LO talking (or lack thereof) at 16 months

Roxie5739 · September 2014

My LO used to say Mom, Day and the dogs name when about 13-14 months but in the last few weeks he has barely said anything. Ever since he was sick (HFM - nothing to do with this, just a milemarker I noticed) he has a guttural noise he makes for everything. He has sporadically said a word when pushed, like Tomato a few weeks ago! but overall just nothing is happening in the talking department. He does do animal noises and I know these count but I am watching him carefully as I am starting to get concerned.

I do not question his comprehension at all, he know a lot of stuff and can spot 15-20 different types of animals and trucks without missing a beat (we are working on Armadillo's and Toucans at the moment - he is a smart kid) but nothing coming out.

Any experiences with this ladies and when should I be worried? I mentioned it at his 15month checkup and the Dr was not concerned but another 4 weeks has elapsed and we are still at the same point.

TIA!

Roxie5739 · September 2014

Thanks @Ducky719‌, that was my plan and also what I am hoping the outcome here will be

TJ1979 · September 2014

I wouldn't be worried. E's language exploded after we moved to our new house and she had her little buddy at the nanny share. So December, she would have been 18 months. Give it a little longer. It really came out of nowhere.

mnj05 · September 2014

H is 18.5 months and has no words still. He can point to some things when I ask and he knows where to go when I ask him to find things. His receptive language is great but talking is not. He doesn't even do sounds to mimic animals and can't spot specific things yet. My pedi is worried and wants me to call early intervention but I'm not worried yet.

jmorta04 · September 2014

L is 16 months and doesn't have any words. Dada is sporadic and I'm not even sure he really understands it or if he's just saying the sounds. Our pedi wasn't concerned at 15 months and I'm not really either at this point. If we are still at this point at 18 months, then perhaps we will look at EI but I may not even be concerned enough at that point to go down that road yet. He babbles a ton and the words will come, plus his receptive language is great. So I don't have any specific advice except try not to stress about it too much...it will happen.

phishgirl29 · September 2014

O is 15 and a half months and says, dada, mama, bye, hi, A-go (for fuego the cat), dis (this), dat (that), and Jess (my name that he hears people call me). I feel like it's a lot but then I hear other kids his age identifying animals and saying their sounds and O's just not there. I'm not worried, but when I start comparing I get anxious. We have been keeping a list of words he says on my phone to have ready for his 18 month appointment. I wouldn't worry about it till then.

mnj05 · September 2014

FWIW, I have a friend who is friends with two speech pathologists that say pedis are referring kids earlier and earlier these days and there's not much that can be done before 18 months. I know you didn't mention that but I thought that was good to know.

Also I know of a couple of pedis who wait until 24 months to begin EI or language concerns because so many kids don't have their explosion until 20-22 months.

Robeano · September 2014

Our Nipissing checklist asked if Hannah could say 20 words at 18 months. That's average. I wouldn't worry about it. We went camping and Hannah spent a week with her cousins and her vocabulary exploded, that was 18 months old.

Are you and hubby fast talkers? I know sometimes that can make it hard for kids to understand words. Try slowing down your speech when talking.

pb_bride · September 2014

mnj05 said:

FWIW, I have a friend who is friends with two speech pathologists that say pedis are referring kids earlier and earlier these days and there's not much that can be done before 18 months. I know you didn't mention that but I thought that was good to know. Also I know of a couple of pedis who wait until 24 months to begin EI or language concerns because so many kids don't have their explosion until 20-22 months.

This was us. M had zero words at 15m, and very slow progression between 15-18m. At 18m he had 5 words and 6 animal sounds. From 18-20m, he started to pick up ~ 1 word a day (40 words each month). Suddenly at 21m, he learned 140 words in a month!

I'd say not to worry; OTOH, I would be a bit concerned about the regression you mentioned. Maybe just being sick set him back some.

Do you do signs? While M didn't say many words between 15-18m, he learned over 40 signs during that time, That was something tangible for me, that I could tell he was learning language even if it wasn't in a spoken form.

Run20K · September 2014

I would not worry. There are times when DD stops saying words and I get nervous, but then she picks up other ones. She's 23 months now and her vocabulary has really grown. My nephew only said "yes" until he was 2.5. He understood everything though. He's perfectly healthy and fine, but needed speech therapy for a while. Again, nothing serious but definitely understand the concerns.

Roxie5739 · September 2014

Thanks all! I do talk fast and I have an accent so that maybe hindering some language development a bit. The poor boy hears Australian, Guatemalan and American accents so maybe harder to work out how to say some words.

I am not overly concerned right now as some other kids his age, all boys too, are just like my LO. I will keep a list of for the 18 month appointment and take it from there.

Thanks for all your wonderful advice and wisdom though!

ccam · September 2014

Ducky719 said:

At Sophie's 15 month appointment she only said three words...pretty randomly too. After the appointment she went through a very quiet phase which for her included grunting plus pointing her chubby finger toward whatever she wanted (and she stopped using her three words). We kept encouraging her and about a week before her 18 month appointment she exploded. Just keep your eye on it and continue to encourage him as you have been. If he doesn't increase his speech by his 18 month appointment I'd def bring it up.

This was pretty much DS, too. And it was really hard not to compare him to other kids his age who were already talking much more. But by his 18 month appointment, I couldn't even keep track of how many words he was saying! It happened super fast.

mcgeeva · September 2014

I don't think I worry too much.My lo didn't say much at all until closer to his 2nd bday. Maybe around 20 months it really started to take off. And when I say take off I'm talking just basic words. Now he is talking like crazy. Just see how things progress in the next month or so

Ruthie04 · September 2014

I don't really have any advice- we are in the midst of questionable speech issues as well. A speech pathologist acquaintance recently approached me out of the blue and told me DS1 is performing at the level of an 18 mo old (he is just shy of 2, he links "hi mama" and "hi dada" and has about 15 words that are clear to anyone, 10 or so more that I can understand, and 10 or more animal noises). I took him to the doc and she said she wasn't concerned at this point. However, since that appointment, I've been doing more research and speaking with other parents in the same boat and I think I'll ask for a referral. It won't hurt anything to get an assessment and I want to get a good foundation before 3 when the services switch to the school district.

On the other hand, DS2 has always been further ahead with speech, but just started the crazy explosion. Two weeks ago, he was linking hi and bye with nouns and people, but today he was pointing to objects in a book and said "that's a ..." for several objects. He's starting to sing parts of songs too. When people say it explodes- they are 100% right. It's amazing.

I just wanted to chime in with our experience of children at different levels. I think others have given great advice and I think you are on the right track.

chicagobride_07 · September 2014

DD didn't say anything by her 9 month appointment and our pedi had her evaluated by a speech therapist. I thought that would go no where, but the speech therapist thought she would benefit from bi weekly visit. She is now 15 months, and says mama, that's about it. She's still in speech therapy, but it don't think it is doing much. I mentioned this to pedi at our last appointment, and she said she'd expect a speech explosion for my LO at 22 months. Until then, we are doing the speech therapy and waiting. DD was a preemie, but is now at chronological age for everything but expressive speech.

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