Speech delay

AshleyL923

My 34 weeker is now 9 months actual. Yesterday, her pediatrician gave me a referral to audiology to have her hearing checked because she is not saying any consonants (dada, baba, etc) and not understanding when I say things like "hand me your toy." If her hearing comes back fine and there is no improvement in the next month we are supposed to have her evaluated.

My question is - does this seem a little abrupt to anyone? She's not even a year yet and to me I just think she's on her own timeline. Clearly I am going to follow drs orders and get her whatever help she needs but it just seems to me that this isn't as big of an issue as her ped is making it out to be. Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated!

Missa_g

Is there any other reason to think there might be a hearing problem? If not then that does seem very early to me.

AshleyL923

She had medication in the nicu that can cause hearing loss...but I'm fairly certain she can hear just fine!

brachysira

It seems slightly early, but NICU babies do often have hearing loss and if you can do something about it soon, it really can prevent long term delays in speech.  I think it is better to be proactive and good that your pedi cares.  

KTZ17

My friend's full-term daughter wasn't making consonant sounds yet at 9 months and her pedi said we'll see how she's doing at a year before we evaluate her. By 1 year she had started making consonant sounds. My DD was a 31 weeker and and her 9 month visit her pedi asked if she was making sounds, and I said mostly screeches and vowel sounds. She said that was fine. So in terms of making sounds, I wouldn't be concerned that she isn't saying bababa or dadada yet. Since the hearing isn't a big deal to have tested, it couldn't hurt. Best of luck!

Throw3ks

Seems a bit of a rush to me. My almost 9 month actual/7month adjusted baby is not making any "dada, baba" or such noises and I am 100% sure hearing is not the issue. I've met many full term babies who don't make those noises at 9months. If it were me, I'd wait til closer to a year but that's just me.

carrotcake06

Seems early. My 34weekers are 10.5mo actual and one is making consistent consonant sounds while the other is not. They have a FT older brother who had less than 5 words at 18mo, so I'm used to the late talking. FWIW, my big one is now 4yo and won't shut up

I'd do the rec testing since knowledge is power, but I wouldn't be overly concerned at this age.

meldoo2002

It seems early to be concerned about her consonant sounds (I'm an SLP), but I do think you should have her hearing checked.  It's so easy to do… I firmly believe all preemies should have it done… heck maybe all children should have it done around 1 year.  It's so easier to rule out a hearing loss now than as they get older and the earlier you/we know the better.  

JEPES1348

Regardless of ototoxic medications, an audilogical screen or eval is very commonly initiated prior to a formal speech evaluation just to rule out HL. I see healthy, term, fully developed children as old as 3 or 4 have their hearing checked prior to the SLP eval when their language is delayed or speech is unclear. However, given the history of ototoxic drugs in the NICU, it sounds appropriate, and simply proactive on your pedi's part. It's a little early, yes, but early intervention is best. Also, it can take months to get in for an SLP evaluation once the referral has been written. Often in that amount of time the baby has made nice strides in development, but it can't hurt to have her hearing and speech/language checked 

SarahA918

It's always better to get interventions sooner than later, so if there's a hint of a chance, I think your doctor is doing the right thing by getting the ball rolling on an evaluation. No harm in getting it done but it could delay her progress if you wait.