My son just turned 17 months old and while he babbles and baby talks a lot, he does not have any "real" words -he does not say mama, dada, hi, etc. although he can make all those sounds. Is this normal? Should I seek a speech evaluation for him? I have a 31 month old daughter who has a speech delay, is in speech therapy and is on the Autism spectrum. I am trying not to jump to the worst conclusion here, but when it comes to my babies sometimes it is hard not to worry.
I am calling his pediatrician on Monday and asking for a rx for a speech evaluation. It took FOREVER to get my older child into speech. I do not want to make the same mistake this time. Thanks so much for the input! :)
Sounds like my son. We started at 19 months and I'm SO GLAD we did. I can just imagine how frustrated he would have been if we didn't start when we did.
Get the eval done.
My son did not say one word at 2 1/2. He had excellent comprehension, and I KNEW he was fine despite all my friends recommending evaluations. Now at 3, he speaks like a little poet, better than lots of 5 year olds.
We have a huge extended family, and MANY of the kids, especially boys, did not speak until almost three. My best friend's son barely spoke at 3, and he's now in 3rd grade in a gifted program.
If you feel he has some trouble comprehending stuff for his age, you could consider something...but I think the early intervention for 2 year olds who don't talk is insane. Lots of kids don't talk at 2.
17 months? Boy? I would not worry at all if I were you. Your concern is understandable regarding your daughter, definitely continue your great monitoring of him, but at this age, babbling is totally normal. My 3rd child, girl, was babbling only at 2, even though her big sister was talking in little sentences at 18 months. Kids do these things at all different times. Now at 2 1/2 my 3rd is speaking well (typical 2 year old well), and she always had great comprehension.
I agree with TO...If he is making the connection, but not the words - I wouldn't be too concerned. I have two daughters...but was always told boys take a little longer to talk. My eldest came out of the womb knowing everything (ha!ha!) and my youngest didn't make a sound until she was probably 15 months old. We actually thought something was wrong with her. But just one day - she opened her mouth, started talking and haven't been able to stop her since! I think if your son isn't making connections or just making noise - I'd check with your Ped...But if you just can't understand him, I would think he's OK...
I would wait until his 18 month appointment. My pediatrician did the M-CHAT then and it picked up my sons speech delay. If your pediatrician doesn't routinely do the M_CHAT at 18 months, you may want to ask about it.
I would have it checked out just to be sure. I am pretty sure that mama, dada should be expected by now. I was also told that it's more common to have multiple children with simmilar issues, so for that reason I would get things started early.
I don't blame you for worrying, especially because you have another child on the spectrum. Is there anything else that stands out to you? If so, then I would get an eval. If not, then TRY to take it one day at a time.
Hi. My son, now 4, did alot of "babbling" when young. He did speak real words, but I had to "translate" what he said to people quite often. I used to joke and said he was speaking Nicoish (his name is Nico). I asked his doctor about it she didn't have concerns and he did get better. It may not have been @ the rate as other children but he is fine. If it would help ease your mind, I say have him evaluated. Also, if your older child has speech issues he may just be picking up on that and not have any real ones of his own. I have an Aunt who stutters, severely, and several of my younger cousin, not her children, stuttered. None of them had a speech problem but for whatever reason b/c they heard her do it they stuttered as well. ( It was not teasing stuttering it was how they talked) They grew out of it. I would think, if he is capable of making the sounds, he is fine and just may need a lil push into saying the words.
Does he make any specific noises? My son didn't talk really at all till he was 14m, and his first word was "Owoooo' (like a dog howling) because he was deliberately trying to copy the dog's sound when she howled.... That morphed for a little while into the "word" for dog. He continued to babble, even after he started talking, for at least 6 or 9 months, though it gradually decreased as his vocabulary increased.
17 months to me is totally normal. I would just ask his ped next time, but sounds find to me.
Does he point to things and babble at the same time? If he saw an airplane in the sky would he look up and babble and look at you? If he is making connections to his babbling I wouldn't worry, but if his babbling is just to babble then an eval probably wouldn't hurt.
Delay.....no question. He should be putting two words together at 18 months and he doesn't even have single words yet. Early intervention NOW. Siblings usually follow the same path. I work with them and this is almost always the case although each child is a bit different. The earlier the better.
