Nearly 8 month old not very vocal

[MummytoTM]

DS is 8 months old next week and has never really been very vocal - he did coo a bit as a younger baby but all of that seems to have stopped. He does squeal when he’s happy but doesn’t make any vowel sounds etc which I think age this age they should be doing.

I know every baby is different but all the babies from my NCT class are babbling away and I’m starting to worried that DS is behind. I talk & read to him all the time but just wondering if anyone else has been in the same boat & can advise on what you did to get baby to start making more sounds.

He’s still quite young but I’d try to get his hearing checked first . Does he turn his head to sounds/voices? Has he had ear infections?

@christmascalypso thank you for the reply - there is definitely nothing wrong with his hearing as he is very responsive to sounds x

That’s good then. I wouldn’t worry at 8 months. By 12 months, he should be babbling so worry then if he’s not! Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Have you tried copying any sounds he does make ? You could try making babble noises back to him too eg. Bababa dadada etc

You're right to keep an eye, but nothing really to worry about at this stage. DD was similar around that age, and came out as a bit behind on sounds/speech when we did the 12 month questionnaire from the HV. But by the time they checked in with us a few months later her speech had really exploded and nursery now say it's far ahead of where it should be. You just can't really tell at that point. All the best!