15 month old not talking yet

natalie5851 · June 2014

My son just turned 15 months this week. I wasn't really worried about him not talking until he went to his doctor and they said he should be saying about 6 words besides mama and dada. All my son says is mama and dada and he's been saying it since 9 months. I tried to get him to say ball and he can get the "ba" out but not the full word. I'm wondering if I should call early intervention to see if everything's ok. I know he's smart and I'm sure everything's fine but I'm just worried about his speech being delayed and I don't want him to be 2 or 3 and be even more delayed. Has anyone been in a similar situation and if so what did you do?

Addy1227 · June 2014

From what I understand that's completely normally, my LO is almost 18 months and says quite a lot but a lot of it is missing a syllable or the last letter or something. Ball and Book sound identical, they both come out as Ba, as he gets older you can start to hear a slight difference in it. Food comes out as foo and nice comes out as nie, as long as he's trying I wouldn't worry too much. I believe there's a language explosion that comes around 17/18 months and he might just start spitting out words before you know it!

BigPoppa22 · June 2014

@jfresh - Do you think the improvement is definitely from seeing the speech therapist, or could it just be your LO developing as he should be?

My son is 14.5 months and said NO words - no momma or dadda or anything. He was in the NICU for his first month with a feeding tube (not preemie though), and he is being brought up in a bilingual home. I was pretty worried at 9-12 months but a lot less so, today.

I have spoken to a ton of other people, and always hear the anecdotal evidence not to worry. "Girls talk first and boy walk first!" Dozens of first hand accounts, including from our pediatrician, that "My son/nephew/ didn't talk at all until he was 3, and now we can't get him to shut up!" I saw a speech pathologist when DS was 9 months old and consulted with her again via phone at 13 months, mainly regarding feeding issues but also about this. She was not concerned, based on seeing my son's awareness and interactions. She also had the story of her young brother, with the whole didn't talk/won't shut up story.

I also feel a lot better because the last month I have seen other progress. As previous poster said, it is not all about words. He *finally* started clapping about 5 weeks ago. Took long enough! Around the same time, he started fake laughing. If adults around him laugh at something, he lets out big bellows to feel like part of the joke. 2 weeks ago, he finally did his first baby sign language for "more", and uses that a lot now when mooching food. And one more "finally", he just started pointing at things today!

Those milestones are definitely a lot later than what the books say they should be, but I think the progress is the important thing. Kids develop at different speeds as they say. If my son still has no words at 16 months, I will go back to the speech pathologist, but as I said - I am not very concerned at this time.

pb_bride · June 2014

DS is 19.5m now.

He had ZERO words at 15m. ZERO. Not even mama or dada. He had a couple of animal sounds and that was it. My pedi wasn't concerned at all even though I was. He said he wouldn't worry until DS is 2.

Part of me wanted to call EI then, the other part told me to wait and see what happens at 18m, mostly because I've read that most kids have their language explosion at around 18m, so at 15m, it is just too hard to tell if they really have an issue. I know DS has no issues of receptive language, he hears well, understands me, and follows instructions. I also started teaching DS sign language to help him communicate.

At 18m, DS had 5 words, 6 animal sounds, and 40 signs. He was learning sign language so quickly that I was really amazed. Again pedi wasn't concerned, and I decided to give him a little more time.

Between 18-19m, DS learned 15 new words, so an average of 1 word every 2 days. Since 19m, he is now picking up almost a new word every day. Basically, he went from ZERO words at 15m to 5 words at 18m, then 20 words at 19m, and now about 30 words at 19.5m (not including the approximately 50 signs he knows.) As long as DS is continuing to learn new words (and not slowing down), I'm not going to worry about it.

I know the "wait-and-see" advice is not for everyone. But I just think that at 15m, it is really hard to tell if your LO has a problem or not. Obviously if you have concerns about your LO's receptive language, then that's a whole different issue and I would get some help/evaluation now.

LyndseylovesHugh · June 2014

My DD only said mama and dada at 15m but they were never in context. At 18m she knew how to say about a dozen words but didn't really use them to communicate. Now at 21m she probably has close to 75 words, uses them to communicate, is learning new ones every day and is starting to string words together. It's crazy how much has changed in just a few months.

I was like you OP and was worried, but her doc was not worried yet so I tried to stay calm. Since she could say 12 words at her 18m he said she was on track but I was still worried. I told myself if I was still concerned by 2 years I would push for an eval because I don't think that could hurt in any way. She had that language explosion everyone talks about and I'm no longer concerned at all.

Eta: my point is, I would give your LO some more time, but if your motherly instincts are telling you to push for an eval you should. Worst case scenario he doesn't qualify and you wasted a few hours, no biggie.

Litgirl77 · June 2014

My LO had zero words at 15 months - not even mama or dada. He's just about 18 months now, and has about 10 words, animals sounds, and signs combined. I've always been a little concerned, but as long as he's making progress, I think it's really ok. I'm waiting to see if he has the whole "language explosion" thing happen in the next month or so. He is starting to imitate us more and more, and I think that's a big step in the right direction.

Our pedi has been very reassuring, and has emphasized that as long as he;s trying to communicate, it's good. A lot of his words come out sounding the same. Right now "doggy" is "ee ee." And "blankie" is "aa ee." Bye bye sounds more like "die die." The only really clear thing he says is "all gone," which he say all the time.

As long as your LO is interacting with you, it will come in time. But if your gut keeps telling you something is really wrong, it doesn't hurt to get evaluated. As a PP mentioned, EI is a wonderful thing. We have family who is getting physical therapy for their LO and rave about it.

lizshort96 · June 2014

We're just getting the ball rolling for an EI evaluation as DS only says 3 words. I'm new to all of this so I'm not sure if this is how it is universally, but ours is a free service through our county. I actually initiated the conversation with our ped at our 18mo visit. My thinking is that an evaluation can't hurt-- best case they say he's right on track and give us some pointers to keep progressing, worst case he gets the help he needs as that will be in his best interest. If his improvement is because of the therapist or because that's just how he's progressing, won't matter to me.

jonesie2010 · June 2014

My 15 mo is not talking at all, not even mama or dada. She had an EI assessment at 14 months. Her cognitive skills measured as a 16 mo and her communication skills measured as a 12 mo. So she wasn't far enough behind to qualify for services. I'm worried but trying to stay relaxed. She is smart and understands TONS and her non verbal communication is good. She waves, points, and knows 4 signs. She can follow simple commands. So I'm hoping the speech will come. We have her 15 month well check on Monday so we'll see what the pedi advises.

BigPoppa22 · June 2014

@jfresh - Wow... same here...

DS had meconium aspiration syndrome at birth that caused PPHN. Transferred to a better hospital on the first night and looked better the next 2 nights then took a turn for the worse on the 3rd night and was rushed to the regional to be near the ECMO, which thank god, he did not need. Regular respirator those first few nights, then high frequency for I believe 4 days, then back to regular and then cpap a few days. You know the drill. All in all, I think about 2 weeks of breathing assistance and then stuck there another 2 weeks with feeding issues. They did not want to let us take him home, while they tested different formulas etc., but we insisted because you could change formula 2-3 times, not solve the problem, and another 2 weeks have passed. They made me drop the feeding tube down DS's nose successfully two times before they would release him

That sucked.

Have you had any other issues, namely, feeding issues? DS had reflux on top of everything else (and a month of feeding tube had made it worse) and the first 9 months, there was a lot of spitting up. Took a lot of tricks to get him to eat enough formula - namely walking around distracting him, etc. Would only drink while we held him, standing up, for the first 6 months. have to take breaks, like drink half the bottle and wait 40 minutes and drink the other half.

He was actually doing really really well for a long time but the past 3 weeks while his molars are coming in, we are back to distracting him to get him to drink the last 1/3 of his bottles. We started giving him solids at 5 months and he was slow to adopt it but went ok... then again, slow to adopt finger foods and we are still having major problems. He has progressed, but very slowly. He could eat Cheerios for hours, for example.... but other finger foods that he likes, say shredded chicken, he will put it in his mouth, chew a bit, then let it fall out of his mouth to his lap when he goes for the next piece. We look at his high chair tray and think he did a great job, then see all the food fell into his bib or seat. This, more than not talking, is going to get me to the speech pathologist sooner rather than later.

Very interesting that we probably had very similar first months (hellish!), I am glad you found me!

ashiscute · June 2014

Does your LO say mama and dada with meaning or just as babbling? At 15 mos my DD had no words and very limited babbling. Her babbling had not really progressed since she was 8 or 9 mos old. She also did not imitate. Her only form of communication was to point and grunt. I had no concerns with her receptive language but that's only half the puzzle. We called EI after that appt and got her evaluated. She qualified and started speech therapy. My DD has since been diagnosed with a speech disorder and transferred from EI to our county's preschool where she still receives therapy. This is obviously an extreme example.

That your LO imitated ball is huge. That it came out as ba at 15 mos is not an issue. They will get more accurate with sound production and finishing words as they get older. If your LO is imitating and says mama and dada with meaning (as in says "mama" to get needs met vs mamamama) then I would wait and see. If you haven't seen any progress by 18 mos then I'd call EI.

I loved EI and speech therapy for my DD. It was 100% the right decision. The speech therapy is at your house and play based and very low stress. DD was very receptive to it. Good luck!

wesleycrusher · June 2014

DD had no words at 15months and 6 at 18 months. Pediatrician said that's average. At 20 months now she has 15 words. I'm not worried at all.

=Lee=B · June 2014

If he uses 'Ba" to refer to ball consistently then he is in fact speaking, and Ball is on his list of words.

The checklist for development says x number of words (doesn't have to be clear). It needs to be consistent, intentional and somewhat correct.

Ba for ball counts. My 15month old says fish all the time (we have fish in a tank, in our pond and painted on her wall) but she sais it "ish"...she still technically says fish she just hasn't pulled ALL the sounds together yet. She makes herself understood with 'ish' and she uses it in context and when asked to go find the fish she will.

My daughter also says this and that all the time when pointing at stuff...but it is more of a dis and dat. These do still count as words in her working vacabulary. She is consistently uses them to communicate and in context and is making herself understood...therefore they are in her word count.

How many other words does he have that are similar to his 'ba' for ball?

Beth.1212 · June 2014

I would recommend having an EI evaluation. It can't hurt! My DS sees a specialist for speech through EI, and he loves it when she comes over to "play." He's definitely gotten better over the past few months, though I really couldn't say whether he would have progressed differently without EI.

BigPoppa22 · June 2014

Fortunately, LO did not have any weight problems even though the feeding in the NICU was a nightmare. He was born 8 lb 14 oz and like 80th percentile height and weight, but my wife and I are NOT 80th percentile parents, I am 5'6 and she is 5'3 lol. After 2 months he normalized to around 50th height and 30th weight and has been there the past 13 months. Thank god for that, finger foods aside he is still on track with growth.

Elizabeth043086 · June 2014

To be honest, I think it's all individual. My first one, I remember when he was 17 months when his brother was born and he couldn't say very much at all and even now, at 2 1/2 he's just starting to make sentences. There was a little boy at our toddler time group that wasn't even 2 that was talking tons more than my ds. Now, my 2nd one he is 15 months right now and he can say, "where'd it go" "there it is" "all better" "car, go?" it blows my mind because ds #1 just starting talking that much recently. If your dr isn't worried, you shouldn't be either.

ashiscute · June 2014

Elizabeth043086 said:

To be honest, I think it's all individual. My first one, I remember when he was 17 months when his brother was born and he couldn't say very much at all and even now, at 2 1/2 he's just starting to make sentences. There was a little boy at our toddler time group that wasn't even 2 that was talking tons more than my ds. Now, my 2nd one he is 15 months right now and he can say, "where'd it go" "there it is" "all better" "car, go?" it blows my mind because ds #1 just starting talking that much recently. If your dr isn't worried, you shouldn't be either.

I completely disagree with this. You know your LO best. You see them every day and see what they are struggling with and what they excel at. Your pediatrician sees them every few months and goes by mainly what you say. If you are worried then you fight for your LO.

My pedi did not think my DD needed to be referred to First Steps at 15 mos because she was so young. But I was worried about her and made the call anyway. It was 100% the right decision for us. I am very glad I listened to myself and not the dr.

nikkisun54 · June 2014

theresat858 said:

Your son is normal and your pedi is worrying you for no reason. I agree with @Nicb13 that there is way too much pressure these days on our kids to speak before they are ready...all kids develop speech at different ages.

6-8 words is expected for normal development at 18 months -- not 15. At 15months DD had 2 words ("hi" and "agua") and the pedi was not concerned at all, because the first "verbal explosion" usually happens around 16-18 months. Sure enough, around 16 months she learned 5 words in one weekend. By 18 months she had the 8 words the pedi was looking for.
Now she is 25 months and is forming full sentences. She is still a bit on the late side for talking, but well within the developmentally normal range.

Give your son time.

I'd have to second this as well. I'm a SUPER worry wart so the fact that DS is only saying 4-5 words regularly right now at 15 months has had be extremely concerned. It has nothing to do with our pediatrician, who said 2-3 words was average, but the information overload on the 20+ words he should be saying does truly get to you!

I also agree that there is a big difference between trusting your instinct and nervousness. I've also heard that before 18+ months, must speech pathologists will tell you there's little they can really do. Sure, they can work with them, but before that age it's just as impactful for you to sit and read, talk, and communicate with your child.

Definitely take solace in all the people here that are going through the same thing as you, or have and their children are talking their ears off!

natalie5851 · June 2014

I can totally see where your coming from. I am usually very laid back when it comes to parenting and I don't compare my son to others. I was not worried about it at all until I went to the doctor and he said 6 words by now is the norm (which I thought was a lot too). But hearing from others in this case makes me feel much better.

jonesie2010 · June 2014

To reiterate what others have said on the number of words at this age...today at our 15 m well check the pedi recommended that we give it until 18 m. She said that at 18 m she would expect 6 words. And a kid can go from 0 to 6 words pretty quickly.

nikkisun54 · June 2014

To weigh in on an additional point off of @jonesie2010, I think it's always tricky sometimes when pediatricians want you to quantify the amount of words young toddlers have - I know with DS, he'll practice words for a couple days but it seems sometimes when he's confident in them, he'll move on occasionally. He was saying mama and dada tons in the beginning, but now he only says mama when he NEEDS me, and dada is rare - but we've gotten other words since then, so I still count those as well. I've also heard that when they master some words, just like other skills, they'll sometimes put them on the backburner while they work on others - but they haven't forgotten them.

MommaHen1984 · June 2014

We went through the same thing with DS, he barely said ANYTHING at 15 months, said very few at his 18 month appt but the Pedi wasn't concerned because he knew all his body parts and was able to understand things. DS is almost 20 months now and I was almost ready to call for an evaluation but one day we pulled into our housing plan and he said pointed out the window and said home! and just started talking from there. I just chalk it up to him not being ready yet. Obviously he was paying attention to when we said things, he just wasn't ready to say them. I wouldn't worry yet, just give him some time! He may be catching on to more than you think!

greyt00 · June 2014

DS2 said only "Mama" (not a lot), "Dada" (more often) and "go" at 15 months. He talks all the time now. He started combining words well before the age of 2 (is still not 2). He was also a little late to wave and point. 6 words at 15 months sounds like a lot to me. If you can count animal sounds, it's a little better, but still sounds like a lot. I would try to account for the full picture before worrying. Is he engaged, does he understand you, does he have any unusual behaviors, is he hitting other non-verbal milestones. I understand worrying, though, believe me. DS1 has major issues and I'm watching DS2 like a hawk.

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