16mo has no words- opinions please?

[soph28]

my 16mo dd has always been slower that average to do everything so I'm not particularly bothered that her speech is not developing. However she has mild tongue tie and had breastfeeding and weaning difficulties and now I'm just beginning to wonder if it could be affecting her speech development. She can say 'ta' and makes some babbling noises like 'mamamamamamama' and 'dadadadadadadada' and that's it. She understands everuything and shakes and nods her head and points. She's almost 17mths, when should I be worried?

[Neverenoughmistletoe]

By 2 I think soph but I'm sure a speech therapist will be along and tell you more specifically.
Opinion is divided as to whether tongue-tie affects speech or not.

[LaDiDancesroundtheXmastree]

Single words by 18 months at the latest and two words together by 2years is what's meant to be normal development. Her good understanding is important.

[S1ur]

I hope not! my ds is a boy of few words at present though when the wind blows in the right direction I think I hear him say 'there you go' but then I listen again and its probably just 'thathado'

I wouldn't worry and I don't, my dd had and has superb language but wasn't going wild by 16m, don't be overly concerned yet. But get the tongue-tie thing looked into if you're worried.

[beautifulsnowydays]

i wouldn't worry too much, my friends dd didn't really say more than baba, mama and dada until she was about 2, she is now 3 and she is a really fluent talker, above average for a three yr old i would say.

[Desiderata]

At 16 months, mine said nothing. He made cooing noises, and that was it. At eighteen months, still the same. I could see he was taking it all in, but he wasn't bother with the small talk.

At 22 months, he spoke in full sentences, and now, at just three, he comes out with stuff you wouldn't believe

So don't worry, soph. 16 months is very young for speech development.

[SpawnChorus]

soph8 - if it makes you feel any better, DS (17 months) doesn't talk. He can say 'boo' and 'quack' (Well, it actually comes out 'cack' and we make such a fuss of him for saying it that he's started quacking at all and sundry now!!).

He points and shakes his head (no nodding though).

I'm mildly concerned, but I am generally a worrier, so that's hardly surprising.

I do remember some of DD's friends being late(ish) to talk, so I'm not going to take DS to the doctor/HV just yet.

[3missyshohoho]

Hi, I posted similar worries on this a while ago as DD1 who was 18 months could only say a few words but it seemed as soon as she had her 2nd birthday (3 weeks ago) it was like an instant switch and now she is saying well over single 50 words although haven't quite managed putting the two together on a regular basis yet it is amazing how quickly she has changed.

My advice is not to worry DD1, her understanding is good which is the main thing. DD1 was excellent at understanding what I was asking of her so I wasn't worried to much about her speech.

It will come but if syou are concerned seek more reassurance from your HV.

[chankins]

My ds had a tongue tie, but the midwife said not to worry about it. I know another lady whose son was born a few months before mine and he had his opeerated on !
Anyway, the other day, ds fell back from sitting onto a cushion with a plastic stacking ring in mouth and started screaming, with mouth full of blood ! It took me ages to work out his tie had broken ! Looked a bit sore, but he still fed and drank as well as ever.
Sorry...... slight diversion from topic. My dd2 was 2 and a half before she really started chatting to us, but her sister could say lots of words at 1, and could sing nursery rhymes at 2, so I guess I am saying they are all different !

[soph28]

ok that's fine, kinda what I thought anyway. It's probably because my ds had about 200 words at the same age which I know is advanced but it just makes the contrast more difficult! I will chill out about it again!

[shiny1]

MY DS 2.3 STARTED saying words at 2 ,nothing before that,im still a bit worried even though hes really trying now,i think its cos my other kids talked a lot earlier.

[DeePancrisPaneven]

Neice is almost 2 now, and didn't say any words clearly til a couple of months ago. She is pretty laid back, so perhaps just couldn't be arsed. Sister was a bit worried by it, but neice is now blethering nicely!!
Easy to say, as it were, but give it a bit/lot more time.

[SnowMuchToBits]

My ds started talikg at 16 months, but only said about 3 words (including poo) until 19 months, when he started talikng a lot more. At 16 months though, he was alo learning to walk, and I think put talking on hold a bit while he learned walking. He could obviously understand a lot though. Since then he has developed a very diverse vocabulary and now (he is just 7) often surpises me with the complexity of his speech.

I also was a bit frustrated when he didn't talk very early ( I had been quite an early talker myself, and found it a bit odd he didn't say much) but once he got going there has been no going back, so I don't think you need to worry.

[stockingfiller]

all babies are very different at the moment im contending with shutup, you what, who is that, and in comparison to my sis dd she says cpl things not more than 3-5 words though

[yurt1]

If she's shaking her head and nodding she sounds fine to me. She should be pointing out things of interest by 18 months. Speech far less important (and meaningless- it;s a motor skill, that;s all).