When did your baby point and recognise their name?

[sha160528]

Hi,

My DD is 15 months and although I think she used to sometimes respond to her name I’ve noticed for the last two days she hasn’t really been responding.

She doesn’t point either.

She does clap, wave (on her terms) and has started giving me toys when I put my hand out and say ‘mummy have it’ she does say hi, bye, eat, 1, 2, 3, sheep, cracker, baby and a few other words.

Can eat well with her hands, is getting better at using a spoon/fork and can drink from an open cup if I hold it (she tries to drink from it when she holds it herself but drops the water everywhere so needs more practice)

She can walk whilst holding on to furniture or her walker, can’t walk unaided yet.

I had bad PND in the first year of having her and admittedly didn’t do as much with her as I should have.

She was born at 37 weeks so was full-term. She has got CMPA and her dad is being assessed for autism (just as some background).

Mine didn’t point until 16.5 months. I remembered that milestone because I was worried. Did not have as many words as your DC. Walked at 14.5 months.

@Jonas25thank you for your response. Did you model pointing a lot to him/her?

Didn't you create another thread about this?

@WhenSunnyGetsBlueYeah I did, I feel really anxious about it

If you're not already I think you should speak to someone about how you are feeling. At 18 months if she's still not pointing then you could mention it to a professional. It sounds like she is doing well. There is so much variation in how babies develop. From now on keep pointing things out to her. "Look, a flower". Don't worry about the past focus on what you are doing now.

Sort of. I encouraged it by putting something very attractive just out of reach and then pointed to it and picked it up myself. But in the nicest possible way I think you’re over analysing. It does sound like she’s on track and things change so quickly at that age.

Quite honestly if she isn’t pointing at 15 months and doesn’t consistently respond to her name (bar the usual refusal if they don’t want to), then I would be making an appointment with the HV or GP. How’s her husband understanding, would she understand and do simple requests like bring me the block, or answer questions like would you like a snack? My DS is a similar age and does do those things, point, respond to his name and has been doing so for a while now.

@Overthebow thank you for your response. I’ve noticed that she responds more to her name when DH calls her. I have a lot of nicknames for her and they change on a weekly basis so I’m wondering if the lack of consistency is why she doesn’t always respond? She was responding more to her full name today as opposed to her first name, we rarely use her first name so I did find that strange!

She’ll put her toy/food in my hand if I say mummy have it.

If I ask her about a snack or milk she’ll repeat ‘cracker’ or ‘milk’ with a smile, but won’t physically say ‘yes’

I’ve spoken to the HV who wasn’t overly concerned but said she’d book an assessment for my peace of mind which has caused me some anxiety but thank you

@Jonas25i’ll try that too thank you.

I probably am - I do overthink a lot when it comes to her (have previously convinced myself that she has all sorts) but the lack of pointing and response to name does have me concerned but it could just be a delay - not sure

@WhenSunnyGetsBluethank you for the kind words. She’s currently 15 months, will turn 16 months on the 28th. I think maybe I should continue to try and reinforce the pointing and name understanding for another 2ish months and then at 18 months see what happens - I do feel anxious about the assessment though. Although the HV did say it’s for my peace of mind. DD interacted quite well with her a few weeks ago, she played, chatted, smiled and even gave her a hug

@sha160528 Why do you rarely use her first name? 🤔 Remeber she learns everything from you! You need to use it for her to know it!

Repetition is key at this age. Use her name. Talk to her about everything you’re doing in your day - even when it seems silly! “Let’s get a nappy, now get wipes, ‘first name’ lie down on the mat, take off the dirty nappy - 1 sticky, 2 sticky, now clean clean clean”. Point things out to her constantly at home/shops/on walks etc.

It never hurts to be on the professionals radar if you have any concerns but I think most parents will tell you that there has been at least something their child did/didn’t do which made them worry at at least one point!
I was sick with worry over my DS not crawling. Bouncing on knees? yes. Dragging himself along on his tummy? yes. But he would not crawl. Everyone else’s babies a similar age were crawling. I had genuine sleepless nights over it. Then FINALLY at just over 10 months he crawled. Only for ONE WEEK later to fully start walking instead 😂 he literally crawled for one week. Then he was the earliest walker of all the babies we knew by a good few months 😂
They all have their own path and will do it all in their own time

@JustAMum31I think I just always used different nicknames and I’m bilingual so the nicknames were sometimes in English and sometimes in another language. It’s only the last few days I’ve properly realised that I could have delayed her responding to her name due to me using so many different nicknames in different languages.

Thank you, I will be mindful to do this a lot more. I do sing to her, read to her and do flash cards etc but I think I do need to ‘narrate’ a lot more as I’m often just trying to mentally think o everything else I need to do during that day which is probably part of the problem too.

@sha160528 We’ve all been there. It’s a lot😊 Try and relax and just spend time enjoying your baby. Easier said than done when you have a million things to get done in a day, I know. But looking back now it’s something I wish I had done then and definitely try to do more now.

We used this book with DS and still use it now that he’s 4.5yo so if you don’t already have it I’d really recommend it. It’s great for object recognition & working on pointing at that age (“where is the doggy?” then give her time to look and see if she points/touches it. If she does then lots of praise and repetition - “yes! That’s right! Doggy”. If she doesn’t then you model it for her by pointing and repeating “doggy” etc). The pictures are of real items rather than cartoon type drawings too so it’s great!
Theres a page about emotions which we used to help him recognise feelings. We also used it for colour recognition. We used it when introducing letters (“find something that starts with the sound “s”. Then make it a bit harder “find something that starts with the same sound as your name does”) and we used it for rhyming too (“find something that rhymes with…” etc).

She has not missed any milestones yet so no need to talk about a delay. Have you checked the ASQ questions for her age? That is likely what the HV will use. Her language sounds good for 15m. Isn’t the milestone for 18m something like a minimum of 6 words? It’s unrealistic to expect a 15m old baby to consistently answer a question appropriately! The comment above about needing to see the HV or GP is completely inappropriate I feel. Children develop at different rates and that’s why the ‘normal’ range is quite wide.

Hi @sha160528 how is your little girl doing now please? I was wondering if she became more able to respond to her name and if so, if you have any tips? Thank you ☺️