she grunts and points but refuses to use words she previously spoke. She's also been more aggressive biting and slapping.
Did she just start to walk. My daughter stopped using words when shecstartedcto walk. Once she got it down she started talking. She's only 14 months. Give her time.
what does her pedi say?
with refusing to talk and biting i suspect she may be teething have you looked into her mouth to see what is going on in there that could be causing discomfort? (cutting teeth can be painful and little ones don't understand whats going on and act out however they see fit) this could be the reason for the aggression and biting and if something in her mouth is hurting her she may not want to talk as it may (to her) make things worse (even though it may not actually be making things worse)
Added: I had a child who was hearing impaired and had behavioral issues because he couldn't communicate - and so had tantrums. Passed the hearing test - but hearing was muffled - couldn't hear clearly. His was due to fluid in his ears which was painful, not helping the tantrums. As Sharon says, trust your mommy gut. It may be minor, but you know your child best.
Toddlers and children can become easily frustrated if they are not able to communicate. If she's not able to talk for whatever reason (what do you mean exactly by refuses to use words?) then she sounds frustrated to me - hence the biting and slapping. I'd take her in and just make sure she's well overall or to see if there's a reason she has stopped talking. Sometimes even just an ear infection can upset a kid's vocabulary. Good luck
Never discount your 'gut'.
Google 'child find', and seek out an evaluation in your area (for free). If it is nothing, WONDERFUL! If there is reason for concern, early intervention is wonderful too!!
I wish you and your child the best.
Well, you haven't asked a question here. That's one of the site guidelines, just to let you know. This isn't Twitter or Facebook.
It's helpful to include more information so that you can get answers that are more likely to help you, so if you write in again about a subject, please include more information.
For a 14 month old, this is normal. She is doing a lot of different things developmentally now, upping the ante, so to speak. When babies transitioning into toddlerhood are trying new things, they usually give something up. For example, if they are trying to learn to walk, they sometimes stop trying to talk, and vice versa.
She is more aggressive now, biting and slapping, because she doesn't have communication skills, and she is frustrated. Any daycare center has faced this with children this age. There have been more moms on this site than I can count whose children are biters or they're kids are bitten by biters. It's frustrating for everyone concerned, but it is normal.
You haven't shared who your child is biting or where. Is she in daycare or is she doing this to you, or your family members? There are ways to deal with biters. Talk to your pediatrician, or even go to a highly-rated daycare and ask the manager if she would tell you what the teachers in the daycare do to deal with children biting.
For the talking, do the talking for her. "Want up? Up? Here ya go, UP!" when you pick her up. If she wants milk, say "Want milk? Milk! Yummy milk!" Use easy words - that's what speech therapists do, like "wah-wah" for water. This is exactly what my son's speech therapist did with my own son at two years old. (Just after 24 months is when you would want to have a speech evaluation done if your child isn't talking much by then.)
She is VERY young for talking. You can just do a lot of talking to her right now. When she is 18 months old, reassess then. You can go online and search "speech development and 18 month olds" or something like that, and you can find a range of what "normal" sounds are.
Read to her at night time before she goes to bed. Point at the pictures and give them names. Make it fun and relaxing.
What you are describing for a 14 month old is totally normal. Yes, it's frustrating, for her AND for you, but you need to understand what is normal for this age. Do some reading so that you know what to expect.
Our sons talking didn't really take off very much till after his 2nd birthday.
Then it was chatter chatter chatter all the time.
With all due respect, more information would be helpful here. Is she an only? If not, where does she fall in the birth order of your others? Second borns and third borns and so on, tend to follow somewhat personal paths when it comes to speech development, whereas first and onlys tend to follow the milestones a little more closely. For example, my niece, three years younger than my nephew, barely spoke a word until she was three because her brother did all her talking for her. She could speak but why bother when he was swinging for the fences for her.
It's been many years since I lived through this chapter with my DS so I can't say definitively if there is a problem with your daughter or not. What I can say definitively are two things:: First, speaking for him was a survival technique ((me)"I'm begging you, just tell me what you want and we'll work it out.") so he was practically in full sentences by 16 months. And Second, always always always follow your mommy alarm. If you think there is a delay or an issue, by all means, honor that mommy alarm and have her checked out. If for no other reason than to provide you with some peace of mind and to provide her with any tools she may be help in developing. I would set up an apt with her ped and ask for a referral to a specialist as needed.
best of all to you and yours. S.
I would make a doctor's appointment asap.
