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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

Baby has stopped babbling

45 replies

wolfear · 10/12/2007 18:35

I'm probably worrying about nothing but my baby is nearly five months old and has stopped babbling and cooing. He was doing it loads from three to four months but doesn't do it at all now. He still makes noises like giggling, grunting and, most recently, squealing. He used to love when I'd copy his sounds and do it back to me. His hearing seems fine as he responds to noises and when I call to him. I was trying to remember when it started and it was after his second jabs. Like I say, it's probably nothing but I can't help worrying.

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Look3mincepiesrmorethanEnough · 10/12/2007 18:37

Have you had his hearing checked? I know that their ears can be very bumged up, especially after a cold and it might be worth checking. I'd ask your GP or HV.

wolfear · 10/12/2007 18:40

His hearing seems fine as he responds to noises no problem. He did have a cold recently though.

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needmorecoffee · 10/12/2007 18:43

It could be cos he is learning physical things right now.
Any other loss of skills or seizures?

wolfear · 10/12/2007 18:46

No other loss of skills or seizures. He's shoving everything he gets his hands on in his mouth though.

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needmorecoffee · 10/12/2007 18:51

I seem to remember my older 3 stopping doing one thing when they were learning another thing. And they learn in spurts.
But if he hasn't picked up again after Xmas I'd take my worries to a GP (and skip the jabs)

CorrieDale · 10/12/2007 18:55

DD has done the same (5 months) but I assumed it's because she's going all out for standing and stepping while holding onto our hands. Has your DS started standing or sitting or anything physical? It's a lot for them to cope with and I guess trying to talk as well is just going to be overload.

karen999 · 10/12/2007 18:56

My dd is 9 months and she did exactly the same thing as your ds. When they discover a new skill they do it all the time and then they stop as they learn a new one. He may be trying hard to pick up thinkgs now, showing more interest in whats going on round about him. I wouldn't worry - he will start again. My dd is forever shouting 'da da' - over and over again. I am waiting for her to shout 'ma ma'!!

meepingaroundthechristmastree · 10/12/2007 19:02

My dd is 5 months and she has also stopped telling her "stories" which were constant around 3/4 months. She had a bad cold which gave her a sore throat and a croaky voice so I thought that had just put her off for a bit! But she is now concentrating on sitting up a lot so maybe that is her new focus! We have squealing here too!

wolfear · 10/12/2007 19:16

DS did have a cold with a croaky voice (quite cute actually) and is also trying his hardest to sit and loves standing. Maybe he is just focusing on these and giving the talking a rest. Thanks all for your reassuring messages.

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BeeWiseMen · 10/12/2007 19:19

lol! I was just discussing with dp that our nearly 6mo has stopped babbling since she discovered shouting about a week ago. I'm so glad I read this thread. Not that I was really worried as I've noticed a pattern of her forgetting to do something when she discovers something new to do.

wolfear · 11/12/2007 12:44

Has anybody else had any experiences with this?

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callmeoverchristmas · 11/12/2007 12:48

DD did this with lots of skills. She would do one thing almost constantly e.g blowing raspberries. The all of a sudden she would get bored with it and do something else new for a week or so. It went on like this for months but has kind of evened out now (15m). She never forgot any of it as such just that newer things were more entertaining iyswim?

callmeoverchristmas · 11/12/2007 12:51

Oh and in our post natal group there is a real distinction in the skills they have grasped. Some are Physical, walking and running, climbing up things and others like my DD are more mental abilities like talking already! and eating from a spoon etc etc. I think they all just focus on what they enjoy, as we do as Adults I suppose!

LiegeAndLief · 11/12/2007 13:02

Yes, my ds stopped babbling (I think he started screeching instead which was lovely ) then just started making different noises. Like callmeoverchristmas said, he seemed to do new things for a month and then stop - he is 16 months and hasn't waved for about 3 months! Just like he got bored of it. I thought he'd forgotten how to clap until he randomly started again last week.

wolfear · 11/12/2007 13:04

DS has stopped for about 3 weeks now. How long did it last with you guys?

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meepingaroundthechristmastree · 11/12/2007 17:13

still no babbling from my dd - the odd sound here and there but no chats any more! I quite liked her wee stories so quite sad that they've gone for the moment - not so sad that's she's stopped the 6am ones though!

BeeWiseMen · 13/12/2007 11:19

still no babbling from mine either and it's at least 10 days since I noticed that she's stopped so I guess you can add a few days onto that cos I can be a bit slow on the uptake. The shouting and screaching has stepped up a notch though - joy . I'm sure the babbling will come back though. DD was blowing raspberries contantly for two weeks at about 3mo and then stopped altogether but has just started again in the last few days and she's nearly 6mo. If it's really worrying you then maybe you should speak to the HV. Even though it seems to happen to lots of babies, your instincts might be telling you something about your DD.

Riss33 · 01/08/2019 03:56

Hi there everyone, I'm just wondering if any of you have updates on how your little ones fared over the months? My baby stopped cooing/babbling at around 3.5-4 months too and he's been grunting and squealing since then. At 9 months he has just started to make sounds similar to the ones he did at 3.5. I was convinced it was related to the vaccinations and have been really worried about them ever since, currently delaying and spreading them out wherever possible. I'd love to hear others' experiences.

hothotyogi · 05/08/2019 13:08

12 years CV on what happened wolfers?

Gegemum · 15/10/2019 21:25

Hello @Riss33 any news? Mine did the same, he was repeating letters at 2 months and stopped suddenly after the vaccination at 2,5 months. Then started squealing and now he is 5 months and a half and still nothing like before. He is still a very happy baby though, he smiles a lot, look at people a lot and he is not very busy in trying to crawl. Don’t know what to think?!

Kezani · 20/11/2019 08:37

Hi all I've realised my 3 month old daughter has recently stopped babbling aswel and find it interesting that it could be down to the vaccinations. To give me peace of mind I'm delighted to see that it could also be because she is learning something new. At the moment she's trying very hard to sit up. She still smiles and almost laughs, but this thread has been a huge eye-opener. Thank you all

Mommie3 · 07/07/2020 19:53

Hi, was wondering if you’re baby started talking again as I am experiencing the same

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Riss33 · 08/07/2020 02:57

@Gegemum I meant to reply when you posted way back but it slipped my mind, I'm sorry! My update - my LO is now 20 months and he never returned to the babbling that he had been doing previously. His eye contact also remained at a much lower level than it had been. That said, he has very very gradually progressed and is now looking at us a lot more and he is saying a few words and partial words. From what I understand he is technically speech-delayed, but I've also gathered that it's very common for children to take longer to start talking, especially boys, and in most cases it doesn't mean there is a problem. Overall my concerns about my son have decreased a great deal as he seems to be developing steadily and I expect him to reach all his milestones even if they are a few months later than the norm. I can't help but feel something serious did happen, an adverse event that really nipped his progress in the bud on some fronts when he was 4 months old - and I'm still really not sure what it was. But thankfully he seems to be doing well. He's a happy and vigorous little kid, has a great sense of humour, understands a lot of things we say to him, etc.

One thing that has been suggested by others is that they may stop talking when their physical abilities change and they start to focus on those. My son stopped talking around the same time that he began rolling over and loving tummy time. That said, it was still very strange and unusual that he completely stopped talking and looking at us, and none of the other ladies in my mums' groups had this happen with their babies, who all continued babbling through the changes in their physical abilities.

JessyMama · 09/11/2021 08:33

Hello @Riss33 I have been having a similar experience to what you described. I am very worried about autism since his older brother sits on the spectrum. Was wondering if you could give an update on you LO. Have his delays resolved? Thanks!

LGBirmingham · 09/11/2021 20:55

My son was cooing loads from a very early age, the health visitor said he was her best talker! Then when he started focusing on physical stuff he just stopped and would only grunt. He rolled and crawled pretty early. He then started the babbling somewhere between 6 and 7 months and now you can't shut him up again. He's nearly 11 months and says muma and dada along with other random sounds like ga, ya, ba etc...

I wouldn't worry. Baby is probably just about to make a big stride in a different area and is focusing on that.

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