19 MO and still not talking.

[MissSG]

I have a 19 MO DS, he is a very confident little boy and loves to sit down and have me read books to him.

I don't know if I have being silly but I am getting worried about his speech, he hasn't said one word (apart from the odd 'Mum' here and there) despite me talking to him, reading to him and trying to encourage him to say words.

Is this normal? He is my first DC so I would like to know if I am expecting more from him than I should be.

[LuisGarcia]

Ask your gp.

We did at a similar point for the same reasons. The gp can refer on for hearing tests and then speech therapy. Nearly a year on, we can all sign to each other, and have long conversations in doing so, and words are just now starting to emerge thanks to Nuffield and Mr Tumble.

Basically, trust yourself and the nhs, not the people who want to "frustrate him" into talking.

[StupidFlanders]

Mine is the same. The only precaution I'm taking at this stage is to get his hearing checked again just to rule that out. (He has been tested at birth but they can get blocked etc).

i hace discussed this with friends who are soecialists in the field and I'm not worried yet. As long as he's trying to engage with you, point things out to you and babbles it's ok. I will take further action at 2 because it may take some time to organise specialists.

If your instincts are telling you something is wrong, then visit your gp.

[nextphase]

if your instincts say something isn't right, speak to the GP or HV.

Can he hear you? if you ask a question when he isn't looking at you, does he respond? (calling who wants to go to the park, or who wants cake generally gets a response in this house!)

Is he babbling nonsense?

If both of these are happening, I wouldn't worry too much - but I did worry about DS1, who had 6 words aged 2. A few months later, vocab just exploded, and he was infront of his peers for a bit. Now (aged 4) it is impossible to tell who spoke early and who was a late speaker.

[HollyMadison]

He is still young and I know a few little ones who weren't speaking at that age. I would rule out a hearing issue by having a hearing test done. My DS is a bit older than yours and has a hearing impairment which was diagnosed at about 15 months. He'd passed the newborn screening. Not at all suggesting that your DS may have a hearing issue but it is something you can easily rule out. I have found the book It Takes Two to Talk, part of the Hanen series, to be helpful in getting my son's vocab expanding.

[lemontwist]

When my DS1 had his 2yr check with the health visitor he only had a couple of words. She wasn't too worried but asked me to call if he didn't improve soon. Now he is not quite 3 his vocabulary astounds me and he never stops talking! DS2 is 15 months and can say Dada but thats about it.
Get in touch with HV if you're worried though, if only for a bit of reassurance.

[EvaLongoria]

I have two DD's. DD2 just turned 2 and we had her review with the Health Visitor. We had forms to complete as well and the only things we replied no or not yet to was communication. She understands everything we say. She says Mummy, daddy and make a few animal sounds. But no talking. They wanted to refer us and we said we have no worries. Just because she crawled at 6 months and walked at 8 almost 9 months doesn't mean she has to be advanced with everything. This week mummy turned to My Mummy.

DD1 birthday is at the end of October. She also didn't talk at all and started talking end of January but it then came out in sentences. Not all kids develop the same.

If you are confident that there is nothing wrong with his hearing then the talking will come. Last night a friend with twins told me her girls only started talking at 3. And they have 2 older siblings. DD1 started first year at school and reading and writing very well for someone who only started this year. You wouldn't know that she was a late talker.

[MissSG]

Thank you all for the replies.

DS does talk a lot of gibberish, sometimes he is nonstop all day but I can't understand a word he is saying (He thinks that he makes perfect sense and I always answer him).

I think a trip to the GP is a good idea, I have found in certain situations that he doesn't listen, whether that is because he has selective hearing or there maybe something worth checking out I'm not sure. I'll make an appointment tomorrow.

Thank you for sharing your own experiences with your DC's, It has out my mind at rest a bit.

[MissSG]

*Put my mind at rest.