DD didn't talk until 18 months. Her motor skills, however, were off the charts. And all the non-verbal language stuff was on track. I had a crazy pedi around 18 months who was all, "Her one word isn't really a word, you need to teach her, aaaaaaaaaaah!" For that and other reasons I found another dr who said she doesn't worry until age 2 or if there are other apparent issues. By 20 months DD was up to 10 words.
I always worried about DS as he was a very quiet baby and late to babble. At 15 months he said dada, dog and signed for more (maaaaybe ball, but I can't remember). At 18 months, he had about 10 words, but still wasn't saying mama. He understood a lot, so the pedi wasn't concerned.
Now at 22 months, he is speaking in 2-3 word sentences and has hundreds of words. I think the whole x amount of worlds at a year, 15 months, 18 months is a bit overblown. If your child understands you and is attempting to talk, it seems like a large majority of the time that actual speech is right around the corner.
We told our pedi at that time that dd had 6 words and he seemed impressed. He said that's great. All her words are in Chinese. My h doesn't speak Chinese...lol, well except for these 6 words now.
Post by shellbear09 on May 22, 2015 14:11:09 GMT -5
That seems kinda crazy. I think ours said 2-3 words at 15m and dd had around 5 which was a lot to him. DD is a pretty early talker and had her word explosion around 19 months. I think it is way early to be concerned.
Post by humpforfree on May 22, 2015 14:15:52 GMT -5
Um no. Mine doesn't even assign his one word "dada"- it applies to everything. He will occasionally sign milk, water, all done. 15 month appt was last week and the pedi was okay with it since he babbles a lot- just said we would check in in a couple of months.
I think there is a huge range for words. I am super breezy about talking. DD1 had maybe 5 words at two. She didn't really start talking until almost three. DS was closer to average. Before DD2 I didn't believe the moms who said their two year olds were telling stories and talking in sentences. DD2 has always been a talker and was full on talking by two years old. DD3 is quiet like DD1. She is 23 months and only has maybe 15 words on a good week. She doesn't put words together.
Now that my older three are 8, 6, and 5 there is no difference between the early and the late talkers. It will come.
Mine both scored poorly for communication at 15 months and were assessed because their pediatricians advised it. I wasn't really that worried on my own but acknowledged they've both been on the slower side. If you've got pointing, good eye contact, babbling etc., those are all good signs. DD1 (4) is totally normal as far as I can tell and I think DD2 (~25 words at 20 months) is on the verge of a summertime speech explosion. There really is huge variability.
I suspect (though could be wrong) that some of the concern is that if it's an ASD, the pediatricians want to get therapy going ASAP. Slower expressive communication could be simply that or it could be a marker for autism. I think there has been a big push towards earlier diagnosis of ASDs so peds are understandably covering their bases.
Both my girls talked early, but were lazy as fuck on the physical milestones. I think it tends to be one or the other for most kids. He sounds totally fine.
I think this is true. My dd will be 15 months next week. She is not walking yet and has been at the same "any day now!" status since 11 months. However, she talks non-stop. I'm not sure what all the words mean and we tease her that she has a boyfriend called "Guy (gee)" as that seems to be a favourite.
DS has maybe 5 words at his 15 month earlier this month and the dr was not concerned in the least. He asked does he understand you and I said yes and he goes ok then that is more inportant
We had DD's 15 month appointment today too. The pedi asked if she had at least six words, which she does. But she REALLY goes in phases with words. She'll say it over and over for a few says and then seems to forget. This week she is all about shoes ("sooz") and hello ("eohh") and those are really the only two things she says on a regular basis. So while she probably has 15+ words that she has "known" at some point I would not at all say that she actually talks.
I feel the same way. J is 14 months and he says: dada, hi and bye correctly. He'll say other words, but not in the correct context. Everything round is an apple and he'll repeat: puppy, baby, mama, and all done but only if I say them first.
Post by gibbinator on May 22, 2015 19:04:41 GMT -5
Yeah no. Early talkers can do that, sure, but I don't think that many words is even average right? Like, 10 words by 18 months is supposed to be a milestone I think. Ds1 had maybe 3 words i can remember at that age, "cat" and "caw" (like the sound a crow makes), and he pointed and said "that." He had a huge word explosion at 20 months. That's when he really started talking and parroting words.
That was my assumption too..haha. Somedays I wonder. He's a great doctor when it counts but otherwise he comes up with stuff way out of left field and I'm like WTH are you on, dude. Ha.
I think there is a huge range for words. I am super breezy about talking. DD1 had maybe 5 words at two. She didn't really start talking until almost three. DS was closer to average. Before DD2 I didn't believe the moms who said their two year olds were telling stories and talking in sentences. DD2 has always been a talker and was full on talking by two years old. DD3 is quiet like DD1. She is 23 months and only has maybe 15 words on a good week. She doesn't put words together.
Now that my older three are 8, 6, and 5 there is no difference between the early and the late talkers. It will come.
Thanks. I'm usually pretty laid back but to keep it real sometimes I have to check my own level of breeze...haha.
Ha, DS has one word at 15 months. He's in EI but that's primarily for gross motor delays, so we get some speech help since he's already getting therapy. Don't worry about it. Totally normal.
Um, this is embarrassing, but I don't even fully know how any words my kid has. She may have a whole vocabulary I'm unaware of since she's with dcp most of the time. She's got dada, "Uck" for yuck (only used sometimes when I smell her feet), uh oh (sometimes), and she knows what a monkey says.
No mama, hi, bye. I'm breezier than I thought I'd ever be. I'll worry at 18 months. She's also not walking so I'm throwing out the "early walker, late talker" theory. My gut says she's fine.
At 15 months, DD said "bye." I think soon after she started saying "hi." People always ask "does she say 'mama'?" and I feel like such a loser saying no, she does not say mama or daddy yet. Though in the last few weeks, like 3 weeks, she has been sounding a lot more like she's talking gibberish to herself. We are getting close to the 18 month appointment and I think we are at bye, hi, cha (for tea), and ba for bottle and possibly bear.
She clearly understands me and my commands so I'm not worried about her hearing or processing language. And she even listens to the commands (for now) like "put the shirt back in the laundry basket, hold my hand, give daddy the spoon" - so I'll take whatever she's got even if she can't talk yet.
Well, yeah, DD1 could talk at 15mo. She could name most of the foods in her lunch at daycare. I didn't know it was unusual until daycare lady freaked out about it.
Of course, she couldn't walk and had only been crawling a couple months, so it was a trade-off. My other kids didn't talk that much that early (instead they spent their time learning to walk I guess!)
We just has DS's 15 month appointment this week and he has zero words. Not even mama or dada.
Sometimes he makes a "B" sound when looking at our dog, Bauer, but not remotely consistent enough to call it a word. He also says something that sound like "this" that he says all the time, but not for anything in particular.
The Pedi was concerned only in the "if he doesn't have a few words by 18 months, we'll refer him to EI", but bc his motor skills are great, he follows simple directions, and it's clear he understands us, she said not to worry.
Did you ask your doctor how exactly you're supposed to "make him say it"? Wtf. Lol.
I think your instincts are right on. DS was more talkative than most of kids I know and he had 10 or so words by 15 mo but the were definitely not clear. I say KOKO
I wouldn't normally reply after multiple pages like this, but I just wanted to add that my kid had NO words at 15 months. He had about a dozen by 18 months and was speaking in sentences by 2 years. They catch up.
I suspect (though could be wrong) that some of the concern is that if it's an ASD, the pediatricians want to get therapy going ASAP. Slower expressive communication could be simply that or it could be a marker for autism. I think there has been a big push towards earlier diagnosis of ASDs so peds are understandably covering their bases.
I'm sure there's something to the ASD thing, but also around the notion that EI goes away on a child's 3rd birthday. Younger and more proactive physicians tend push for earlier evals to maximize the free therapy to help the child catch up.
At 16 months, the pedi should do MCHAT to screen for potential red flags associated with ASD.
To answer the OP, my kid was using simple sentences by 16 months. I had lost count of his word count by about 15 months. "Dog bites foot", "penis is funny". This was unusual enough that his pedi brought her nurse in to "hear this talking baby". FTR, he has a form of ASD where early speech is a feature. Early isn't always good.
DS1 didn't have any, DS2 had a few - like 3 or 4, DD only had one or two. All developed normally as far as language goes. Every kid is different. I wouldn't worry about it yet.