Concern with 16 Month Old

I wouldn't be too worried at this point. He's responding to commands and seems to know and do what you ask. They point because they can't do much so as he starts to do more he'll point less.

My oldest didn't talk very much and when I took a step back I was able to see that she didn't have to. I did all the talking for her. "Do you want juice, water, milk" and she'd grunt when I hit the beverage of her choice. Once I stopped doing all the talking she started to talk more.

Kid's development has periods of breakdown-regression. In fact, expect such regressions close to the half-year. This isn't an exact science, so it could be earlier or later, but expect a period EVERY YEAR where kids regress. In fact, my son is 3.5, and around this period, kids fall down a lot. Their bodies are slimming out and shedding the toddler look, and as they do this, they fall a lot.

Kids then leap forward. Your son may be making the shift to language use. Around 18 months many kids start accumulating lots of words.

I never worry about this kind of stuff anymore. The time tables are a very loose guideline. He's a toddler, he walks, he responds, he plays, he eats he's fine. After my first, I put all that stuff away and have enjoyed being a mom much more! Good luck mama!

It seems to me that you are overly concerned about these small levels he should be reaching but you're getting lost in the big picture. Is he a healthy child? DOes he seem interested in the world around him? He understands simple commands so his hearing & intellect seem fine. It could be that he's moved on to a new thing and the pointing no longer interests him. Babies have these develomental surges and often an old skill becomes boring when they pick up something new. Sometimes the new skill is physical and the old discarded skill is intellectual - sometimes it's the other way around. If he began walking in the last month he's way too interested in walking to even "waste his time" pointing. He's rather jsut go there on his own 2 feet!
As for speaking, my now 17 yr old daughter barely spoke until she was almost 3. He speech was delayed - but she was curious about everything - and it seemed she was just absorbing it all. Her cousin, a few month younger than she, was talking full sentences and paragraphs at least a year before my child. Her day care teacher suggested I have her evaluated by the school district when she turned 3 and I did. The result was that she was highly intelligent, and although she did have a speech delay it wasn't significant and it would go away. She's a bright girl, often on the honor roll, is involved in many volunteer projects, etc. But she hardly spoke during her first few years on this earth. Oh well.

As long as your little guy is overall doing well he's fine. He's probably working on a new development and his brain is busy doing that. don't get yourself too wrapped up in him meeting every "Milestone". They are averages based on hundreds of children. Last I checked there is no average child. God makes some of them amazing muscians, others are skilled athletes - still others are gifted scientists. Some are extraordianrily kind and caring and great with people. Enjoy your child for the wonderful gift he is. Remember he's only been on the earth for 16 months - so everything he knows he's learned in that short period of time. When you see the doctor tell her your concerns and she'll do a full evaluation. I think your little guy will be just fine and you won't even remember being worried about this.

Sounds normal to me, considering you recently moved and he's learning to walk, both big events to a 1 year old. But the appointment with Early Intervention is a good idea to ease your mind.

Sounds like he got bored with the game.

If you're really concerned, talk to his doctor. However, children often stop doing one thing while they take time to learn something else. So he may have stopped pointing, but he's replaced it with waving, clapping, exploring his new house, etc.

I'm with Julie on this one. My DD has been in speech therapy, and whenever she would have a regression in one aspect of her life it usually meant she was gearing up for a new milestone, advancing a skill she already has, or a growth spurt.

You should download injini, the free lite version. (The full version runs $25!) But the free version has plenty to keep my DD occupied, an is GREAT for building fine motor skills. The games adjust the difficulty based on the ability of the child.

At 16 months he's not supposed to be able to do much with his hands yet. They are still moving their hands by moving their shoulders and elbows. Later comes moving the hand by moving the wrist and finally they start being able to have much better fine motor skills in their hands then eventually their fingers.

If you notice most kids when they color, they hold the crayon in a grip then they use their whole arm to move the hand, as they get older the ability to move the crayon gradually moves down the muscles in their arm. As your child gets older he's going to develop those better skills to play the games better.

It truly sounds like you might need to download a couple of new games.

It might also be that he's still healing inside. I'd be concerned about his interest in playing the body part game. That's usually when they have mom's or dad's complete attention and play enthusiastically. They get that one on one time and play hard.

Here's a link to Parent Center. If you put in his name and birth date, age, etc...they send you a weekly, monthly email of what he should be doing and what to expect to see next. It might help you to know that all kids do develop differently.

For instance, some kids never crawl, they go directly from rocking on their hands and knees to walking. They eventually have to go back and learn to crawl because crawling is part of some needed skill they have to have to progress to another stage later on. It's all about how these skills are rewiring their brain.

http://www.parentcenter.com/toddler.html

If you are worried, talk to the doc and ask to have him assessed for early intervention.