to be really worried about not talking yet?

[practicallyimperfect]

Ds will be 18 mo next week. He has no words, no mama, dada, hello, or anything. I am not usually bothered by this stuff, never look at baby books etc. But it is becoming more and more obvious around.other babies.

I, perhaps stupidly, looked in my nhs nook for the first time and saw that it said he should nave 6-20 words by 18 months. My linguistics friend also told me this.

He babble away and 'talks' to me but nothing coherent or consistent.

Am I silly being worried?

Not silly to be worried but I don't think there's any need to.

My ds1 is 22 months and says virtually nothing. What he does say, only I can understand and even those words he only started saying last week. He hasn't said any more new words since.

I'm taking him to the docs to check for glue ear just in case but I think he's just taking his time.

Things I keep getting asked are: Does he "talk/babble" a lot, can he understand instructions, drink through a straw and poke his Tongue out?

If yes to all, then he's probably fine.

Hi there, I have no idea what the official answer is but thought I would say hi.

My DS is 16 months, so a tad younger, but also has not said anything. He shouts a lot and babbled but nothing coherent. It does seem obvious when with babies same age who have quite a few words.

I keep thinking that he is a very energetic, active toddler who is always on the go. The ones that talk a lot seem to be the less physically inquisitive ones, so maybe they are prioritising different things, and they develop along with what interests them most at that time?

If you are worried, call your health visitor. If they are concerned I'm sure they can arrange hearing checks etc. But do remember that all the stats are just averages, unless there is a problem causing a delay then they do just do things at different rates.

18 months is too young to be overly concerned.

If he has no words by 2 then go see your gp and insist upon a referral.

You also want to look for signs of shared attention - his looking at what you are looking at, bring you things for you to see. My sons speech delay was related to his autism so he could do everything he needed to and could follow instructions but only approached me to have his needs met - water, food, for me to wind his toy etc

My DD is 17 months and doesn't have a vast vocabulary. She says 'mum' 'aiya' and 'no'. What is your DS's understanding like?

Hi, sympathies here. My DS is 17m and not really saying any words. He just points and screeches mostly though he babbles a lot.

BUT. I really, really recommend baby signing - have you got a course near you? Particularly an intensive one, rather than a week-in-week-out one (which is more about singing rhymes etc).

I have nearly completed a 6 week course called 'rainbow tots' where we are learning about 600 signs! It's amazing, honestly. It's all the practical stuff - food, clothing, transport etc. I'm teaching our whole family the main signs.

It's incredible and well worth the £45 (my birthday money!) - within a few days he was able to tell me when he was hungry etc, he knows loads of useful signs now.

My ds was a late talker too. I think his first word was 'fan' and that was around 2 years old.
I was a bit concerned about it especially as I have a dd who was fluent by 18 months.

Anyway I had his hearing checked, you can ask your GP for a referral. I was a bit worried that he might be slightly deaf or even have glue ear. The result from this was that he was fine.

I did pay for a SALT to assess him. She charged £70 for about an hour's work. She was absolutely rubbish and seemed surprised that he wouldn't co-operate or even stay focussed for a whole hour. Considering she had 2 boys of her own I would have thought she would have been more in tune.

After all this flapping around I decided that he was fine if perhaps a bit delayed. His sister talks non stop so I think the poor thing couldn't get a word in.

He is 4.5 now and is fine. His speech isn't as articulate as some of his peers but he's certainly on a par with others. He is happy and completly normal.

What I am trying to say is that if you are worried I would have his hearing checked and if you want get a referral for a SALT as it can take 6 months for one to come through. He is still very young so I really would try not to worry but I know that's easier said than done.

My son was like yours...babbled Ewok at us until he was about 21 months. He is 4.8 now, and his vocabulary is exellent, he's articulate, and all is fine...it just took him a bit longer to get the hang of it. Don't worry too much...he is still young, and as long as he's healthy, mobile, makes eye contact, responds to you...those are usually good signs.

ds2 didn't say a word, not a word, until just after his 2nd birthday. he could clearly hear, showed no signs of anything worrying, so we just tried not to worry (but did). the words came slowly when they came, but by 6 months later he was babbling along the same as every other child his age with a very good vocabulary.

Thanks. He shows me things and describes them to me in whatever language he is babbling in! He seems to understand some instructions. I will try not to worry

My ds is 19 and a bit months. I went and saw the HV at 18 months with the same concerns as you. The girls in the baby group were stringing 3+ words together and ds wasn't even saying mama/dada! Well literally the week later he walked up to me and gave me his cup and said clear as day 'put back' Since then he says new words everyday.He went from no words to using 2 words together in a couple of weeks. Interestingly if I am not in the room I can hear him talking away to his toys with words he has yet to use with me, even caught him counting his cars today...had no idea he could even say the numbers let alone in the right order!

Ds has never repeated words after me he has just done his own thing. Just keep talking to him and as long as your happy he's understanding and hearing you it will come...and be prepared to be bossed around when it does!

Ds1 had no words aged 2, about 70 words at 2.3, talked the hind leg off a donkey at 2.5.
We knew he could hear and understand. He had a S&L assessment but things were already getting going.
Talk to GP if not improving.

Not about a child of mine, but about myself.

I didn't say a word until I was over two. Nothing. Nada.

My mother never lost faith and what she did was continue reading to me every night, talking to me endlessly .

When I was about two and a half we went to the local chemists. I knocked over one of those spinning display racks and said "You really should get that stabilised you know."

I do remember that I didn't see the need to talk. Bizarre but true.

Actually reading moojie that sounds very like me.

I'd give him a bit longer and then maybe speak to your HV.

Chances are he's fine and I can tell you that my DS was just the same: I used to joke that he spoke fluent Ukranian as he babbled along to himself but didn't speak any words until just before he was two. I wasn't worried as I didn't speak till 3.5 and when I did I came out with whole sentences so I thought it was a family trait. I did get some help from the HV though and she pointed out that I can be rather "wordy" and speak very quickly. She showed me a game she played with DS where she let him pick an animal out of a bag and she just named it: "horse". As he touched it's leg she would say "leg". I felt rather stupid but I copied and he came along quite quickly. She was right: I tend to gabble and would have said "oh look, DS, it's a horse, or is it a pony? well, it's a very nice horse and it has brown legs and white fetlocks..." With my DD I'm trying to slow down a lot and I've noticed she copies sounds I make much quicker than he did.

Hopefully your DS will be chatting away soon (and as everyone will tell you, you'll soon be wishing he would "please be quiet!!")

How is your DS's hearing? Can he understand instructions without body language or lip reading, when the speaker is behind him etc? If his hearing and understanding are good I wouldn't worry too much.

My DS didn't start properly saying anything other than 'wheel' until he was 2yrs + and everyone was worried about him - except me, who knew he would get there eventually and he has (now 2.11m) and I wish he would shut up!!!

This is reassuring. That is interesting happyseven as I am very wordy and I know I speak fast. I am a teacher and sometimes the kids tell me to slow down.

I will try playing some slower word games with him!

DS1 barely spoke a word until he was nearly 3.

He's now 6, and is the best reader/writer in his class, has a massive vocabulary and is very well spoken.

It's hard not to worry when they don't hit guidelines, but some kids just do things their own way.