No words?

henrytviii · October 2013

Anyone else still waiting for some words? DS is communicating and getting his point across with a combination of gestures and tantrums depending on the urgency but he doesn't really have any words at all. He "talks" constantly and he might have consistent sounds for some things (dog, ball, book) but definitely not consistent enough for me to say for sure . I've given up on "mom" or "mama" and I am trying to teach him my first name, he seems to pay more attention to that. Anyone else not talking? Not worried yet, just curious if we are the only ones.

calibroncosfan5968 · October 2013

No, you're not the only ones

My Sweet Pea talks her own language, points and does one sign (more) but that's it. She says Mamamama and Dadada but I don't think she is associating it with my husband and I. Was your little one physical (crawling, walking, climbling) early? They say that if they are, speech can be delayed because they are focused on those skills as opposed to talking

unaveragejane · October 2013

If he consistently says the same sound for something, I've read that counts as a word. For example, my LO called dogs "ghee" for a long time. He always called them that, so we figured out what he was talking about. Also, they will sometimes use one word to represent a lot of different things. The example I read said they'll learn to say "cat" and then they call all animals "cat." With DS his multipurpose word is "down." He will say it to mean he wants to get down, he wants to go downstairs, he doesn't want to be down anymore, he wants me to read him a book (he'll bring a book to me when he says it), or touch down. It also might help to keep in mind that the muscles that are used for speech have to develop just like the muscles used for standing and walking. For example, in the school system where I worked, a child was not considered to have a speech delay for the /r/ sound unless he was 8 or older.

acbfreire · October 2013

unaveragejane said:

Also, they will sometimes use one word to represent a lot of different things. The example I read said they'll learn to say "cat" and then they call all animals "cat."

DD calls all animals "woof woof". Some children are more physical and others are more verbal. If he is communicating and getting his point across, I wouldn't worry.
DD is on the verbal side and just started walking.

michelle04us · October 2013

unaveragejane said:

If he consistently says the same sound for something, I've read that counts as a word. For example, my LO called dogs "ghee" for a long time. He always called them that, so we figured out what he was talking about. Also, they will sometimes use one word to represent a lot of different things. The example I read said they'll learn to say "cat" and then they call all animals "cat." With DS his multipurpose word is "down." He will say it to mean he wants to get down, he wants to go downstairs, he doesn't want to be down anymore, he wants me to read him a book (he'll bring a book to me when he says it), or touch down. It also might help to keep in mind that the muscles that are used for speech have to develop just like the muscles used for standing and walking. For example, in the school system where I worked, a child was not considered to have a speech delay for the /r/ sound unless he was 8 or older.

This is interesting to me because I was put into speech class at the age of 4 for not being able to pronounce /r/. It always came out /aw/. Granted they did find some other things I was behind on after evaluating me but I was put in for the /r/ sound.

OP, don't worry. My child is also a physical child. Started crawling/walking earlier than most and climbing even earlier. He doesn't have many words yet just mama and no. He does get his point across as to what he wants though. Like if he wants more juice/water in his cup he will bring me his cup and babble consistently until I get him more.

unaveragejane · October 2013

Hmm...maybe it was 6 yo for the /r/, but I'm pretty sure it's 8 here now. It will vary across states and in general private speech therapists will count some sounds as delays earlier than the school systems do.

drbethc · October 2013

My DS was also an early climber walker. He says mama, dada, car and all other words are sounds that the animals make, for example, he will point to a dog and say, 'woof' or a pic of a cow, and say, 'moo'. He actually knows all the sounds the animals make and can point to each animal in a pic book but cannot actually say the animals name.

michelle04us · October 2013

unaveragejane said:

Hmm...maybe it was 6 yo for the /r/, but I'm pretty sure it's 8 here now. It will vary across states and in general private speech therapists will count some sounds as delays earlier than the school systems do.

Also it was almost 22 years ago so the age might have changed since then too. I also went to a private speech therapist as I did not go to preschool so that might also have something to do with it.

venussapphire · October 2013

DD is definitely more physical than verbal. She so far only says UP. But she communicates in other ways. I'm not worried.

khill86 · October 2013

DS has only a few words. He calls DH dada, says dog (more like dag), and uh oh. He always says "oof oof" when he hears the dogs barking, moo for a cow, and ah-ah-ah for a sheep. He'll also make a grunting sound (kind of like vroom) when he's pushing a car/truck around. He'll make other animal sounds if you show him the animal and make the sound, but not unprompted.

Uh oh is his catch all word. He uses it when he drops something, loses something, wants something he can't reach, drank all his water, doesn't want to do something (like go to sleep), or can't open or close something.

unaveragejane · October 2013

khill86 said:

DS has only a few words. He calls DH dada, says dog (more like dag), and uh oh. He always says "oof oof" when he hears the dogs barking, moo for a cow, and ah-ah-ah for a sheep. He'll also make a grunting sound (kind of like vroom) when he's pushing a car/truck around. He'll make other animal sounds if you show him the animal and make the sound, but not unprompted. Uh oh is his catch all word. He uses it when he drops something, loses something, wants something he can't reach, drank all his water, doesn't want to do something (like go to sleep), or can't open or close something.

DS's version of "uh oh" is "oh deyah." He's trying to say "oh dear" which I apparently say a lot. lol

henrytviii · October 2013

Thanks everyone. He was a early mover and is busy with that so I thought he might be a late talker but I'm surprised we haven't even heard a mama or dada. I actually do think its a muscle development thing as he babbles so much and he will grunt in rhythm to the words like dog's name, the neighbors dog's name, the baby sitters dog's name (sensing a pattern yet?) or "all done" but he doesn't form words outside of matching rhythms. He'll get there when he is ready. Whatever, he's got a mean 20 foot pitch, he can just grunt his way through the major leagues if he never figures it out. Just kidding, I'll keep narrating our day and labeling objects like a crazy woman. We are a month behind on our appointments so I am sure it will come up at our 15 month but he's meeting other communication milestones so I'm sure our pedi will just say to give him more time.

jess9802 · October 2013

DS wasn't exactly an early mover - he started walking the week after his birthday - but he's definitely hit his physical milestones on time or a bit early. We don't hear a lot of words either. I think he is saying dada and Zack (my stepson's name), and I've heard "book" and "moo" a couple of times, but not much else. He babbles a ton and his receptive language is quite good IMO (for a couple of months now we've been able to recite a random line from one of his books and he'll go find the book and bring it to us, retrieves objects if we ask him to or ask where they are, etc.). Our pedi doesn't do 15 month visits so he won't see her until December, and by then I'm hoping he'll have a few more words.

Every time I worry about his development he hits the milestone within the month, so I think he's probably just doing things at his own pace.

emberlee3 · October 2013

As long as he seems to understand you and has ways of expressing his needs (signs, sounds, etc) then he is on track. DS had no real words at 15 months, although he had a few signs and had good receptive language. He had a language explosion at 17 months and ended up way ahead with language by 18 months. It can happen overnight!

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