no babbling or cooing from 4 month old

[NinjaChipmunk]

my 4 month old dd is very quiet. She's pretty much on track for her milestones, can lift head when on tummy, can roll onto her side but not completely over, smiles when she sees/ interacts with us, she even started to laugh at ds when he's being silly. She is very placid and easy going, rarely cries and sleeps well. generally she's a little star. But she doesn't really make noise. She doesn't babble or coo, she sometimes makes a short 'ah' sound but even that is pretty rare. I talk to her and stuff to try to encourage her but at what point should i worry? Her hearing seems fine as she jumps if someone coughs/ sneezes/ claps etc and she's not expecting it. I'm pretty sure ds was much more verbal than this? The only other time she makes noise is when she's falling asleep chewing her fingers and you get a repeated yayayaya type sound. Please someone say your dc were like this too and it all turned out ok!

[megandraper]

sorry you're worried. just so you know, the fact she jumps at coughs/claps etc. doesn't rule out hearing loss. I did this when I was a baby and I have a moderate-to-severe hearing loss. It's most severe at the frequencies of speech (not uncommon) so I believe I also didn't babble etc.

why not see your GP or HV and they can advise?

[NinjaChipmunk]

I might do that. I wonder if I should push for a hearing test. She was fine when they tested her in hospital when she was born.I'm just not sure if I'm worrying prematurely or not.
Anyone else?

[Biscuitsandtea]

I can't remember how much cooing or babbling there was at 4 months ninja but if you're worried it sounds like a perfect HV question - they should be able to tell you of it's 'normal' or not. Do you have a HV you get on with? Or a clinic you can just turn up to? If they don't give you a satisfactory answer then I'd pop along to the GP I think.

Sorry I can't help more x

[hawthers]

If you are worried, I'd go and raise it with an hcp of some sort. If they think there might be an issue then they'll send you for a hearing test and hpefully you'll have some reassurance.

[pommedechocolat]

I think that the hearing test at birth is pretty much it ninja - ie if it was fine her hearing is fine?

Dd1 didn't chatter half as much as dd2 does as a baby. I might have worried about it if she was my first. She never bloody shuts up now though!

I would ask hv/gp too for reassurance.

[NinjaChipmunk]

I think one of the things I am finding difficult is that with ds we had friends with babies the same age (our nct group) so I knew where ds was in the grand scheme of things but this time around we haven't done any groups and I don't know any babies the same age so have nothing to compare to. If there are any parents of 4 months olds reading this, I would be interested to know what noises your dc make and how often.

[MoelFammau]

I know DD didn't react to noises until 6 or so months. She didn't jump at claps and slammed doors... Didn't babble til 9-10mo.

She's 18mo now and chatters away merrily. 20 clear words, the rest is gibberish. She's bilingual.

HOWEVER, we do have major concerns with her in this respect. She's only just started recognising her name this week and most babies can do this by 6mo. In all other areas she's fine.

So i'd say 4mo sounds early to me, but if you're worried, ask the HV. We have a hearing test booked.

[Biscuitsandtea]

Should they really recognise their name at 6mo? I'm not sure ds2 does and he's 8 months

[TooImmatureGhostiesAndGhoulies]

DD (8 mo) reacts if I say her name, but it's a bloody miracle if she actually knows the name, seeing as I call her Bean, Pickle, Monkey or Munchkin 99% of the time. I refer to her as Bean to my family and friends as well. I think she's reacting to my tone rather than my voice.

Ninja, I'm pretty sure DD was cooing by 4 months but I'm clueless about the point at which you might need to worry. I think Bedhopper is right and the GP/HV might be able to reassure you.

[NinjaChipmunk]

Thanks all, I have to take ds to the docs tomorrow so will ask re dd then too.

[megandraper]

Good luck op let us know how you get on.

[hatchypom]

She sounds perfectly normal but I just want to be clear to anyone reading this that passing your newborn screen doesn't mean your hearing is always fine. Hearing loss can be progressive and the newborn screen doesn't cover about 10% of deaf at birth babies.

[BillyBollyBandy]

That's really helpful hatchy thank you.

OP Really wouldn't worry, she is making a noise even if chewing, and is still very very tiny.

[Bibblebobbleparsnip]

I have a 4 month old DD and she sounds just like yours! She rolls the same (to side but not any further really) sucks her fist smiles lots and giggles occasionally. She does coo a little but my Mum says she's never come across such a quiet baby. She's my DC3 and I don't really remember with my other two but they're sooo noisy now I could do with a quiet one!
She did fail her first hearing test (born at home so first test done a week later or so in the hospital) and so had the slightly more detailed one too. She passed that fine. There's never any harm in taken a wee one to a GP for something like this though. HTH

[Bubblicious77]

I've got a 4 month old DC and she is also still very quiet. Actually within my NCT group the only ones starting to babble more and are the ones born a few weeks ahead of mine so I'm thinking it's probably fine.

[MoelFammau]

DD didn't roll til she was 12/13mo. She crawled first .

She also failed her hearing test the first time but passed the second time. We do think she has trouble though so have booked her an appointment.

Apparently babies should respond when you call them once they hit 6-8months. Some do it at 4 months. I'm not sure if it matters that they know their actual name, it's more a social response thing. DD only started responding last week at 18mo, so that's definitely a bit of a worry for us.

4mo is really early days. But I think if you're worried, get it checked. People really fobbed us off with DD and told us to wait it out. Now we're getting the checks we should've pushed for over a year ago.

[PetWoman]

Ninja I don't think DS made many more noises than the occasional 'ooh' at 4 months but I may be wrong. :) Let us know what the GP says.

[Biscuitsandtea]

How did you get on at the doctors Ninja? Did you get a chance to ask about DD?

[NinjaChipmunk]

I left a message for the duty hv to call me back as gp says hv deals with it. Nothing yet but I'll chase it tomorrow if I don't hear anything. The more I pay attention to what noises she makes the more I think I'm right in getting it checked. She only makes closed mouth type noises and she really should be at least attempting vowel sounds occasionally but she just doesn't.

[YesThisTime]

I posted something very similar when DS was around that age, possibly even older. He did a lot of grunting but didn't start babbling (bababa, mamama) until he was about 8/9 months. Someone posted this which talks about babbling being a 6-8 month milestone, rather than a 4 month one (which I think it is listed as in that bastard What To Expect book).

Anyway, he is 17mo now and never shuts up. He has loads of words and it all sort of happened at once. I wouldn't worry if everything else seems normal.

[NinjaChipmunk]

Thanks yes that's really interesting. Especially the bit about the nazallized vowels. She clearly can make open mouth sounds when she cries and when she moans to herself to get to sleep as she's just done it but it really puzzles me why she won't do it when awake as she is a smiley and engaging but silent baby. I think I will see if the hv thinks a hearing test is worth it as she only responds occasionally to sound.

[megandraper]

The hearing test is very non-invasive (DD had one at about 8 months and enjoyed it enormously) so I think it's a good idea to put your mind at rest. And if there was any hearing loss, then the earlier the intervention the better.

[NinjaChipmunk]

ok so the hv says not to worry at the moment as she smiles and is interested in general but to keep an eye on it to see if it seems to be progressing over the next few weeks/ months as she is still so tiny. I think I'll give her a month to see any progress in language/ response to sounds and then go to gp's if she's not come on a bit by then. I might test out some sounds on her too to see what she responds to and if there is any pattern.

[megandraper]

Good idea Ninja. Don't be fobbed off if you continue to have concerns though. Best of luck.

[elizbake]

My baby is 4 months too, she makes loads of noises but has not giggled/ squealed yet!.. I am getting a bit worried too.. Guess they are all different.. All the books seem to say this should be achieved by 3 months!!