19month old speech regression

[StudentMummy20]

All of a sudden my 19mo has stopped saying pretty much everything she normally says, nanny, mummy, Olly, Bobo, her friends names and she's stopped giving 'kisses'. Is this normal. It's made me quite worried and sad

How is her eye contact? Pointing? Does she show you things? What else are you observing?

If you are sitting with her and you engage with her, laughing, smiling, talking, what does she do?
What if you stop engaging with her, stop smiling for about 30 seconds/1 minute? Will she try and seek your attention, look to you for entertainment, 'complain' a bit because you're not engaging? Does she notice your lack of engagement?

What concerning about regression of this type is it can be an indicator for autism.
Has she been ill at all? sometimes children can regress a bit after illness.

@TheVanguardSix he eye contact is fine, we laugh and smile. If I disengage with her, she just goes off and does her own thing. She does come to me sometimes and will give me hug if indicated. She's still pointing a little, not noticed much about showing me things.

@iCorona not really, since she had bronchiolitis in November. Although, I do think she's teething.

Shes been whinging a lot the last few days too!

She's very young, sometimes babies have a 'break' for their brain to work out the speech patterns and then continue to talk even better [grin[ They talk at different times it's like walking.

@ppeatfruit so it can be normal?

Yes don't make a big thing of it with her, read books with her, chat to her of course BUT ignore it, don't worry at all.!!

Some babies don't speak at all till after 2 or 3!!!! I speak as en ex EY teacher and nanny\cm plus mum of 3!!

@ppeatfruit thank you, was hard not worry as its an early indication of autism

Don't google it If she's been very ill it might be worrying but carry as normal and she'll get there.

I’m sorry but I’d be very concerned about this.

Children may have pauses in their development but regression in any area is a concern and yes, potentially an indicator for Autism.

It’s unlikely that your HV is doing any face to face visits at the moment but I’d give her a call to discuss.

She's 19 months old, there are many children who are not speaking at all at that age fgs. It's normal.

I think any regression is a cause for concern. Start making notes with dates. Record today what she can say and check again in a week or two.
With pointing, it’s the protodeclarative pointing you’re looking for. Difficult at the moment but when you’re our for a walk and she sees a dog or hears an aeroplane or sees a butterfly, does she point to it and then (crucially) look to you to check you’re looking too? So this is different from looking at a book and you asking her where the ladybird is.
Google a test called the MChat. It’s a very simple set of questions. It’s not diagnostic but it will give you an indication of whether or not you need to be more concerned. Either way, in normal circumstances I’d suggest a trip to the GP just to get in the system.

@ppeatfruit, yes there are many 19mths old who aren’t talking but regression of skills is not normal and the op’s concerns need to be taken seriously and not dismissed. It is not normal for babies’ brains to take a break from developing as you suggest. Quite the opposite. They may plateau, especially after illness but regression and loss of skills is not something to be ignored.

@StudentMummy20, your DD May be absolutely fine. Nobody on here is diagnosing her with anything. But these red flags mustn’t be ignored either.

As I said, look up the MChat test.

So the bronchiolitis history is interesting.
The fact that your DD is whinging is very telling. She's trying to tell you something.
If she were on the spectrum, she wouldn't really be doing that. Possibly but probably not. My youngest was a very peaceful, placid little baby... as if he were somewhere else. He was SO quiet, we had to remember he was in the room, it was that extreme. I would call his name and he would never answer. The dog would come running instead. He never pointed. He was always a very affectionate and happy baby but there was a little emotional veil. He was different to our other two.
My point in all of this is, get your little one plugged in to paeds.
Book a telephone consultation with the GP and push hard for a referral. Because the GP won't see your little one right now (because of Covid), do some experiments at home so you can back up your concerns over the phone.

-Clap. Write down your little one's response to the clapping. Do this a few times. Does she look? Does she get scared? Does she seem not to hear the clapping?

-Call her name in the same room. Call her name from another room.
How does she react?

-Engage through play (together on the floor). How does she respond?

-Disengage for one full minute. Does she come to you for attention, noticing that you're not responding to her?

Tell your GP you're concerned about her hearing. Mention the bronchiolitis and how she hasn't seemed right since. She needs her chest listened to, ears checked. Then hearing.

Above all, she could just be going through a phase where she's discovering the more physical side of life and small talk isn't her thing right now. This too is very common! Other senses and explorations take over. She may be less people-oriented right now as her brain is learning about other things: spacial awareness, physicality, for example. This is normal for children to abandon other areas of learning only to return to them later and with more gusto!

Just to add, most GPs are doing everything over the phone in an effort to reduce contact. So booking a trip to the GP won't happen BUT this can certainly- in these times- be managed over the phone and your little one will be referred (it will be slow, again because of COVID, there will be a delay). But if you can do some experiments/studies/observations and take notes, this helps your GP to make the most of that referral to paediatrics.

Above all, don't be scared. Easier said than done. But early intervention, whether it's hearing, or an ongoing post-viral period of blues, autism, speech delay, teething, WHATEVER, is everything. You will find peace of mind. I promise.

@TheVanguardSix thank you for that. Do you think it could be her hearing? I'm not sure it's her hearing as for example if we put no volume on when she's watching Peppa, she whinges and if I tell her off she whinges too. If I tell her to clap her hand she does.

She has been getting a lot more physical, she's learned how to get down the stairs and ever since then she's stopped going in my mums room shouting 'nanny' in the morning.

@Neednewwellies I just took that MChat test and scored 0!

@TheVanguardSix also, the bronchiolitis happened before she learned how to talk and say some words.

It could be her hearing student believe it or not because the thing about glue ear (which could be a result of ear infection at the time of the bronchiolitis) is that it's less of a 'can't hear anything' type of hearing loss and more of a muffled/rushing water interference. So she may 'hear' certain things. It depends on the frequency. I have to admit, I couldn't tell at all that DD couldn't hear. It didn't present at all in the way I would have expected it to. Her nursery noticed something was amiss and that she was withdrawing more and more. Because her issue became a speech and language one, the hearing test was the first thing paediatrics tested for and that told us the rest of the story.
With DC3, who IS autistic and whose hearing was fine ( I was so hoping he had hearing problems! I never thought I'd wish that on my own child) he presented typical ASD flags.
Your DD does not sound like she is on the spectrum. She is clapping and responding to your commands. That's a very encouraging. It sounds like the stairs or more interesting than Nanny!

But you have concerns, so do get them checked out.

@TheVanguardSix I have messaged the Health Visiting team and will call the GP, I just found it odd how sudden it was, and not gradual. Is your daughter deaf? How do you cope?

My daughter was going to nursery up until it stopped 2 weeks ago, I also wandered if the dramatic change in routine could be a cause.

@TheVanguardSix is right to mention that it could be ears and that will be the first thing a medical professional will do for elimination purposes.
However, whilst the clapping etc is a good sign, some children on the spectrum, girls especially, do clap and have some social interaction albeit stilted. Girls can present very differently IME. This is absolutely not to say your daughter has ASD though.

If you scored 0 on the MChat, you must mention that to your HV. It’s a widely used tool that most 18mth olds should pass. However, not passing doesn’t necessarily mean ASD. It can also mean anything from glue ear to speech delay (although speech regression is not a sign of speech delay)

Does your daughter have any sensory issues? So a strong dislike (or extreme like) of water or sand? Does she hate clothes? Labels? Socks? Also, does she have an unusually high craving for dairy or bread/cereal?

I’m sorry you are worried. It’s a horrid thing at the best of times let alone during a lockdown. Just try to keep a log and try to get a GP appointment ASAP. When you get in, don’t get fobbed off and told to wait a year. Tell them she’s clearly regressed and you want a referral.

How is she when you leave the room? If a stranger came in would she look to you for reassurance? Would she run to you? Note all this down. Oh and try walking into the room dressed up all silly. Note down her reaction. Good luck.

@Neednewwellies

A score of 0 is low risk- no follow up needed.

Link: mchatscreen.com/mchat-rf/scoring/

@Neednewwellies she detests me getting ger dressed but she doesn't try and take them off and quite often kicks off blankets. Has a love of water, but that's not new.

I will get her assessed by a GP as soon as I can, day before yesterday she listened to commands and today she's not listening at all. I don't know!