Still Concerned About Talking...

My twin boys didn't start talking until they were over two. I know that twins talk late, but also boys talk later than girls too. I wouldn't worry about it. Did you know that Einstein was over the age of two when he first began to talk?!

M.,
I know from experience that it is easier to worry then take advice from others. My pediatrician was very concerned in August when my daughter didn't even say dada, mama, etc. She was one and would only scream to get what she wanted. My brothers girlfriend is a speech pathologist so I asked her what she thought. She said since she understands what we were asking her, there really is nothing to worry about at that point. Then in December she went back to the pediatrician for her lack of speech. She only said Dada at this point and still screamed for everything. I was told to make another follow up appointment for March. If she was not attempting to make verbal conversation at that point she was going to have to be tested for various problems. I worked on her for three months. I would not give her anyting until she attempted to repeat the correct word. She said Mama for the first time the day before her next doctors appointment (only 19 1/2 months old) Today she has a full vocabulary (only 2 months later). Keep working with you son, involve all of his care givers. Let them know you are worried so everyone, everyday, all day is working with him and before you know it you will be saying, why did I want him to talk??? Good Luck

Hello sweetie,

Just wanted to let you know that I have 16-month old twins. My daughter is a jabber jaw and says tons of words. My son is much farther behind. He does the same things as your son (point, grunt, repeating mama or dada, etc.) but isn't as good at saying the words. DON'T WORRY! Boys (from my experience) develop slower. You are doing a great job introducing different sounds and words to him (i.e. reading and small phrases), but he will talk when he is ready. If it is getting frustrating for you try baby signs. We did that with my son and it helped me to relax about his learning. Babies seem to catch on to that easier and you will know exactly what he wants! A movie I would suggest is Signing Time!

Hope all goes well!

my son didn't say "hi" until he was 13 months old... that was one of his first words. he is now 2 1/2 and he will talk your ear off. i just kept at it telling him what things were. everytime i gave him something.. spoon, plate, puppy, ball, truck, book... i said the word. when we went grocery shopping everything that went into the cart i said we need bread, coffee, fruit, lettuce, ect. he slowly caught on. be patient he will talk, don't worry! hes also a boy, so traditionally they take longer for everything. good luck!

He is only 13mo..... Give him some time and don't press it - each child does it at their own pace. He is doing excellent - focus on the positive. The doctors only have averages. My son is 19 mo and has a few words - don't rush things...enjoy what it is right now, soon he won't stop talking. :)

My son is 18 months and only has a few recognizable words. His doctor said as long as he as at least 3 he's on track for his age and that he probably won't really start talking until he's 2.

M.,

I probably could't say it better than the others already that have responded. My third child is now 22 months and only within the last few months he started to "say" words -- but the "say" is only our true recognition of the word. He was actually talking long before that -- since he tried to mimic the symbolic sound of words much earlier. He definitely understood what we said at an earlier age too. And though I tried sign language (it worked with my daughter at 6 months), my son doesn't want to repeat the sign, but will definitely acknowledges his comprehension of what I ask him. I generally use both the word and sign since as he starts to say words, I want to make sure I am understanding him (i.e. water, milk, eat, drink.... basic stuff).

As others have said -- he will start talking and never stop, so enjoy each precious step as it occurs naturally for your son.

My son was 2 before he started talking.

Sounds like you are doing a great job talking and reading to him. I have a son who has a language disorder and know at your son's age he is normal. Pointing is a very good sign. The only issue at his age is if he doesn't make eye contact with you, then I would be concerned. Keep up the reading and talking. I am sure he is fine! If you still have concerns at 18 mos, you can have his speech/ language evaluated. Take care, J.

2 things - He's a boy and they usually talk later and he's only 13 months. I would be very surprised if he said anything other than the basic babbling. My little guy is 12 months and he will say poop :) with prompting and cracker. But I just about fell off my chair when he copied me. Of course he never calls my husband Dada even though he knows he should and he only calls me Mama when he's very upset.

Don't worry yourself about it. They should start talking closer to their 2nd birthday. He can hear and he can babble, that's what's important.

I had so many people worried that my son had some type of issue because he was over 2 and barely spoke. We had his hearing checked and anything else we could come up with, but honestly I was never really worried because I knew we could communicate just fine. But, I checked into it as much as I could. What it came down to was his older sister (by 19 mos) was doing all the talking for him. One day he realized he didn't like what she was saying so he started talking and never stopped. I remember one day he was in the car with my sister and I had run into the gas station. He had been looking at a book and when he looked up and say I was gone he asked,"Auntie Dana where did my mommy go?". She was like, OMG he can talk. It just took him some time. He did have an articulation delay which made his speech a little hard to understand at times, but now he is 8 and you would never know. The child that everyone was so worried about is now in the gifted program at school and amazes people with all the facts he knows (he loves those animal fact books and will read like crazy, he has even read the harry potter books).
Listen to your gut mom. Don't worry about what you think he should be doing according to the norm or what a book says. Do you think he is having issues? If so, just keep your eyes open. Do different things to help him along his way. Don't stress about it and if he turns 2 and you are still concerned, keep bringing it up.
Good luck!

Sounds like he is on track..but you can do what you can to make language a noticeable part of his life...for starters, try not to encourage baby talk around him at all.....then he just needs to re-learn the words correctly at a later stage. Read to him alot...have picture books, consider some basic infant toddler sign language...most of my daycare kids could sign 5-10 words before they could speak them well (the library likely has some fun videos to watch with him for you both to learn).....talk, p;oint things out and make words ever present...he'll figure it out!!!

Your son is still well in the range of normal if you ask me. My son is 17 months and has about 15-20 recognizable words. I just came from the pediatrician and she said that was right on track. 13 months is still quite young. If you're worried, though, I'd do two things. One, rule out any hearing problems. Does your son have frequent ear infections? He may have fluid build-up in his ears and that can hamper him learning to talk. Two, call the early intervention program for your city and see if he can be evaluated. I suspect he is not far enough off track to warrant an evaluation, but you could at least ask them about it. You'll have to do a google search for early childhood special education in your city or "birth to three" programs.

Probably you just need to be patient and let your son develop at his own pace. He sounds entirely fine to me.

Best wishes,
B.

Is he around other little kids? That definately helps in speech development. Their early little conversations that only they understand. Otherwise like everyone else is saying, he just turned a year. Most don't talk more understandably until 18 months-2 years. I do daycare and had a 2 year old boy start who would ramble on and then say the end of the last word in the sentence clearly at 2! But that turned into normal speech about 6 weeks later after he started being around the other kids. Yours is barely a year though. Don't wrry about it yet.

My 16 month old says dada momma and points alot too and says uh and oh, it sounds like they are doing the same things.She will mimic every once in a while.She also started walking at 11 months.So my pediatrician wasn't concerned either.Every baby is different, I wouldn't be concerned yet.Good Luck!

Totally normal. My son wasn't saying any words at 13 months either. He will be three in July, and he's finally picking up huge amounts of words and putting them into phrases. His first two-word phrase didn't happen until he was well over 2. Just give it time! As long as you can tell he understands you, he's fine.

Yes, please don't worry! I did developmental assessments for kids for my job and MANY kids, especially boys, weren't talking at age 1. I found that kids tended to focus on either gross motor OR talking at that age-for example, my daughter talked a blue streak by age 1 but didn't crawl or walk until later (she's totally normal). My son has been super active and skilled in motor development, but only says "mama" and "more" at age 1. Receptive language skills (your son being able to point to things when you name them) are a more important indicator of language development at this age (than expressive language skills-those take longer). Doing what you're doing (reading, etc.) is great, but please don't feel that if you don't keep up a super pace with this that your child will be delayed. Kids do just fine with "normal" amounts of human interaction and attention. You're doing fine and your son is too.

looks like your very antsy to get your son to talk.

first, relax...my 13 month old son doesn't talk yet either, I don't really expect him to talk for a while...well no words I can understand anyway. Usually it is all just mumble.

Kids don't start to have a real vocabulary until around 2, then watch out....you sitting here hoping for him to talk now will get you an earful in about a year and a half....

don't go by the charts, every kids is different, I wouldn't be concerned with it at all...if he were 4 an not talking then I think you'd have an issue

My oldest didn't talk too much until she was about 2 and I don't think she has stopped since!
When we had our youngest, 10 years later, we decided to teach her baby sign language and it worked wonderfully. She was able to communicate with all of us while learning a second language. Almost five years later and she still knows all the words from when she was a baby and her vocabulary is growing. She knew over 50 signs by the time she was 1.

Hi M.,
Don't worry about your son. My daughter, Grace, only said "dada" until she was 16 1/2 months old. In one week, she had a vocabulary of 20 words and it grew dramatically from there. Now, at 2 years old, she has a larger vocabulary than most 3 year olds and she speaks in complete sentences usung the correct pronouns most of the time. Kids all do their own thing in their own time. In fact Grace only walked independently at 13 months and she never really crawled very well....mainly scooted around and walked holding on to furniture before that. Now that she is talking, she does it non stop...she has a running commentary all the time.
Good luck and just enjoy each wonderful stage of his precious life!
M.

If it helps at all...

I have 2 little boys, one is 3 and one is 15 months. My 3 year old was late talking and now talks very well. My 15 month old, Nicholas, does not talk really at all. He can say dada and mama...but I am not sure it is on purpose. But I remember with my older one that I was so worried so I am trying to not do the same thing here. I am sure your little boy will talk soon...just as I am sure mine will too.

Hi there! My name is A.. My 6 year old is currently getting help for speech and language delays. She was diagnosed at the age of 3. I can tell you that all that you have described in completely normal. Some things that I was taughted to do early on in my daughters Speech therapy, was when she pointed to things such as a ball, I needed to say "Do want this Ball?" Putting emphasis on the item she is pointing to. Once I could get her to at least say what sounded like basic words (Ball, cat, mama dada,)When she would point to it I would pretend I did not see what she was pointing at to encourage her to attempt to say the word. In the begining she didn't say them perfectly,(such a baw for ball, cuttie for cookie) Those are the suggestions I have. I was also informed that kids learn to speak at there own pace but there but once they reach the age of two there are certain things they look at to see if a child may need early intevention. From what you posted it sounds like your child is more of a late bloomer as far as speech goes. I do hope that the things I suggested will help in the mean time.

Please don't worry! You sound just like me a few months ago. My son was in for his 12 month appointment, he wasn't saying anything besides dadada, mamama, etc. When we went in for our 15 month appointment, he could only say about 3 things (Hi, up, uh oh). Within the last 2 months, his vocabulary exploded. He tries to mimic everything we say and does a pretty good job with it. If he needs help, we over exaggerate saying the word because he copies our mouth movement. I was also worried at 15 months when the doctor said he should be saying 10-15 words. Now our list has at least 15 and counting!