Talking

sjames2 · October 2014

I know I shouldn't compare DD to other kids but I am starting to get worried with her talking. Around 18 months she would say 10-15 words regularly. A few of them were gibberish but I knew the meaning. Now she says all forms of dada to mean almost everything. She points well, not always giving me an idea of what she's pointing at, but always pointing. We are constantly saying what the word is and always on repeat. The only new words are go, do, no, and eye. And any word we repeat to her she'll make an o face but that's about all. She knows a few animal sounds and can point to her eyes, nose, ears, belly button, and mouth. She has started saying new gibberish with the sh sound. I'm just wondering if I need to make a dr appt to get her looked at or if I should wait?

djm31012 · October 2014

I dont think you have anything to worry about at all. 10-15 words at this age is totally fine. Does she seem engaged? Look you in the eye? Focus on activities? Is she regressing? Words and "tricks" she used to do have suddenly come to a halt? Ive said it before..my DS says a lot of words. I would venture to say that most of them, probably only DH and I understand. Hes a perfect 20 month old. He also didnt walk until almost 15 months. Its nothing to be worried about...he will get there as will your LO. Just keep teaching everywhere you go!

TarheelMama202 · October 2014

Your DD and my DS sound very similar. At 18 months, I said that he had about 12-15 words. (I can say that definitively because I still have the list on my phone from our pedi appointment.

) Now, he consistently says probably about half of those words. Can he still say all of them? Sure. He does every once in a while, but he doesn't use them all the time. DS is very expressive like your DD in that he points to things and shows me what he wants. He's communicating with me frequently, it just isn't always with words. He brings things to show me and also communicates that he needs help- but again, it just isn't verbal communication all the time.

I was worried about it so I had him evaluated by EI. He was right on target in every area except for expressive language. He didn't qualify for services by numbers alone-- he was above the cutoff to automatically receive speech. However, the speech and language pathologist who did our evaluation recommended him for services anyways because of the gap between his expressive and receptive language. He can follow multi-step directions ("go in the room and let Ellie out of her crate", "go get your shoes and bring them to me"), so she was confused about why he wasn't able to say more. Apparently, the EI evaluators can make the call to recommend for services even if you don't qualify simply by the evaluation results.

He will start speech in a couple of weeks. I am honestly not very concerned about it, though. He's at home with me all the time and he's a heavy paci user. My DH didn't speak at all until very late- to the point where his pediatricians in the 80s were concerned! Then all of a sudden he spoke in sentences. I suspect DS will be similar. I think starting speech will be good for me to learn different ways to communicate with him, plus it will give him an opportunity to be exposed to different adults. I am at home with him alone pretty much all the time, so working with other adults can only benefit him as I see it.

I guess my advice is that if you're concerned about it in your gut, an EI evaluation is never a bad idea. It honestly helped me feel a lot better to have someone else understand my concerns. And, like I said, I think it can only help him in the end. At the same time, you may choose not to go that route and that's fine too. We go to a parent-child program at our local Waldorf School, and there's a little girl in DS' class that's a few months older than him with less words than he has. Her mom isn't concerned and our class' teacher isn't, either. Whatever feels right in your gut, I say do.

Dannysmama · October 2014

I am a big advocate for being proactive ... but ... your DD seems like she is doing what what my DS was doing up until about a week ago. We figured he had about 15 words he used between 15-16 months, but when we went to the 18 month well child visit, he was pointing to everything and going Da! Da! We were researching how to get him to use words instead of us telling him everything, and I was thisclose to calling for an evaluation.

Looking back, what we think he was doing was building an inventory of words. He would make us repeat words over and over and over again. All of a sudden in the last week or so, his expressive language has taken off. I'm talking, going from saying one word here and there, to using verbs and multi-word sentences "plane up in sky!" In one day alone, I heard about 4 new words.

Maybe wait a little bit and just keep talking to your DD. If she isn't losing words, your daughter's word explosion might be right around the corner!

holly321 · October 2014

My ds is about the same. I am really trying to not compare, considering dd at this age used full sentences and said well over a hundred words.

But then again, I compare him to my niece and nephews. He is more like they were at this age, and then hit a word explosion and talk at lot.

mishka29 · October 2014

I remember DD going through the dada phase, it was the word for everything. She has moved past this but still sticks with one word at a time, one week she repeats everything the next week she won't repeat anything. Moody little things!

holly321 · October 2014

Also, DS says "muck" for all things food/drink related. Even though, he used to say cook aka cookie, milk, cup, more, and bottle.

sjames2 · October 2014

Thank you everyone. Dada has slowly taken over almost every word she knows. I know that DH doesn't help that as he just says hi every time she says dada. She hasn't said about half of the 10-15 that she used to say. But she has started saying a few new ones. I really think the ones she's just now saying should have been the first ones. I can't say when it got this bad for sure. I think at times she is frustrated because I don't know what she wants but other times I repeat the word to her and ask her to say it and she shakes her head no. She has hit the worst her screaming and tantrums have been.
We all need to get our flu shots and she needs her hep b shot so I think we are going to do all of that and a speech eval at once. Hopefully it's just a stage and she will start adding words soon.
FTM worry wart here.

TarheelMama202 · October 2014

Sagen said:

@TarheelMama202 our LOs sound so similar! My son can also follow mulitple step directions but also has the exact # of words, and consistently says about half. (I also think both our boys are incredibly cute with awesome hair )

YES! Both of our boys are so cute with the best locks around.

I'm glad to know there are other mamas on here with kids who are later to the talking game.

tamarar5 · October 2014

E is a late taller too. I've always been pretty laid back about it, but as we're getting closer to two, I'm getting a little more concerned. I keep wanting to give him more time, in case this is related to a regression from the new baby joining us, but...

MeighanKathleen · October 2014

I must admit, I was very happy to read this thread. DS babbles non-stop and says a few words (ball, book, mama, dada) but I feel like many of his words are ones that only my husband and I understand. He's been grunting at me a lot lately to tell me when he wants something, he signs quite a lot (but lately I feel like it's giving him a reason not to try to say the words). He does babble all day long, but I'm still concerned that he's not saying enough words. I know he understands them, when we do flashcards or look at pictures in books he can pick out items when I ask "where is the chicken?","where is the tree?" etc. but he doesn't say any of the names (he may make the animal sound or use sign language for some). I'm wondering how much longer to wait before asking the pediatrician about a possible delay.

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