How can I promote speech with my 12 month old DD?

[user11290]

Hi,

My DD has just turned 12 months old and although she makes sounds such as 'ba' and 'ka''pa'.

The health visitor thinks that she's a bit behind for where she should be. I feel awful about this.

How can I promote speech? I sing to her, talk to her, explain what I'm doing (changing clothes, giving bath etc) what else can I do?

Any other ideas?

Thanks

Keep doing what your doing. Lots of face to face interaction and respond to her babbling.
She doesn't sound that behind to me!
Does she point or clap hands yet?
And definitely some babies are more of walkers than talkers ! She might be one where words come all at once. Some babies are slow and steady and some wait for lots of words

And will she or does she go to nursery yet? Mine really started babbling well after finding a little friend at a baby group

Just turned 12 months is fine not to have words yet imo. Wait and see another three months before worrying about it. You might probably see your baby pick up quite a lot between 12-15mo

Just wanted to reassure you OP that my son (born during lockdown which is maybe relevant) didn't really talk at all at that age and maybe had about 10-20 words by age 2. (He could sign about 50 words though as I'd done baby sign with him from early on). HV noted at his 2 year check that he was saying fewer words than average but she wasn't concerned as it was clear his comprehension level was high. She said she'd follow up in a few months with me. Within about 4 weeks of her visit he just started talking - and by 2.5yrs he'd more than caught up with his peers. It was incredible how fast he went from not speaking to using long sentences, different tenses etc. He's a very articulate 4 year old now.

Speech and language development (from 12 to 24 months) | Great Ormond Street Hospital

I think this is really helpful - it doesn't sound like your dd is particularly behind and as other posters have said things can change very quickly. Sounds like you are doing everything you need to be doing.
My ds had no clear words at 12 months but by 22 months could say a short sentence (3 words). He's got a first class degree from Oxford now.

There was an AMA speech and language therapist thread, you could ask there.

I'd say, games like peek a boo, hide and seek, general chatting about what you're doing (narrate cooking etc), songs and rhymes. Doesn't matter if your not 'good' at singing, DD will neither know nor care! Charity shops have books of traditional nursery rhymes. Some have actions like round and round the garden, or this little piggy. Just show your DD that communication and words are fun.

I used to sing songs from Mary Poppins or Sound of Music : )

Read to her, make it cozy and a happy time to share.

https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/help-for-families/resource-library-for-families/

Lots of helpful hints here.

In terms of encouraging speech it sounds like you are doing the right things. Make sure your daughter can see your mouth when you're talking to her, and try to eliminate background noise (e.g. turn radio/TV off) so she can hear you clearly. Baby sign is great to help babies communicate before they have the words. My son could tell me when he was hungry/thirsty/wanted to go home/read a book etc way before he could speak.

Sounds like you're doing a great job. Just keep going with lots of talking, narrating tasks or "sportscasting" what she is doing and encouraging a conversational back and forth between you, even if it's just babbling nonsense on both sides. Read lots of books to her and just talk about things. She'll be soaking it all up.

I have 3 DCs and I don't think any of them were saying anything at 12 months! It all started to develop from around 18 months onwards. Now I can't stop any of them chattering away all day and over the top of each other ha! I don't think the HV ever raised it as an issue but I do find the advice they give can be a bit inconsistent in relation to things like this. I wouldn't worry yet and keep doing what you're doing.

Babbling is really good for their speech development so what she's doing and what you're doing is absolutely perfect. Does she drink from a cup or a bottle? Apparently drinking from an open cup helps to develop their muscles ready for speech.

My daughter is 21 months and didn't say a word until she was about 17 months old - just lots of noises. She can count to 15 now and has a good selection of words. All through repetition, nothing else! Just keep doing what you're doing 😊

She sounds fine and you sound like you are doing a great job! Does she understand you? I’ve got an 12 month old and she hasn’t got any words but understands loads! Like time to go out, where are your shoes, look a cat, that sort of thing. If she understands her daily routine then I think she is completely fine and the words will come on their own shortly. Understanding language is much more important than expressive language at this age.

Honestly just keep talking to her, keep a running commentary on everything that's going on.
Whenever you hand her something say what it is.
If she repeats but she's saying it wrong or just babbling don't try and correct her because that's confusing. Just say "yes that's a xx"

12 months is completely average for first words in typically developing children. There is nothing wrong with being average or a little later than average (half of children are).

You're doing everything right.

Listening, attention and social skills are all under the umbrella of speech and language and she'll be observing all that from watching you and others in her world. Don't worry, you're doing great!

We did baby signing (Sing And Sign) when both DC were babies, and although it is signing, there is also lots of verbal communication and interaction. Both DC loved signing and became quite proficient, able to sign quite sophisticated things way before they could have articulated the same things verbally: "Can I have the red juice, please?", "I've a sore throat." kind of thing. I'm sure it supported their language development and incentivised speech as the rewards from signing (making themselves understood) were good.

As an aside, I have had quite poor experiences with health visitors in general. My kids are fairly low risk, ordinary kids so maybe I get allocated the inexperienced ones.

They don't seem to understand that being below average can be normal, like a pp said, half of children are. It's only a potential issue if they're several standard deviations from average. This goes for weight and height as well as milestones.

Mine kept saying it was a concern that dc2 was the lower end of the "9-11 month milestones" when he was 9 months 3 days old. I was like, er, yeah, and he'll be on the top end of them when he's 11 months 3 days, that's how time works...!

BBC tiny happy people

My DD was an early talker and I swear by these 2 things.
Singing the same few nursery rhymes to her over and over, only once a day but we had a little sing time so she could see my face and do actions.
Reading with her so on my knee and I would prop the little books in her hands and read the story and use her little hands to turn the pages, like she was reading. Only little baby books but easy things where you can go over words with pictures.
She loved the books they are never to young to look and hear your voice.
We had some little flip cards as well that sounds a but intense but they were just household and family pictures of things we would go through sometimes.
She's now about to do languages at Uni!
I'm sure you're doing a brilliant job and she will soon be chattering away.

How can ‘being below average’ …be ‘normal’ …..an oxymoron if ever I heard one….how can ‘half of children’ be ‘below average’ ?….. the answer is….they are not…..your DC would have been at the lower end of normal for the 9 month ASQ3 …..there is also a 10 month ASQ3 used for 10 month olds and so on….they don’t use the same one for 9 month olds and 11 month olds…..the same ASQ tools are used nationally……think you are a little confused

how can ‘half of children’ be ‘below average’ ?

You're not clear on what average means, clearly! And neither do many health visitors, as I said

The literal definition of average is that half the population are above it and half below (for symmetrical distributions).

The problem is, people misunderstand and think "average" means something like "acceptable".

Yes, if half the population is below average, there are plenty of kids who are below average but are still absolutely fine and normal.

it is only people in the bottom 5-10% of the distribution who are atypical and in need of extra support / intervention.

Think of it like height - a kid whose height is at the 40th percentile on the growth charts (below average which is 50th percentile) doesn't need anything extra. But a kid who is on the 2nd percentile might.

Talk to her all the time, wherever you are, and whether there are people around or not. Prioritise talking to her so that she can see your mouth and learn how the sounds are made.

Ask her lots of questions and then wait for her to respond, at least twice as long as you would wait for an adult to respond. More than that if she doesn't seem to respond quickly. When she gives her response, like a look or a smile or a babble or one syllable, respond to her as if she used words and keep the conversation going. If you say "how are you feeling?" and she does nothing for a bit and then smiles, then keep the conversation up by saying her part in words for her "oh you're happy? Me too, it's lovely being out isn't it?" that kind of thing.

You might already be doing all these things, in which case carry on, even if she doesn't seem to be speaking at the rate you expect for her age. Just keep doing it, it takes months and months of exposure and it will all be helping.

Use baby sign (makaton)
It helps prevent frustration, boosts communication and builds confidence.

Just talk to her normally. Don’t use baby talk. That high pitched, sing song nonsense talk puts them behind. You know saying things like
“Wanna go out-ey wouty?”

”Ooo baby want a itty bitty bitey of some toasty woasty”

”have a big huggy wuggy and a cuddly snuggle before bed”

”ah have you done a poo-ey woo-ey in your nappy dappey?”