to say anything yet. And she may be concentrating on other areas of development. Getting her hearing checked is a good idea, but if she responds to you when you say her name (by looking your way or stopping what she is doing for example) then you can be pretty sure that she can hear you. My boys are quiet babies, too, and only make noise when they are upset or want something. It's normal for them. If you are truly concerned after a hearing test, you can talk to your pediatrician about a developmental check with your city/county/medical facility's Birth-to-3 program. They can give you a better overall viewpoint of your child's development and help you if your child is behind.

Good luck!

I wouldn't be overly concerned about it at this point as some children wait quite a while before talking. Have you tried teaching her some sign language? Studies have shown that this takes pressure off children to verbalize and helps them learn to talk on their own. We used basic signs with my son like eat, more, all done, drink, and please. He used them until he started to talk around 13-14 months I think.

B. -

It doesn't hurt to get it checked. I wouldn't be too concerned though. Both of my kids were later to speak and my son started just opening up just before the age of 2 and our daughter is delayed but she was also born at 25weeks 5 days. You can also call the school district to do an evaluation.

There is a wide range of normal. Repeat after me -- there is a wide range of normal.

My younger son, who is now 9, had only 4 words until one month before he turned 2. It didn't hold him back any -- he is a kid with a huge, sophisticated vocabulary.

She's fine, she's normal, and as long as she's not having ear infections, there is absolutely no reason to worry.

Since she seems bright, you should teach her baby signs. She'll love it because it will help her communicate with you. My babies both learned about 10 signs before they started using words.

Hi B.-
My preemie 2nd son is now 17 mos and still is not talking. He babbles constantly, points to what he wants, grunts at what he wants and will say "uh-uh" when I ask him something he does not want to do. We have been to a specialty development clinic to make sure his eating skills were developing correctly due to some difficulty moving from baby food to table food and they evaluated him for speech also. They said that as long as he is progressing and not reverting that they were fine with his development. They told me that at 18 mos if I am not happy with his progress to give them a call. As far as I am concerned he can get his point across and we are working on getting him to say words. I just think he is being stubborn at this point...:-) Since you are getting your daughter's hearing checked just also ask if the doctor feels there is any reason for concern. As long as she is interacting and continues to develop I wouldn't think there would be too much cause to be overly worried. Hope this helps a little!
J.

12 months is a bit early & for sure too early for ANY concern. If she looks at you when you speak as to try to understand what you are saying. If she is able to follow one step simple instuctions (sit down, give that to Mama) & she looks at you when you call her by name; she is sooo normal and you should not be concerned. Relax and enjoy your baby while she still is a baby. You only have a few months left of this stage. I do not know of many 12 month olds that speak. Trust me, I follow child development very closely... I would not worry! ((((HUGS))))

Does her babbling include a lot of different sounds? Does she seem to understand you when you speak to her? If not, I wouldn't hesitate to get it checked out in a month or two. Birth to three offers free evaluations. I've had two kids with fairly serious language disorders requiring treatment, so I alway encourage moms that it's better to have it checked out than to worry about it. That way you know for sure what's going on. However, you may find birth to three hesitant to assess her until about 15 months. That gives you a little time to do the hearing assessment. She might be right on track because every child develops at her own pace, but it never hurts to find out for sure. Good luck!

J.
Mom to Emma & Devon (6) and Ethan (2)

B.,
I'm not an expert, but I know every child is different. My brother didn't talk until he was 3 years old. It scared my parents, but it turns out he is very intelligent, just quiet and introverted by nature, even today. Good luck and congratulations on your wonderful little girl!

Hi B. :) You already have lots of replies that say what I would tell you, please don't worry about no talking at one year. Just wanted to share my experience... my daughter turned one in March one day in age behind her friend who was already saying a couple of words and babbling a lot. I tended to compare these two girls a lot because they were so close in age. I was a little concerned that my girl didn't talk but also knew my daughter was otherwise fine. Fast forward to today, my daughter is 20 months old and is suddenly saying so much, can name parts of her face and body, and won't stop saying "daddy" this and "daddy" that (I'm a little jealous, haha!)... I just wanted to tell you to please not worry, because your little one is still so young. I'm sure she'll be talking just fine when she's ready. *Peace*!

HI B.,

I can completely understand where you are coming from as a worrier and a first time mother too. I have read and been told by my pediatrician that six words by 18-months is the minimum of what they like to see in toddlers, so she has plenty of time to meet that milestone. It might be worthwhile to pay attention to what she is babbling. Does it seem to be a variety of sounds? Does she point or try to communicate? I'm sure you've been told this a million times but it's helpful for you to keep up a constant stream of conversation when you are with her. I didn't find it very natural at first to discuss my every observation and move with a non verbal child but eventually it gets easier to name the things you see etc.

Reassure your boyfriend that 12 months is still very young, especially if your child is a little ahead of the curve in gross motor skills like walking. Babies tend to focus on one skill set at a time and it could just be she hasn't had time to work on verbal development yet.

I agree with the other moms. My son was almost two before he said much more than duck, mama, and dada. Now, he is 3 1/2 and talks nonstop. I could tell at one that he understood me (he followed simple directions), so I felt comfortable about his hearing.

My son's personality sounds a bit like your daughter's. He is really laid back and could get by with not talking for quite a long time (he was great with pointing and grunting). We tried to encourage him to talk by trying to get him to call toys by name, but he would usually just lose interest and choose a different activity that did not require him to talk.

As long as her hearing is fine, she'll catch up and be chatting nonstop soon enough. It sounds like she is doing great!

A year old is a little young to be worried about it, but I understand the concern. My 22 month old babbles and will say words occasionally but prefers to communicate with signs and through other means (he'll find pictures of things to point to instead).

If her hearing is fine - and it probably is - it's not something to worry about until she's quite a bit older. All children learn to talk at different rates. Just keep talking to her, reading to her, etc... tell her what things are and keep repeating yourself. Eventually she'll pick it up and start talking.

I have two boys, which are typically a little behind girls as far as verbal abilities, but neither of my boys had words at 1. I think my doc asked at our 18 month appointment whether our kids had 10 words...and I know my second didn't, even at 18 months.

Does she understand words? If you call her name, or ask her to do something, can she? If she just turned one, that might be asking a bit much--but I'd say in the next couple months, you should have SOME sign that she "gets" language--my son talks with his own made up signs quite a bit, and he had sounds that indicate words--animal sounds instead of animal names, he trills his lips for "drink"--and he still does this, at 26 months. I think if you're not seeing ANY indication of language acquisition, you should be concerned, but most likely, if you look closely, you'll see she's getting getting somewhere.

Relax. While I can understand that you're eager for her to talk, she will do it in her own time. Intelligent kids may talk later because they're processing so much information. My daughter could say 10 words when she was 18 months old, and she went on to become highly verbal and speaks four languages now as an adult. The best thing you can do for her is be happy and celebrate whatever sounds she makes, with no pressure for more. Keep it fun, and more will come.

I was also worried!

I remember being told that my daughter should have around 4-6 words that she uses and understands (and may not be actual words)between 16 - 18 months. She knew about 10 by 18 months.....but those came between 17 - 18 months. She only had "Dadda" around 16 months.

She just turned 2 years old and has SEVERAL words, uses short 2 and 3 word sentences, knows her colors, identifies about 10 letters, and can identify and count numbers (about 60% of the time) up to 10.

It will come! It is better to NOT stress over each of these milestones and let your child find her way. The more you stress, she will feel it and you don't need a stressed out baby (or Daddy or Mommy!).

Give her a big hug and keep talking with her and read lots of books. :)

I also just read that you said she is walking! Great! My daughter didn't walk until around 16 months. I freaked about that! Then I also learned that physical babies (the early crawlers, walkers, and climbers) may have a delay on the verbal side (and vice versa) and that the two are connected like a teeter totter. Hope this helps!

I think 1 is a bit early for speaking. I know at our 18 month check up, our doctor was a little concerned because our son only had a few "words" he used sparingly. Even now at 22 months he still only has a handful of words he uses with any frequency (still mostly babble) but he definitely knows what we're saying when we speak to him so we know it's not a hearing issue. He just doesn't want to talk.

Late speaking runs in my family, so it's not something I'm concerned about yet. Most of the family seems to have really started talking after 2 and a few closer to 3. If it's still a concern for you, maybe talk with your family and/or your boyfriend's family and see if anybody remembers when you two (or any siblings / cousins) started talking. I find that to be a better indicator than a general timeline for all children. :)

B.,
If your hearing tests come back okay I would just wait it out and let her talk at her own rate. My daughter was the same way. She didn't start talking until she was almost 2. Now at 6 she doesn't shut up! The child talks (babbles) just to hear her voice sometimes! All children start things at different times so I wouldn't read too much into it. Once she does start talking you'll be wishing she was 1 again :-)
Good Luck!
L.

I didn't read the other replies, but my oldest started talking super early and could carry on a conversation by 1 year.
I found out I was pregnant with my third when my second was 17-months and freaked out a little bit because his vocabulary only consisted of a handful of words. My the time #3 was born, #2 was talking up a storm.
My point is, every kid is different. They learn and develop at their own pace. It's not a bad idea to check her hearing, but I wouldn't worry. She'll talk when she's ready.

I wouldn't worry about it. Two of my 4 kids did not have any words until 18 months; one just took off then and went from 0 words to full sentances in a matter of days, the other still only had a few words at 2, but now at 3.5 will not stop talking. Our pediatrician, said unless we saw signs of hearing trouble, we should wait until 2 to be concerned. Kids all develop at different rates and it may be that she is just concentrating on learning other skills right now.

I have yet to meet a 1 year old that can talk. I'm sure there may be some out there, but saying words at 12 months is a rarity. Most 18 month olds hardly say anything. And a lot of 2 year olds may not talk much either. My son is 22 months old and his vocabulary has grown a lot in the last 3 weeks- some kids are just like that. They don't talk, don't talk, don't talk, and suddenly they start saying a ton. So to answer your question- no, there is no cause for concern yet. If she turns two and has less than 40 words [write them down because it's probably a lot more than you realize. Animal sounds count, too], then I would talk to the doctor again and maybe get a referral to a speech therapist, but I am 99% positive that wont be necessary.
By the way, my son had constant ear infections when he was an infant, and had fluid in his ear for almost 7 weeks straight when he was 9-10 months [even when the fluid was not infected, it wasn't draining and would become reinfected again and again], finally got tubes put in at 11 months, and has had several ear infections since then and his hearing is still fine.

My son didn't say anything other than "da" until after 15 months! We were worried too... now he is a little over 2 and is a little chatterbox. Obviously every situation is different, but ours turned into nothing to be concerned about!

Enjoy the quiet while you have it, don’t rush it . All joking aside, my son was almost 2 before he said much at all, he said momma and dada before he was 1, then by about 14 months he wouldn’t even say that, I too was paranoid, but everyone told me not to be and by the time he was 2 I was wondering why I ever wanted him to talk in the first place, LOL. Now he’s 3 and he NEVER stops.

I did figure out on my own that he probably wasn’t talking cause he got whatever he wanted without having to ask for it, all he had to do was point and I knew what he wanted, it took a while to break this habit and actually make him verbalize what he wanted instead of pointing and grunting, he got mad at me, but it did force him to talk on his own.

She will talk when she needs to and when she’s ready. As long as everything at the doctor checks out I would stop worrying and enjoy it.

I was concerned when my son barely said ma or da at 1. He made sounds but no real words. I had my son do a hearing test after he turned 2 because he didn't talk much. Came back normal. By 2 1/2 he was talking regularly. My second son was a little faster with speech but he also didn't talk until 2.
I hope my story helped. :)

I don't know if this will put your mind at ease or not BUT.... I am a daycare provider and have been for 19 years. Not talking at 1 isn't to big of a deal. It sounds like she is a physical child since she is walking and such. They say that if a child is developing fast in the physical things they are slower at the talking. If they talk early they are slower at the physical. I am sure that isn't the case for all kids, but that has been they way it is here with many of the kids I have had. I have a 2 1/2 year old that doesn't talk too much, but he has walked up and down the stairs holding the railing, not crawling up since he was 14 months old! He can run as fast as some of my 4 year olds he blows me away with his "physical" things. The talking gets more and more each month.

Have the ears checked, because you never know, but then just relax and work with your child without pushing too much.