14MO speech

[Jannt86]

Help! I know there's tonnes of posts like this but it's driving me mad that my 14MO seems to be struggling to talk. I have posted previously as she was not babbling at 11MO although was quite vocal. She was quite an early pointer and clapper doing both at 9MO when we first adopted her. She learned to say 'oh oh' before 12 months and finally started to convincingly babble a bit just after 12 MO. To be honest though her speech doesnt seem to have come on much since then. She does sort of say 'dada' but comes out more like 'gaga' most the time and she babbles rarararara or bababbaba on occasions but a lot of the time she just points at things and goes 'ga' or she makes this funny snuffling noise like an engine that won't start. She's very social and loves to share games etc with you and wave and blow kisses at people and she has a wicked sense of humour. However she does seem to struggle to strongly engage and make eye contact. I sing and make eye contact with her all the time and sometimes she likes it but a lot of the time she just pushes me away and gets cross at me and just wants to be moving or playing herself. She is starting to want to read books quite a lot but most of the time she will just point at things and say 'ga' which I presume means 'what's that' but a lot of the things are things she for sure knows already. I try and make up dialogue with the book and talk about what's going on and I attempt to read it but she rarely lets me stay on the page long enough. I know that's a fairly normal way to read books at her age but I'm just at a loss how to engage her with them. I don't really see the point in keep just saying what we see. I know they need repetition but I think after the 5000th time she knows what a bloody cat is lol. I think her receptive language is pretty good. She will follow simple instructions like 'go get your changing mat' and 'put the book back on the shelf' etc but when I ask her to point objects etc out she'll either point to the wrong thing (that I know she's seen a thousand times already) or she will just not bother. Having said that she'll occasionally can come out with some really quite complex things (like the other day she was reading a book with a red,green and blue cat and was able to tell them apart) She rarely tries to copy what I'm saying either. We've tried a bit of signing and one or two things she's picked up pretty quickly and others I think she's doing a sign for it but it's pretty wrong (eg more she just pats her chest. The actual sign is tapping one hand on the other) Sorry for the rant but I am just at a loss. I'm very keen on giving her the best start I can as I know there's a family history of learning difficulty which can be inherited and it's just making me think I'm doing things all wrong but I don't know what else I can really do I try to teach her the basics of a reciprocal conversation by giving her chance to answer back and praising when she points things out etc and she does answer 'eh' (meaning yes) to things so I think she does get it and I don't know what else I can do to help her get it. There seems to be differing views on what is 'normal' at this age and when speech therapy and early intervention should be initiated and tbh if there is an issue I'd rather do something about it now than be fobbed off for 2 years and then be at the point where it's going to be less helpful anyway. I'm just so frustrated caring for her when I feel like something might be wrong and I'm not doing the right things to help her. Sorry for the rant. I know you shouldn't compare your kid to other kids but it's hard when you see people saying their kids are saying a zillion words by this age and you see youtube vids of kids talking up a storm and concentrating on talking tasks for so long when I'm lucky if I can keep my LO on task for long enough to take a single thing in lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated even if it's just to tell me I'm being ridiculous haha. Thanks x

[Mummy0ftwo12]

Seriously wouldn't worry about no words at 14 months, my dd's first word came at 16 months and my ds was far later, the teachmetotalk.com website is really good though.

[April45]

Totally normal, give it some more time. Naming things with single words and pointing helps, as do picture books

[Dirtyjellycat]

I understand your concerns (I’m an adopter too and I know that there is an extra layer of anxiety due to this and the background you describe). What you describe sounds normal. Bear in mind that some 2 year olds only have one or two words. Keep doing what you are doing and it will help.

Do you have a relationship with your health visitor? I found ours invaluable after my son arrived. I often called on her when I was worried about something and she always took me seriously and didn’t try to fob me off. Also, it’s worth looking at the ASQ for 14 months (which you can find on Google, just make sure you get the scoring too which may be a separate document). How is her development in other areas? Has she had her one year check? You’re right to be vigilant but I don’t think there’s cause for concern based on what you describe.

Pop over the the adoption board here, we are a friendly bunch!