When did your baby start to "talk"?

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DD is 4 months old now and doesn't really talk that much.  All the books I've read says she should be cooing and babbling - which she does every once in a while, but not often.  

I asked the daycare today if she talked more there and they said sometimes she does when someone is reading a book to her, but most of the time she doesn't.

For a couple weeks when she was just over 3 months she would babble on and on.  And then it just kind of stopped.

She still giggles when we play and tickle her.  She just doesn't "talk".

Should I be worried?  When did your babies start to talk? 

rssnlvr

My DD has always been a big talker. But that's just kind of her thing. Her cousin, who is 3 weeks older, was recently visiting and hardly "talked" at all. So I would keep an eye on it but wouldn't be too worried yet.

I once read that babies can only really work on one big cognitive development at a time. If your DD was talking for a few weeks, it sounds to me like she was really working on that at the time. Then she may have had to put that on hold while she worked on other cognitive developments. Has she acquired any other new skills lately? 

MrsRegis

I wouldn't worry too much about it. She is still very young. If she's 18 months old and not babbling, then I might be concerned. If you are worried, maybe talk to your pediatrician about it at her next appt. 

My DD started babbling and making noise often around 3 months. However, my DS made very little noise. At 2 1/2 he never stops talking!  

All of the "suppose to's" can drive you crazy. I have to remind myself all the time that milestones recs are general and every kid is different. Trust your gut first. 

mcgee

Both of mine are/were early babblers. Meredith was a very early talker. I'm not sure if Alex will be or not - he can't seem to decide if he wants to concentrate on talking or on gross motor development.

How is your daughter in terms of gross motor development? Is she rolling? Trying to sit up? Pushing her chest up off the floor when she's on her tummy? If she's focusing on learning new gross motor skills, she may do so to the point that she stops babbling or trying to talk for a little while.

The more you read to her and talk to her - even about totally mundane or ridiculous stuff - the faster she'll develop language skills. I used to carry Meredith's bouncy seat from room to room and describe everything I was doing, from laundry to dishes, while making frequent eye contact with her. She seemed to like it.

michelleaxo

Gracie really just made noises at that point. Lots of uuuhhhs with pitch changes. Oh, and yelling/screaming at us. But the real babbles and coos came at about 5.5 mos.

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She is definitely working on her gross motor skills.  She loves to grab and hold anything and everything and some how manages to grab stuff without me knowing - paper, my hair, pens...basically anything within reach she has in her hands now.  She also can roll really good from back to tummy and has figured out how to not get her arm stuck under her!  She also lifts her head up really high during tummy time and looks all around.

Her next doctor visit isn't until 6 months...so I guess I'll just watch her now and see how she does.  I guess I just expected her to be talking a little more to us.  I will start to engage her in more conversation and make eye contact - I like that idea!

And you are right - sometimes I worry myself over what the "books" say and I know that every baby is different. 

CollieJade

I was just thinking about this yesterday!  DD is 6 months and while she is very vocal (she squeals, giggles, grunts, and makes "aaahhhs" and "nnnaaaaa" sounds), she doesn't really babble.  At least, she doesn't do what I'm thinking of as babbling. I read in my babycenter email yesterday that some babies at her age string syllables together - she definitely doesn't do that.  I was really worried about it until I realized that since she's made so many huge gross motor skill leaps in the last 4-6 weeks (she started sitting up and quickly turned into an early crawler), it may be that she was just focusing on that first for whatever reason.

Sorry, I guess me going on about DD doesn't hep you much, does it? lol.  But I think that if your LO has made some other developmental leaps recently, I wouldn't worry about it just yet.

Kim777

I expressed concern about Mason not producing many sounds at 4 months. The doctor told me to keep an eye on it until 6 months. They also felt he might just be focusing on motor development since they were really working on rolling at that point. At 6 months everyone was still kind of blowing me off, but I insisted on having his hearing checked and sure enough he isn't hearing us. It doesn't hurt to ask to check her hearing in a couple of months if she still isn't babbling. If everything checked out okay then you would know she was just developing at her own pace.

Taytee

Abby was never a big talker. Emily is always doing the cooing and babbling thing the "books" talk about.

They don't talk as much when they're going through a learning or physical growth spurt. They're concentrating on other things than talking!