What age did you seek speech intervention?

dazidog · September 2012

DD#2 is just about 16 months old and has NO words. She babbles all the time and makes some sounds that sound like Dada or Dog but aren't really distinguishable on a regular basis. We say words to her over and over and over, wait for her to try and say the word before handing her something she wants, and we read books to her.

DD#1 started talking really early and has always been ahead in speech. It's not that we are comparing it's just that we are trying to figure out when to seek help/advice on DD#2's speech. All the literature I've been reading says she should have "2-3 words other than Mom and Dad by 15 months."

I've read on here some LO's having a speech explosion around 18 months but is it smart to wait until 18 months before getting help if LO has no words at all? Just curious as to what others have done or what advice your doctors have given you.

liladelphia215 · September 2012

My DD had about 15 words at 18 months. My pedi wanted her to have 20 by 18 months. She said if her word count didn't go up in the next few months or if she lost words, to come in and get referred to a specialist because it's easier get help earlier than to let it go on. She said to definitely not wait until she was 2. DD is now almost 20 months, and has had a huge language boom. I will tell you at 16 months, my DD had barely any words. She had a boom where she learned those 15 words sometime in the 17th month - then at around 19 we hit another boom

LadyXaverian · September 2012

My 18 month old only has a few words, so I'm waiting on the explosion. My pedi doesn't believe in "counting" words because kids develop differently, but at 12 months he did start asking us to tell him some of the words she says. At 12 months, she could say dada and dog. At 15 months, she'd added yeah, mama, and uh oh. He seems happy as long as she's adding them. She's only added a few more since then, like thank you, what's that, and Elmo (lol). So, we'll see what he says in a couple of weeks at her next appointment.

katie4253 · September 2012

There are 2 schools of thought with speech.

1) No intervention until 18 months or older, or

2) The earlier the better

You can refer yourself to Early Intervention. Every state has a program. They will evaluate your child and either say "yes, your LO needs services" or "no". If they say "no" it will probably come with the caveat that you can be re-evaluated if you are still concerned at X months.

st.augbride · September 2012

We started speech privately at a year because ds was born high risk. At 15 months he had maybe 2 words. He started really taking off around 17 months and now at 20 months he picks up everything and has well over 100 words, counts to 29, and knows several letters! I do feel like speech helped him push through, but we also do feeding with her so that is our focus now. Many insurance plans wont cover it until 18 months, so you need to check on that. You can also do EI for free, but I have never been impressed with county services compared to private in our area.

etude de la vie · September 2012

At 16 months old DD said "mooooor" (more) and "dada" (for strawberry)

she babbled all the time so the dr told me not to worry.

She had a language explosion around 20ish months and went from there, now speaks full sentences and can carry on a conversation!

My dr told me to worry if they don't babble at all, or have words and then "loose" them.

I know it is hard not to compare but looking at DS he already says "I see you" and "all done gabba" or "all done choo choo" and has way more words than DD did at this age.

sunflwr2 · September 2012

My daughter is 12 months and she is repeating alot of words. Some are more clear then others. But shes definitley very verbal.
A friend of mine has a son who was nearly three before he said anything. He literally was barely babbling. Her dr sent him to a speach therapist when he turned three which i feel is really late. At any rate one day he just started talking out of nowhere. To the point where he stutters now because he cant get the words out fast enough.
I think you know your kid. If you feel there might be something a little "off" then maybe look into it. I feel like yiu wilk never regret being proactive but might regret it if you wait.

fancynewbeesly · September 2012

My daughter is 16 months and barely has any words--my pedi said not to worry until at least 18 months (considering as a toddler I was 16 months when I said my first word.) Right now she says "hi, muh (more) and uh-oh.) She babbles ALL the time though--and yesterday we kept on hearing something like wow/woah. Right now everything is "buh". Although she definitely tries to communicate with us.

She isn't in daycare though--and I heard sometimes those children are later at talking because there isn't talking all day long with them.

hmontty · September 2012

My daughter just turned 18 months. Maybe a month ago, she really started on the "hi" and "bye" -- she said "bye-bye" and waved when she was younger, but it was mimicry. Now she actually understands what she's doing and does it appropriately on her own.

Last week, she picked up "uh-oh" and says it appropriately (when she drops something, the phone rings, the dog barks and someone outside).

Those are her big words right now. However, she does use other words, especially when prompted, like "cheese," "dog," "juice," "brush," "ball," etc.

So basically she only has three words that she says constantly, on her own, without prompting. But she babbles constantly, is always asking what things are (pointing and saying "Da?"), etc.

She also understands a LOT more than she says. She can point to over 10 body parts and can follow basic instructions (like "push the ball to me" or "where is your blanky?" -- and she will go to her room and get her blanky -- or "come sit on your chair." She also knows her people are around her (Grammy, Pop Pop, our dog Yankee).

So I am not sure if she is quite on track, but I think she's doing OK.

hammerb44 · October 2012

I just had my daughter evaluated at 16 months, per a recommendation from her daycare. She has no words, but she understands really well. She did everything the evaluater asked such as stacking blocks, putting wooden pegs in holes, and giving a baby doll a bottle. Because she scored so high on that aspect, she did not qualify for services. They said that at 16 months, she would have to be quite low in both areas to qualify for services. However, they said that if she didn't have any words by 22 months, that she would definitely qualify. They told me that it was pretty rare that a 16 month old would qualify for services because the bar is pretty low in terms of what they should be able to do, and that it is more likely that a toddler would qualify at 22-24 months if they are still not talking.

BrittKav · October 2012

I had my daughter evaluated at 19 months for verbal and gross motor skills. She had a few words (mostly animal noises) and wasn't walking. She's now in physical therapy (and started walking a lot more around 20 months) and developmental therapy for verbal/social skills. She's smart, just stubborn and doesn't like to talk. The EI therapist said she was the smartest non-verbal kid she'd ever worked with. Stick out tongue

kcisthebombdotcom · October 2012

My pedi's rule of thumb is at least 10 words by 18 months. If LO hasn't hit that milestone by that age, she recommends an evaluation from a speech therapist. I've asked my son's SLP and they have the same recommendations.

If I were in your shoes, I'd wait it out until 18 months since she is babbling/making attempts at speech. If she was completely silent besides crying, that's something you'd want to get looked at right away. IME it's difficult to do speech therapy on a kid under 2, though it is best to start services the process before their 2nd birthday because it takes time for the child to be evaluated/speech therapy to begin if there is a need. Plus it takes time for the child to warm up to the process/new people so starting early has lots of benefits.

Tallulahsmom · April 2013

You should try sign language. I started my daughter on baby sign language at 12 months. She loves it. I used Baby Signing Time. The sets are expensive so I get the dvds from our library. They ordered them at my request.

My daughter started signing immediately. She would wake up and ask for signing time with signs! She learned to sign baby and started saying baby when signing it. She has done the same with almost all of her signs. She doesn't throw tantrums. If she wants something she signs. She has now moved on to the childrens signing videos and can sign complete sentences. She has gained soo many words through this. I strongly recommend it.

kristennd · April 2013

Some professionals are shifting from 18 months to 24.

We had zero words at 18 months, but one of the doctor's own kids took until 24 months, so he wasn't concerned. LO was fine in terms of babbling and things like demonstrating vocabulary by pointing to the right thing.

He started talking at 20 months and was using 2-3 word phrases pretty much from the beginning.

Got a ton of grief from many about waiting though.

Monsieur_et_Madame_Ha · April 2013

FWIW, DD2 only had a handful of words at her 18-month appointment and her Dr didn't seem concerned in the slightest. Sure enough, she had a word explosion not long after. She is now making 2-word phrases, like "Mama Coat" or "Daddy sit"