Meeting milestones

[Kaxford]

Hi mums, just wondering if someone can reassure me on my twins meeting their milestones. So at their 12 month check they still weren’t clapping hands, they will wave but not always on demand 🙈 last week one of the lads was saying ‘dadadadada’ most of the day but he’s not said it once this week. Last night if one the boys clapped his lands for the first time 🥰 so I was just wondering is it usual for them to do something and then not do it for a bit or would this be classed as a regression?

It doesn’t sound like a regression to me but it does sound like their development is a little slow. Do they understand any words? If you say ball or teddy do they look at it?

At this age you would generally be expecting them to babble a lot, understand a few words, and show joint attention (such as bringing you toys, holding them up to show you, or pointing at things).

my advice would be to keep talking/reading to them, get rid of any screen time and have a look at this:

https://progress-checker.speechandlanguage.org.uk/

They babble away shout and laugh and respond to their name, they understand get down and no and things like arms up. They don’t point at things but they bring their tractors for us the play with. They were very small twins at birth and are still on the small side, they are still only in 9-12 month clothes. The public health nurse tells me everything is fine and not to worry but I can’t help it

If they’re babbling and bringing you things that’s very reassuring, the joint attention and language development is there, perhaps just a little slow maybe due to the fact they’re twins - were they born early? The fact they also understand a few things is good.

Again just keep modelling things, I also follow an Instagram account called raising little talkers which has loads of ideas for helping them with communication.

I would then review at about 15 months, and if still concerned contact the HV again, but at this point they look to be moving in the right direction. Generally there is a bit of a communication explosion between 12-15 months so see what happens.

Thanks very much!!! Nothing like a bit of mum worrying to keep you up at night!! They are my first babies and I don’t have any family around me so I feel like I worry more than perhaps I would if my mum or my sister were around. I have have a pretty bad dose of post natal which doesn’t help either

Are they 12 months adjusted or is it 12 months since they were born? How premature where they?

9-12 month clothes is not behind if they were early or anything to concern. My DC was early, he crawled reasonably on target but full commando (no leg dragging) and on all fours at 12 months. Standing and cruising on target but didn’t let go of the furniture and officially walk until 19 months. But he could balance and run straight away from then.

With talking, babble and words and 3 phrases on track. Then it was loads of words but no more linking until 2 ish. After which instant conversational chat level.

Reading and all cognitive stuff from then on very forward but he was tiny and zips and buttons really not at all until school. But clothing size at 5 was age 2. Physical size catch up was mid secondary school.

They were a month premature they should have come on the 10th April

This makes a big difference as it means they are just 12 months today when you adjust it. A month at this age makes a big change in development and everything sounds very normal to me.
I would give it until they are 18 months corrected before being concerned and always remember that books only offer a guidance range of time when children should be doing things - every child is different.
I had early talkers and late walkers with both of mine and one never crawled properly at all.
Keep us updated as they progress and I bet if one is clapping now the other will be by 1st May.

Thank you 🥰 that means a lot to me! I have one lad that could walk now if he could be arsed! He’ll take three of four steps and then that’s it 😂

My twins are 11m corrected and can’t crawl, bear weight on their legs, they are very chatty but no words or even dadada they’re mostly one syllable, don’t wave or clap. I worry all the time, they are on the list for physio, but we saw the consultant today and he could not have been less worried. I asked him about cerebral palsy and things like that and he said no, they don’t present like that, and that they’re just a bit delayed probably due to being prem and also they’re now very chunky so he said they have more weight to bear!
One twin can army crawl and they both roll all over the place, but that’s it.