Not talking yet........

agarnett29

I have a question my 19 month old son is still not talking. I mean he does say a real word here and there but other than that it is all gibberish. My mother and my husband think something is wrong with him as our 2 oldest children were talking by now. I told them its normal but now i'm not so sure, i think he might not be talking due to we have a 5 month old at home too. Any suggestions on why hes not talking yet or how to help him start talking?

amyegunnip

I would talk to your pedi if you have any worries. Sounds normal to me too but if your doc thinks there Are any real delays then he/she will refer you to OTor speech therapy. Good luck!

suzieq9980

Has there been any ear infections?  My LO is almost 22 months and she recently started to say a lot more within the last month or so.  I wouldn't be too worried about it yet.  I know my LO was set back a little (at least i think she she was, but maybe she is just quiet) because of ear infections and hearing loss.  That got remedied when she was 15 months old.

But like PP said, talk to pedi if you're really worried. According to my daycare, they don't start to worry until they are 2 or a little after. 

brewcitybride

Sounds pretty normal - both of my nephews didn't say real words until over the age of 2!

kxp004

my DS is 18 mo and really doesn't say "real" words (i.e. uuuuhhh for up; baa for ball and laa for light; these are the only things he says)... He does like to mimic animals though by barking/purring at our dog and cats...

I just baby sat another 18 mo old the other day and the only thing he said was "wha tha?" so as far as talking goes, I'm not to concerned... He points and uses a few signs to get his point across if he really needs something

If he's still not talking at all by 2, I'll probably mention it to the pedi, just to see what she says, but he understands us and follows directions (i.e. close the door, diaper change, bring me your water, clean up etc...) so she doesn't seem to concerned either at this point

The only suggestion I could really give at this point is to make sure you and other family members don't talk gibberish to him, but that's pretty obvious... I'm sure he'll start talking in due time and then he won't stop!

mommy0411

How is his comprehension? Is he able to mimick words?

My son was only saying 1 word at 18 months and I fought his pedi for a referral to a private speech therapist (that is all they would do), she thought he was just a late talker. Thank goodness I did because the therapist found other developmental delays and a sensory processing disorder that actually caused his language disorder. He has since qualified for a lot of therapy through Early Intervention. 

If you feel something is up, you can self refer to early intervention for an evaluation. They will go over all of his development and tell you if he is just a little late or needs some help catching up.

With any delay early intervention is very important and can make a big difference! Good luck! 

JennaNAaron

Our foster son is 19 months ( we too also have a 5 month old in the house).  When he first came to us (14months) dss had a developmental screening done.  He has a mild speech delay.  He has been in therapy since then.  He does a lot of signs now and mimics words.  He's also started talking a lot in the last month.  It's worth getting evaluated.

anakah

My twins are 19 months and DD has about 20 words while DS has maybe 5.  We talked to the pedi at their checkup this month and he said to make a list of DS's words and if they don't increase in the next month, then we can go from there.  But he didnt' seem worried, just told us to keep reading and talking to him.  He understands what we tell him and can follow instructions when he wants to so while I'm a bit concerned, we're taking the watch and wait route.

law&order

Talk to your pedi if you are concerned.  it can't hurt to get additional information or a referral.

 I will share what our dr said about my son at 15 months (he had basically no words at 15 mo):

- boys generally talk later (much later) than girls

- if receptive language is good then there is less concern

- signs count as "words"

- in her practice, they don't get concerned until 2 years old and no words.

 All that said, if you're worried, ask the doctor and get services. You are your child's best advocate.

jamiekendall

DD said mama and dada before a year, then did only animal noises for almost eight months and the occasional phrase ("night-night") here and there. Then, when she turned twenty months, the talking really started. Now we are repeating things left and right!

I know in Illinois you can have free speech evaluations done before a child is three, so perhaps you can look into it if you are really concerned?

 Best wishes!

fancynewbeesly

My daughter is 19 months, and except for maybe 5 or 6 words, everything else is babble. She won't even say dad yet. Her words are (mom, no, more, hey, hi, uh-oh, wow, woah). She does have 5 consistent signs as well (please, cracker, help, milk and finished).

I bring it up to the pedi and he isn't concerned because of everything else she does. Plus his son was a late talker. My BIL was a late talker (2.5) and I didn't say my first word to after 16 months.

I am keeping my eye on it though--and at 21 months if I don't see more improvement I will push to have her evaluated for speech. 

She also is with grandma most of the week, so I am wondering if she doesn't have as much interaction and desire to speak. 

ally81698

Starearedkid:

My daughter is 19 months, and except for maybe 5 or 6 words, everything else is babble. She won't even say dad yet. Her words are (mom, no, more, hey, hi, uh-oh, wow, woah).

She also is with grandma most of the week, so I am wondering if she doesn't have as much interaction and desire to speak. 

 

Lol, this is us almost to a T!  DD is 20 months and has never said any form of Daddy - it's always "MumMum or Mom". Other words she says consistently are "more, oh-no, oh my, wow, hi, hey, and bye"

sarahjulypsu

Alot of other posters have excellent points. My only thought to add is maybe it's because they are a younger sibling. This is purely anecdeotal but maybe it well help. My mom said I started talking at a young age but my brother who was about 20 months younger then me only had a few words untill he was two. There theory and the peditricians was that it was mostly a personality thing and also I allways spoke for him so he had less of a drive to speak. If he needed something to eat/drink etc I would tell my mom for him. Like I said all anecdeotal and prob not much help but maybe it's mostly a tempermant thing.

It may be a true delay. If you think it is I would look into resources into an evaluation. I know in our town there is a prevention service that well do developmental screens on any child under four. Even if they don't find anything wrong they well work in the home with the parents on different education and activies. Is it possible there is something like that in your area. I'm not sure how you find these recourses. I found out about ours from word of mouth.