Hi Moms,
I actually have 2 questions so I thought I'd put them in one post.
1. When is it safe to use a blanket and a pillow in a crib? My daughter is 19 months old and up until now she has been wearing the sleep sack. We are all told not to use blankets, pillows, etc in the crib when they are born but no one tells us when it is safe to start using them.
2. At 19 months, my daughter has what I perceived to be a good vocabulary for her age. She speaks well over 100 words and even combines words to make a complete thought. She can count to 13 and even know her numbers 1 - 10 on sight and even some letters. The problem is many words in her extended vocabulary are mispronounced, i.e. daw for draw, baccu for vacuum, goggie for doggie. Sometimes I am the only one that understands what she is trying to say. Is this normal and do the mispronounced words count as part of the question when the doctor asks how many words can she speak at a certain age. When she had her 18 month old well visit I told the doctor she can speak over 100 words but now I am wondering if that is correct since many words are mispronounced.
At this age its totally fine to use a pillow and blanket .I started using one for my son at around the same age. I wouldnt stress over her not saying the words properly yet. She's not even 2!!!! Now if she's 4 and still not pronouncing things correctly, id consult a speech therapist. dont stress, she's still a baby!
Hi L.
Great questions!
1. In the olden days, we were told when they could pick their heads out of a position and roll over they could have a blanket and you didn't give pillows until they insisted.
2. My suggestion is to call MD's and talk to the nurse, explain just like you did us and ask which MD wanted.
I think if you can understand her at 19 mos. that is above and beyond expectation. Usually it is a 2 1/2 - 3 yo that they start questioning the speech patterns, and at 4 everyone should understand them. However, my suggestion is for you to repeat in sentence what she has said only correctly, so she hears it correctly. For instance she says "black goggie", you say "You see the black doggie, I see the black doggie too." Does that make sense?
Would love to hear results
God bless you
K. SAHM married 39 years=== adult children == 38,33,and twins 19. Lots of preschool training, and homeschooled the twins who are now in their second year of college.
Hi L.,
Your daughter's vocabulary and language skills sound excellent for a 19 month old. Her articulation should not be a concern at all. The fact that you understand her and respond to her language is going to build her confidence and keep her taking risks with new words. Her articulation/pronunciation will continue to improve on it's own. Be positive with her, and encourage her without correcting her (making her feel she said it 'wrong'). I usually repeat my daughter's words to show her that I understood. She feels successful, and hears the correct pronunciation at the same time.
My 22 month old still sleeps in a sleep sack too. She moves so much during her sleep that a blanket and pillow would only get in the way and possibly wake her. In a sleep sack I know she stays warm and won't get tangled in it. Plus, she loves it. If your daughter will sleep with a blanket and pillow she is certainly old enough for it.
For Q2, your daughter is doing great! The words she says, even if mispronounced, definitely count. Just continue to interact with her when she is talking, repeat what she says or ask her a question about it pronouncing the word the right way. The more you talk to her, the more words she'll add, but if she's saying that many words already, you'll probably never have a moment's peace again - LOL.
Hi L.,
You have gotten a lot of responses to your question about a blanket and this may have been suggested already. I got a magazine called One Step Ahead and it has a sleep sack in it that has feet, allowing an active baby to roll around and stand up, while staying warm on cool nights. The web site is www.onestepahead.com. It is called Blankeaze and the product number in the magazine is 13646. I am getting one for my 13 month old daughter because she rolls from one end of the crib to the other and a blanket would be useless. I hope this helps.
L.,
As soon as you can convince your baby to use a blanket. : )I still can't get mine to use one.
Your daughter has 100 words at age 1. The doctor, if he cares, won't be counting that high. :)
She is doing very well - she is substituting what her brain/mouth connection CAN say for what she knows. If she were truly behind, she wouldn't have any language and she wouldn't pay you any attention. Even at that, if she doesn't have any language by 2 I think is when they start getting concerned.
Relax, have fun and make language a game. I think it is cool she's got so much - and you will both have fun conversing.
Good luck,
M.
I always used blankets with my kids. They always kick them off anyway. And I started using a pillow with my daughter not to long after she turned 1. So your daughter is fine to use blankets and pillows.
As for her vocab. She is perfectly normal. My son is 5 and still pronounces words off. His the is more a da. My daughter is 2 and she is the same as yours. I would count those as words as she is using them correctly, even if they don't sound like they do. Some of those words like vacuum, it's the v sound that is hard to pronounce. But that doesn't mean that she isn't saying vacuum. She is perfectly normal for her age. You should be very proud of her.
Hi L.
I will give you my thoughts to both of your questions:
Blanket and pillow- my daughter started sleeping with a blanket at 18 months she moves so much that is was usually kicked off in the middle of the night. Pillow I feel as long as she is not asking for one you don't need to give it to her. My daughter is 2 years now and she uses her teddy bear as a pillow. I have pillows are her bed more to protect her from getting her head stuck between the iron slats. It is best for their necks to be flat.
I took my daughter to her 2 year well visit and my ped said by 2 they should be saying words with some sentences, by 3 more sentences and by 4 they should be able to be understood by a stranger. I felt my daughter has the same problem she pronounces the wrong letter for some words. We understand her but others have some trouble. I think your daughter is fine. Don't worry.
Hi L.,
What a great daughter you have!
1. You can safely start using pillows and blankets by the time your child is 1. The pediatricians advise not to use them before because of the risk of SIDS, but she's now well past the danger time.
2. I think your daughter is perfectly normal - actually quite advances, 100 words is impressive at her age. Check for patterns in her mistakes. My guess is that she is most likely mispronouncing sounds that are hard to say, such as "v", "th", etc.
You can talk to your pediatrician about her words if you want, but my guess is he'll say it's perfectly normal.
Your first question is a really good one. I wondered about the pillow myself. My son is 18 months old and doesn't have a pillow but lots of kids his age do. He still moves around a lot a night and sleeps well so it seems unneccesary to get him a pillow. We elevate his mattress a little though. I have been using a blanket for him since age one. It was great in the summer because even if he kicked it off it was no big deal. Now that its getting colder I still put him in a sleep sack with the leg holes cut out so that way he can stand up in the morning and not trip and fall. You can just use 1 or 2 blankets when its cold but I worry that if he kicks them off he'll wake up and then not be able to get back to sleep unless I put the blankets back. This is obviously not something desirable!
Your second question, sorry to say it, is a little silly. If you read about what is normal at 18 or 19 months your daughter is quite advanced. If she was 5 and had this problem then I would be concerned but she is not even 2!! Congratulate her when she uses the correct words and then reiterate the correct pronunciation without making her feel bad. A lot of moms would envy you if that was their only concern!
Responding to the vocabulary question -- whoa, I am impressed that your daughter can say so much! Congrats to you on your efforts (and I am sure she is smarter than anything)! It is OK to mispronounce some phrases at 19 months, definitely. What is much more important is that she understands the meaning of the words and that she uses them appropriately when talking, eg, she is not calling your blender a goggie. I have read from many sources and I was told by my pediatrian and a developmental specialist that I once worked with that it is important not to attempt to correct her pronunciation. That may discourage her from talking, since she might associate your correction with some form of punishment for doing a bad thing. The more she uses the words, the more she will recognize on her own how to say it right. My son said a lot at 19 months as well, but is only now starting to say things clearly at 2 years old -- I avoided correcting him. He actually observes my mouth as I speak, and after a few tries, he gets it right and I praise him for it.
Hi L.,
When my son was 2 we put him in a toddler bed. He didn't use or need a pillow. I would use a small blanket on him in the winter, but he usually would pull it off of himself. When he turned 3 we put him in a "big boy" bed, with sheets blankets and a thin pillow (not too fluffy).
That seemed to work for us.
As soon as your daughter was able to crawl and stand up it was safe to use blankets and pillows in her crib.
Your daughter is 19 months old and can say 100 words, count to 13 and recognize numbers and letters? And you are worried about her mispronouncing a few words! Stop worrying! You have an exceptional little girl! It's normal for her to mispronounce words at her age. She's still learning. Give her a little more time. Some letters like the D, V and B are a little harder to pronounce at first. Don't correct her when she says goggie instead of doggie. But be sure when you point out a doggie you pronounce it correctly. She will hear you say it correctly and one of these days she will to. And if others don't understand what she is saying, that's okay too. And not unusual. To be truthful, most people can't understand other peoples children at that age. The point is, she knows the meaning of 100 words and can use them correctly. And she's not even 2 yet! That's amazing!
My grand daughter just turned 3 and has an excellent vocabulary, speaks in full sentences and tells stories. However she cant say the 'k' or hard 'c' sounds, *at, *ookie, *ake, *ouch.
If I tease her and say ookie she will try to correct me, so she knows the sound, just can't quite say it herself. Many toddlers have problems with sounds from the throat 'k' or sounds that require a lot of tongue movement 'l'or letter blends 'dr' 'sw'. They will catch on when they slow down building their vocabulary. Imagine learning a foreign language by sight and sound alone, with no one explaining what the word means. It's all very remarkable how little ones process words and learn so very fast.
Relax and enjoy your baby while she is a baby, these are such great ages. I recently began babysitting my 5&3 y/o grands and love to just sit and watch them play and chatter. The 3 y/o loves books and loves to read them to me. its amazing the stories she tells about the pictures in her books. Better than the original in some cases. :)
1. You can use a blanket when your child is old enough to pull it off if it covers her face. My son is 1 and he sleeps w a blanket. If he doesn't want it, I usually find it in the corner where he moved it.
I don't use a pillow because he turns all the time so I would suggest using a pillow when your child has a bed. And in that bed will always sleep on same direction. Otherwise pillow is useless.
2. Your child knows many words, that's the point, not necessarily pronunciation. Just articulate more when you respond-kids learn fast! Don't correct your child just say it back clearly when they mispronounce it so they can repeat it correctly.
