First Time Mommy Need Some Advice

I agree try sign language. It helps so much with my 13 month old. Also, just keep talking to him about everything you are doing. Give everything a name as you do it. He will eventually pick up on more as he gets older.

I would just keep talking to him and consider baby sign (we didn't use baby signs per se. We used real ASL) so he can communicate some with out being so frustrated.

Just talk to him all the time like a narrator and you point to stuff!
Mommy is getting your shoes - here are your shoes, lets put them on your feet. How many feet? One, two. You have two feet. Now lets get your jacket on. Where are your hands? There they are! Put them in the jacket. Good job!!!

Not all the time, but alot. Don't worry about sounding like a crazy person ;)
Also, get simple picture books to look at together. And point out the picture of the horse, cow, sun whatever and eventually he'll start doing it too!!!

Do you talk to him? Don't do baby talk or only speak in his direction when you want his attention. TALK like you normally would, like he understands you. This is how they pick up not only words, but usage and context. As you do things around the house, speak your actions. When I was home with baby, I would take him with me in the mornings to open the curtains and say, "Good morning, outside! Good morning, grass...trees!" I'd go back at the end of the day to close the curtains and say good night to everything. "Mommy's gonna fix your cereal, now. How much would you like? You got a taste for milk or juice in your cereal this morning? What are you looking at over there? Do you see the red ball? Hey, X, come look at the rain! You wanna go outside and touch it? See, that's water."

I hope that I'm not oversimplifying it when I say this: Just talk to him. Maybe with no other adult around, you feel silly saying certain things aloud. Think of him as a person who understands you, because he does.

Mine is just about 21 months. He says some words, but he still points a lot. I encourage him to say the words. Sometimes he does. Mostly, I can see him working it around in his mind and mouth, so he can feel secure with it.

Read to him every day, talk to him, sing hims songs and do the actions with him.. .even if it's just the ABC song or My Little Teapot, Itsy Bitsy Spider. Have fun conversations, even on mundane tasks. Go on a walk, say, "That is a big green tree. Look at those soft, pretty leaves. Feel the nice, cool breeze. See those fluffy, white clouds?" Point to things and describe them, let him touch them.

Tickle him and point to his body parts and label them. Make it fun and cute and do it very often.

When feeding him, "Look at that nice yellow cheese! it is shaped like a little square. Isn't it yummy in your tummy!" Then tickle his tummy. Make talking fun and a game.

It's all about learning how you say words and use them correctly in sentences. Don't do baby talk in a high pitched, cutie voice... just normal talk that is still somewhat expressive. Some excellent advice from the experts here:

http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_...

My 6 year old didn't talk until he was 2... and I did everything *right*. Well, now the kid won't STOP talking, lol! So, it will eventually happen, so long as he is able to communicate and is trying new words and sounds. If not, then you can look into speech therapy, but I doubt you will need it :)

Read to him a lot.
Talk to him a lot.
Talk to yourself a lot.

At 13 months it's too soon to say whether's he's behind in any way. Some of them say nothing, some of them use sentences at that age. Everything is within the range of 'typical' (unless he has other issues as well).

:)

He is only 13 months old. :) It will come. I have two girls and neither really talked much at all until around 18 months of age. BOTH have amazing vocabularies and talked full sentences by 2 1/2.

Never feel you need to sit a toddler (and even a preschooler) down to "teach" them. You are teaching him about life all day long.

Talk to him all the time (like others suggested) and try to read to him. Even if he isn't willing to sit and look at the pictures, read a book aloud to him while he plays. :)

It will come. Even if he has a delay (which I doubt), it will come!

Did he just start walking? Usually, children focus on one developmental milestone at a time. When trying to learn how to walk, the talking takes a backseat. Once the walking is well established (or toddling, which is probably a better description), then the talking follows.

Read, read, read to him. Point at the pictures and give him the names of things. When you play with his toys with him, name the toys. "Look at the cow! The cow says mooooo!" Point at things and name them wherever you are. "Look at the train, Johnny!"

Don't try to get him to sit still to learn words. That's not what learning is supposed to be like at this stage. Playing is learning. Doing is learning. Putting things in his mouth is learning. Let him learn like this. And talk, talk, talk to him. Sing to him too.

When he wants something, say to him "You want milk? Mmm-ilk! Milk, mommy! Milk, mommy! Here is some milk!" You are giving him the word he needs for what he wants and saying it for him. It isn't time for him to parrot it back to you. Later on he will try and you will encourage it.

If he doesn't have many words by the time he is 24 months, THAT is when he needs to be evaluated. There is a lot more leeway before that 24 month period in speech and language than before. At that point, it is critical to have a speech therapist assess him if he isn't using much language and you should have it set up by the time he turns 2 if you see this problem.

So, bottom line, no trying to get him to "sit" to learn. Instead, USE words all day long in everything you do with him. When he is ready to start using the words, hopefully it will come quickly and he won't stop talking! LOL!

Dawn

They learn by being involved in conversations. At this age, you can't "teach" him words. Just expose him to language every chance you get. Talk to him about everything. And some kiddos talk later. I had a friend whose kids didn't talk till he was 2 and then never shut up.

Basically, you want to "narrate" your life as if you were reading a book about it to him. Ex. "mama's making dinner. look at all those yummy vegetables. Do you want some green peas? Here we go, stirring the mashed potatoes!" - Taking about what you're doing will connect the words to the actions.

Also, when he seems to indicate what he wants - use your words with that. "You want some juice? Let's get the juice out of the refrigerator. I'm putting it in the cup for you so you can drink it."

Check out Baby Sign Language - they may have books at your local library on it. It helps them communicate before their mouths are ready, and helps with language development. And can also help keeping you sane.

With both our kids we talked to them constantly when they were babies. I was always saying what I was doing. What we were looking at. I basically was my child's voice for them. I read to them a ton also. So, when changing his diaper just keep a running dialogue...now I'm taking off your poopy diaper. Yay! Now you are getting all clean. Here is your new diaper! Ok, now we are going into the kitchen. Here is your sippy cup. Do you want it? We also did baby sign language with both our kids and they really picked it up quickly. It helped them to tell me when they were hungry or thirsty or wanted certain things. They seemed to love it. My son would sit and listen to books for a long time at that age, but my daughter did not seem to have any attention span for books then. I would carry her and read her a book till she got the hang of it. Now at age 2 she can listen to me read her books forever. Keep talking to your son. Tell him what everything is. Tell him what he doing, what he is playing with, what he is looking at. He does not need to stay still for this. Show him the signs for certain things at the same time. Eventually he will get it.

You don't "teach" him. You just talk to him. Refer to yourself as "mommy" or whatever word you want him using. touch things and name them. Keep a running commentary on everything. name his body parts as you touch or clean them. name every item in his surroundings. Just talk, talk, talk to him. His brain will sort it out and he'll start spouting it back at you pretty soon!

Try baby sign language!

I remember being concerned about my oldest when he was that age. He seemed to be doing so well with other milestones, but with language he was towards the end of the spectrum or even a little behind. That sounds insane to me now (that I was concerned), because his little brother barely uttered a sound before he was 18 months. Well, little brother did have a speach delay, but he's been going to speech for a little over a year and doing much better.

The advice you've gotten is perfect. Just keep talking to him, and he really will catch on. At 13 months, it's actually very normal to not use any words yet. Give it some time. If he doesn't seem to improve, mention it the next time you see your ped. But really, at 13 months, this is totally normal.

just narrate. There's no forcing these things. Some kids talk early others not so much. Don't keep from saying things for fear he will not understand. Read books. First Words books are great and so are simple story books with pictures. Point to things in picture books. Ask him to tell you where the doggy is and so forth.

Just talk. A LOT. All the time.
Example: "oh....yeah.... Got your greenie beanies warming up right now. They're green. They're beans. They're YUMMY. And they're ALL for You! Whaddayathink of these green, green beans?"

Read and sing to him!
A lot!
He'll be talking up a storm by about 2 give or take a few months and you'll be missing your quiet pre-talking days!

I'm sure you have gotten lots of advice, but here's an anecdote. I, too, was concerned about my daughter b/c she barely said a word at 13 months. I don't think I'd even heard her say her own name by 18 months! We talk to her alot, read books and sang (and make attempts to keep the TV off!!) Soon after, I realized she knew a lot more than she was letting on. Even though she wouldn't say alot of words, I noticed on a walk one day that she was reading the numbers on the sidewalk. We turned this into a game and by 2, we were reading license plates. I'll bet your son knows more than you think!!

I lied...I do have one piece of advice....try sign language. Kids pick up signs easy. Teach him some signs so he can tell you what he wants, like thew sign for "More", "sleepy", hungry", etc.

Good luck!!

I recommend talking to him throughout the day. DON'T use baby talk. It confuses babies. Use words you want him to repeat. Describe objects by color, size and such. Count toys, cars, how many snacks on his plate.

I used to hold my son's hands and say, "Hands!" Kiss his eyes and tell him, "I'm kissing your eyes!" Point to your nose and say, "Nose." It's simple and can be fun when you add tickles to feet and tummy.

Some children talk later than others. No worries! It'll happen!