14 Month Old - No Words Yet?

patchen30

My DS just turned 14 months on the 24th.  He's very verbal - he makes noises all the time and has complicated babbling, etc. and has been doing this for months.  He doesn't have a single word yet though.  Mama/Dada are more like Ma-ma-ma-ma-my and Da-da-da-da and aren't necessarily directed at us. 

My SIL who's a speech pathologist got in my head saying she thought babies were supposed to have 1 word by 12 months and he should be saying single words VERY soon.  She also said it's not too soon for him to be able to identify things in pictures (i.e. we look at a book w/ a picture of a dog, I say "where's the dog", he should be able to point it out).  He's not doing this yet either.

Thoughts?

moosegal

DS is 13.5 months and sounds a lot like your little guy. He's very chatty, he just makes no sense  

kcisthebombdotcom

Your SIL is correct that on average children at 12 months do have a word if not more. That doesn't mean that you should be concerned yet though as there's a wide range of normal with regards to language development. If your child walked early/hit other gross motor milestone early (which is incredibly common in boys) he may have focused on those skills first and will get to language in his own time.

If your child wasn't babbling at all, that would be concerning. If your child isn't talking at 18 months old, that's worth exploring too. In the meantime, don't worry-- just talk to him a lot and take your SIL's advice to read and ask him to point to pictures. He might not get it now but this skill will likely improve with time/practice.

Nechie122

KC_13:

Your SIL is correct thatnbsp;on average children atnbsp;12 monthsnbsp;do have a word if not more. That doesn't mean that you should be concerned yet though as there's a wide range of normal with regards to language development. If your child walked early/hit other gross motor milestone early which is incredibly common in boys he may have focused on those skills first and will get to language in his own time.If your child wasn't babbling at all, that would be concerning. If your child isn't talking at 18 months old, that's worth exploring too. In the meantime, don't worrynbsp;just talk to him a lot and take your SIL's advice to read and ask him to point to pictures. He might not get it now but this skill will likely improve with time/practice.

All of this. Just keep working with him. My DD said basically nothing until about 15 months and now five months later has more than 50 words. We also "quiz" her constantly: where's your head, what does the dog say, what's your name, go get your jacket ... what's that, who's this, where's that, what sound does it make, etc. etc. etc.

fancynewbeesly

My daughter is 19 months and has very few words--probably about 10. And about 5-8 signs. 

She babbles and converses all the time. She also did hit her gross motor skills milestones early--and is very independent, where she just gets what she wants  

BabyKsMommy

My DS is 17 months and also doesn't have any words. He is extremely vocal and is babbling all the time. He is bilingual so I think that might be slowing him down. He should have a dr.'s appt next month at 18 months so i'll ask then. 

I don't think they do much until 18 months. I am really curious to see what the dr. has to say. It really worries me on on hand and on the other I think he will mature at his own rate and he's just not to that point yet.  

Serendipity3

Our little one wasn't talking at 14 months.  She babbled a lot and would sporadically sound like she was saying a word, but wouldn't repeat it.  She is 20 months and just now really starting to talk.  She has been doing sign language (she probably knows around a dozen signs), following simple instructions and shaking her head yes and no in response to questions.  I haven't been too worried about it because she has been showing signs of improvement as far as her understanding, identifying objects (body parts, things in her books, things around the house, etc.), and making attempts at communication.  Now her words are really starting to take off.  She was the same way with walking--taking steps here or there, but there was a long gap in the time that she took her first steps and when she was really walking.  And then she moved on to being difficult to catch really quickly.  She just does things on her own terms.

I think that, like most development at this age, as long as your child is improving consistently, then that is more important than comparing your child to what is "average."

MKDee

My DS2 had no words at his 15 month appointment.  Pedi said to give it until 17 months and then call for an evaluation if he still didn't have any words.  At 16.5 months, he said "fish" for the first time (well, it was more like "iss!" while pointing at a fish).  Music to my ears!  By the end of that week, he had three other words. By 18 months, he had too many words to count (not really, but probably in the 50-100 words range, so more than I was willing to sit there and list for the doctor).  It was crazy how fast he picked up words once he started using them.  At 21 months, he has started with two word phrases, something my DS1 didn't do until closer to 2, even though DS1 had his first words before a year. 

All of this to say that not only do first words come at different times, but language development isn't always a steady progression--my DS2 most definitely went through a "language explosion."

I wouldn't worry just yet.  Mention it at the 15 month appointment, but my guess is that your doctor won't want to do any kind of evaluation until closer to 18 months.