Communication/Development

He is fine! Do not give it another thought. All children are different and the drs try to make them all the same.... hogwash

Hi J.-
I am a speech therapist from Germany. I worked in a pediatric center for a long time and used to work with very young kids and their parents. I wouldn't say your son is delayed yet but there is a lot you can do to awaken his interest in communication 'cause that doesn't seem to be very developed. As the other Mom said boys usually are a little slower than girls but most kids have their first words around their first birthday. Word meaning the same syllables used for the same item person - even if it is not an English word :) Also it depends on the families communication patterns: Are you or your husband very talkative or is one of you more quiet, just not a very communicative personality because there are just different people out there and that is fine.

At the age of 11 months songs and rhymes usually interest the kids a lot. Important is to stick to just a couple and repeat them instead of using new ones all the time. I like the songs and rhymes where you use your hands and fingers (very popular in Germany) so he can look and listen, captures interest better. Even if he doesn't seem to react to your singing keep doing it. After a time he will pick it up. Try to talk for him. If he points to something and says "da" then word it out for him: "Ahhh, you want to know what it is...it is a CAR. Look the CAR is driving...it is a red CAR...I like this CAR..." You can really emphasize on the new word and try to bring it up more often as a lot of repetition is necessary to learn a new word. You can hide the car under a pillow and ask "Where is the CAR?" and so on. Just play with it. It is mostly the parents job to give communication a meaning and make it fun. Try to speak in simple and short sentences, try to keep eye contact, move your mouth/lips over the usual extent, try to get him interested in what your mouth does. Speak slowly, allow gaps (don't talk all the time because he doesn't talk) so he has time to process the words. His interest is the lead. It doesn't work if you want him to learn "car" but right now he is handling a ball and interested in that.

I would try these things and then re evaluate after his birthday at 13/14 months! Good Luck and all the best!!!

I just wnated to write you and say I HAVE BEEN THERE!!!!! My 1st son was pretty much the same way and now he is 2 years old and is doing great.

I really hope you will read my post....cuz I have been there and I think i may be able to give you some ideas!!

First: IMO your baby is fine. He is already walking!! That is awesome! He points!!!! Pointing is HUGE HUGE HUGE when it comes to development. BTW pointing is a form of communication. So encourage him to do that. Eye contact is also good. I know with all of the autism stuff in the news, it is hard not to get worried about that or other delays. But, pointing and eye contact are 2 things kids with autism struggle with. My friends 4 year old autistic son JUST STARTED pointing!!!!

Second: Try to encourage him to speak. Like I said, my son was about the same as your son. My son still wasn't talking much at 18mo (i think they are supposed to have 20 words or so by then) so I got him Early INtervention. A speech therapist has worked with my son, and she has given me ideas to help him communicate. He has TAKEN OFF!!!! Here are some of the suggestions that they have given me.

Like your son, my son had no need to talk.....I did everything and I knew what he wanted before he did LOL>...

So EI worked with me to CREATED the OPPORTUNITY for communication

1. If your son wants something that you have (liek a ball, a toy, his bottle, a cracker) make eye contact with him, say the word (like "ball") and look at him expectantly. Wait for him to make ANY sound back, and then say "good you said ball" and give him the ball. Smile and be really happy.
If he just starts to fuss....give the ball to him. The last t=hing you wwant is for him to get frustrated and avoid you. You can also break ball down to "ba".

2. Use his pointing to your advantage. Give him choices.....Hold up juice and milk and ask which he wants. He may/may not point in response. If he points to what he wants say "ok here's MILK"....and do something similar to what I described above in #1. If he doesn't point to one just make the decision for him, make him point to one of them ,an d say "ok I am giving you MILK".

3. The last thing is "signing time" dvds. My boys LOVE these. Yes they do teach sign language...but I REALLY believe that they help encourage speech. My 2yr old picked up on all of the signs really fast, and he started signing EVERYTHING> THis really helped us A LOT. My son has ALWAYS babbled a lot. ANd his babbling sounded like sentences, but we could not understand him. He started signing and babbling and we were able to understand him more and help him pronounce things better. So......signing helps kids express themselves before they can speak....and cuz they are expressing themsleves thru sign you can help them learn the words. It amazed me how much my son was attempting to say....and I just didn't understand.

Lastly....don't worry. Boys are slower at speech. 11mo old is way to early to be worried....but we are mom's and that is what we do. I hope these tips help you.

Ihave a ton more suggestions.....but these are my favorites.

He will be fine.....

I think your baby is normal. He might make "ma" sounds, but you shouldn't expect him to call you ma yet.

My daughter is the same age (11mo next week) and just as comparison, says "ba-ba-ba" and "uh-uh". She will repeat back sounds when I'm "talking" to her, if she feels like it. Just in the last week she discovered controlling her hands and will wave and clap (is that what they mean by "playing a game"?) and will play peek-a-boo (wordless). Saying 3 words? not even!

Your son is showing curiosity about things around him and that is WONDERFUL.

As a side note, there is a lot of info about signing and now that they can manipulate their hands, this is a good age to use it with them.

Enjoy this fun age of discovery,
K.

he's fine. he's sounds PERFECT!!! if it worries you, just make an conscious effort to make him ask for things...like SIGN or verbalize something..anything..any sounds..before you hand anything over to him. Ask him to say please, thank you etc..

he may not be talking now, but trust me, he's storing away all these information you're giving him for later and will surprise you soon enough when he finally talks and remembers things you told him a year ago! :)

I think your son is doing just fine. Little boys just take longer for some reason. Please do not worry, he is functioning very normal for his age. I raised five children and now I am a nanny. The little girl I babysit was over two years old when all of a sudden everything came out at once. My grandson is two and a half and just now starting to really talk. My boys were delayed, my girls were not. I was frantic with my first son, being he had an older sister who spoke very young. He is quite normal. Today he is responsible loving father of two, who speaks wonderfully. Your son isn't even a year yet, give him time. He maybe two and a half before real words come out.

my son had a delay in his speech. If ur worried the dr will probably recommend a specialist. When my son was 2 a peron would come to my house weekly and work with him. Then at age 3 he started going through the school district and he's still going. It wouldn't hurt to start working at it now but its up to you. Good luck

Your son is 11 months and they want to talk to you about his communication? Please?!!! Both my son's didn't say their first words until well after their 1st birthday. It sounds like your son is right on track... I think it sounds a bit early for there to be ANY concerns.

You have to go with your gut and what you think is right. . .

One major thing to keep in mind during these first few years of growth, is that the brain can only focus on one thing to develop at a time. So if they are working on communicating they may be a little slower on getting the physical milestones and if they are working on the physical milestones then it takes a little longer for the communication stuff to happen.

My daughter will be 11 months on the 7th and she is doing mama, dada, baba, definitely does not have 3 words, but has made huge strides in crawling in the last two weeks and is working on the walking now. I agree with most of the other parents. It seems to happen overnight (I also have a 4 1/2 year old). They aren't saying anything one day, they go to bed, wake up and all of a sudden they say their first word.

It is an amazing process and I wouldn't worry yet, unless your gut tells you otherwise.

E.

Hi, J. -
Do not worry!!
I am the mother of an alomst-16-month old boy who is also very mellow and about whom we had similar questions at his 1-year appointment: he rarely pulled himself up to standing, did not have any words, did not play pat-a-cake, etc.. I even called the Westside Regional Center to ask about evaluation and here's what they said:
- about the standing - if he doesn't pull himself up by the time he's 15 months, we can talk about evaluation
- they don't even start evaluating for speech until 18 months

Now he has just started walking (mostly pushing a cart or holding hands still) and he still doesn't have any specific words. He babbles a lot and recognizes things, but doesn't say "mama"...sometimes "da" for daddy. He shows the same curiosity your son does about names of objects and interacts, too.
I worried for about a day and then realized that he may be just a late bloomer and that's his personality.

Hope this helps - I know where you're coming from!

- M. A.

I answered the same answers you did when my daughter was almost 2 years old. We had her hearing checked, gave her speech therapy, and had her tested for delays, etc. When she was 25 months old, she started talking in full sentences. Now that she is seven, I realize that it is a personality trait with her. She is a perfectionist, and she does not want to demonstrate learning anything until she feels that she can do it well. In our case, it was a personality trait. For your son, maybe he's just working on his gross motor development and the speech will come later. He is just a little baby, don't stress out yet, but do call the doctor back and if it makes you feel better, have him evaluated. The speech therapy that we went to was fun for my daughter.

Ask yourself this: when did Einstein start to talk?
Answer: 4 years old...

sure he might be delayed but why worry about it.

I don't remember any questions like these from the doctor.

You son sounds fine to me. As long as he laughs and looks into your eyes, he is doing fine. He has his own personality and interests right now.

Trust your feelings on this, you are his Mom, if you FEEL he is fine, don't let them put ideas in your head. If you start to look for problems, you will find/create them. Your child is tuned into your start of being and if you become anxious and worried, he will pick up on that and if ever there was a chance for something to be wrong, that could be what does it. Not the path you want.

Just see how perfect he is.

Hopefully you have spoken to your PED by now, but it is good that they are calling you. If there is a problem and there is help, get it done now, as it will be much easier.

Delayed speech can be just a delay or a possibility of an undiagnosed ear infection that is causing him to not hear you to repeat back to you.

In 2nd grade I noticed a lazy eye in my daughter and we fixed it with therapy. It was work, but I am glad we did it.

I am sure it will be fine.

Hello, I can't say that there is not a problem with your child. However, I can say that our oldest grandson was not communicating at the level we thought he should be at the various stages before kindergarten, starting with his toddler time. He also showed no interest in learning his ABC's or numbers. He did love to sit and be read to and do other interactive activities. He is now in all Honors classes receiving almost all A's.
I wouldn't stress too much at this point and I am not sure why the doctor is.
I would try things like: "Do you want a drink?", then wait for a response. Then work on that response. Once your son realizes that he needs to respond to your questions or to let you know what he needs, he will start to communicate those needs to you. However, he is stiil quite young, so he may not yet get the whole idea. Our youngest son was very calm and didn't demand much. He is quite normal.
Good luck with your precious little son.
K. K.

Under 1 year old seems WAY too early to worry about this! Like the other mom's say...your son seems like he's doing fine! Maybe it's your doc that isn't so fine!!

Hi J.,

My daughter is 26 months and so far, only 5 words (mama, papa, Betty (her doll), ba (grandma in Vietnamese) and bye-bye. She is so delay in speech that it isn't funny. She spends alot of her communication by pointing and grunting and saying 'da' to whatever she is seeking/wanting. In all the other area of her developments, she is at the right stage, except speech. She understands everything we asked of her in 3 different languages (her father is German), so I know she understands. She just can't put it into word. Right now, she should be able to have 250 words of vocabulary and should put two words together.

I went through the Regional Center to get her evaluated and she is definitely delay based on their evaluation. We have an appointment (will be her 3rd appointments) for her coming up regarding her evaluation, which they told me she is at the 12 months stage.

So I believe your child is at the stage where he is at. If he is able to point to what he wants, you shouldn't be too worry. He is communicating.

I think your son sounds perfectly normal!!! Some kids of very verbal early one (like my oldest) or it comes it a little slower (like my youngest). I have a feeling you were also a little more honest than some parents might be. I think some parents hear a sound once and assume their child meant a certain word...it's kind of like the line you draw when you consider them "walking"...is it when they take a step, when they take several, when they are consistently able to do it? Everyone has their own definitions of some of these more subjective things...My 14 month old says bye-bye, da-da, "touchdown" (believe it or not--he even raises him arms like the refs when he says it!), dog and duck, a few others but I RARELY hear Mama...still not even sure he uses that sound to mean me or not...they all develop differently, but that doesn't mean there is anything wrong.

pretty much the same way....i wouldnt be concerned deff that early in his life...i used to be concerned seeing other kids talking way before alex...mainly girls...but ive always heard girls talk way before boys i just pray theyre right...

I think you need to consider getting another doctor! Both of my nephews did not say one word until they were 3 years old and BOTH OF THEM GRADUATED WITH HONORS!!! Both are also in college and they talk a great deal. You doctor sounds like he is making a lot of mommies nuts. Keep up the good work and trust yourself as you know him best!

Sounds to me like he's going at his own pace and he's made enough developments in each department not to be concerned. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, ya know? Perhaps your peds office just wants to talk to you to give you tips on how to encourage the stuff you marked "not yet" on (such as tell you to introduce patty cake and that sorta stuff). I'm sure he's fine, sounds like you have a pretty helpful and thorough pediatrician actually.

I remember a questionairre I answered for my daughter that asked if I was sure to turn pot handles in when I cooked. I actually said no because it hadn't occurred to me as my daughter wasn't even remotely tall enough to reach the stove. Of course I then got a mini lecture about kitchen safety! I think they have to address stuff like that. They probably love the chance to be helpful and actually give some good doctorly advice sometimes :)

Well, the three words question is ridiculous. Most babies don't say three words until well after they turn one. I don't think you have anything to worry about right now.

My kids are now 5 and 7. I do not remember all your "not yet" answers, but I do know that my son did not say any words till after 12 months. My daughter's friend in 2nd grade (smart little girl) told me she did not talk till 2 years old. So, you can't tell anything this young,