Is it normal for toddlers to just forget words?

[CharCharGabor]

DD2 is nearly 19 months old. At around 13 months or so she acquired about 5 words but she stopped using all of them apart from "Haaa," wich she uses for hello and good bye and even that is intermittent. No new words for 5 months and only babbled. I have been using signing with her and the other day she signed back and said Down. She used it all day but hasn't used it since, or even approximated it. She still uses the sign though. I seem to remember DD1 stopping using words for a little while to acquire more but Dd2 doesn't seem to get any new ones at all.

She does babble a lot, her body language is good and her understanding has slightly improved (as in she understands a few set phrases within our daily routine backed up with signs). She is very sociable but no words. I knows it's normal for them to take longer than this to talk at all, I am more wondering about the loss of words. She is having her hearing tested at the start of October as she did have a few ear infections, although none for about 2 months. Any insights please? Thanks :)

[CharCharGabor]

Excuse typos, sleep deprived!

[CharCharGabor]

I posted a fortnight or so about her I think as she doesn't really sleep at all either, although the last few days have been slightly less massively awful it's still not good. I do worry about her, she'd be such a happy wee thing is she wasn't so exhausted and frustrated :(

[squiggleywiggler]

DD, 19 months, always forgets and relearns things - including words. In fact her first ever word ('bottom') has now been completely forgotten!

Normal learning pattern for little ones I hear.

[WidowWadman]

At 19 months I wouldn't be worried at all - especially since she babbles and is understanding. I've never used signing with my daughter, but I remember that her language acquisition started slowly, and also that words sometimes fell out of use again, to reappear months later.

And now she keeps surprising me by using words I wasn't aware she knew.

I can heartily recommend this book on children's language acquisition. The part about taping is a bit outdated, but the basics are still correct.

[CharCharGabor]

Thanks guys :) I am trying not to worry. I expected words to fall out of use while she worked on more but she doesn't seem to work on more. She doesn't mimic at all and she's not very responsive unless quite close to you. will try and chill about it though and enjoy not having my ear chewed off (yet!!) :o

[Firawla]

my 21 months has forgot nearly all the words he had, and not really got any more. i am a bit worried about it as it seems like going backwards instead of progressing? even though it can be normal but with forgetting and having hardly any i think its worth getting a salt to look at them if you can see one easily eg childrens centre drop ins.. im trying to track one down to see mine cos i think it is better just to check it out

[CharCharGabor]

It's worrying isn't it Firawla. I think I'm going to hold off on getting her referred to SALT as she is still only 1 and I know quite a few children who didn't talk until after 2. So I'm just keeping track of where she's at right now, which isn't particularly hard as she's not got much to keep track of. I took her to a group this afternoon and the other children there a similar age were following the instructions, sitting and taking turns and she was either wandering or screaming. I know you shouldn't compare but it's hard. She doesn't always respond to her name FGS!

[chocjunkie]

Charchar, how is your DD communicating nonverbally? is she for example pointing? Does she follow a point?

[CharCharGabor]

She can wave and her face is very expressive so you can often see what she is trying to say from that. She can bring you something eg. Bringing a toy over for you to fix. She nods sometimes and just started shaking her head for no in the last few days? She started pointing at this I think about a week ago but doesn't use it a lot. I do a lot of pointing to things with her but she rarely looks in the direction I'm pointing. I think she does occasionally but can't remember properly!

[Iggly]

DS doesn't "remember" words sometimes, some days you'll hear loads other days you won't. The last month or so his talking has come on in leaps and bounds (he's 2) but I was a little worries before.

As for responding to his name - well toddlers get so engrossed they genuinely do not hear you! As for sitting and taking turns, at his age?! No chance! Unless there were cakes involved

[chocjunkie]

charchar, the loss of words, lack of understanding, not responding to name and the lack of pointing & not following a point is something I would probably want to mention to the HV or GP. could be nothing but worth getting it double checked.

[CharCharGabor]

Thanks guys :) If she remembered the words again once she'd finished working on others I wouldn't be thinking about it but they're just gone. She hasn't used the early words she learned for 6 months now and no new ones have replaced them. She does babble loads though, she's rarely quiet. I thought that sitting and taking turns was expecting a lot but you know what it's like when yours is the only one not doing it!

I think I'll wait til her hearing check on 3rd October and if that doesn't flag anything up then I'll go and talk to the hv about it. THanks for all input :)

[chocjunkie]

great that you have a hearing test booked already. from my experience, the first thing GP/HV will want to rule out is a hearing problem. good luck!

[SamQid88]

Hello charchargabor,

I know it's been 8 years. Just wanted to know how's your little one doing now?

[Violetvs]

I’m having a similar experience and am trying to figure out what to do. What was the outcome of your situation? Did your child end up with a diagnosis or was the language pattern (losing words and only babbling at 19 months) part of typical development?