To have got myself really bloody worried

[Lily484]

Basically my baby is very close to 7.5 months and isn't making any of the 'mama', 'dada' 'baba' sounds he should be making. He rolled, sat early and is close to crawling I think, he will feed himself veg sticks and bread with avocado etc cut up, and is really social, very vocal with loads of 'ah' sounds (stares and shouts ah until randoms in the library etc will interact with him), is cuddly, and giggly loves doing very loud raspberries, and a new slightly weird kind of a 'kaaaa' sound but almost sounds like a warning from a snake. He'll initiate these kinds of 'chats' and imitate those sounds if we make them, and has a good laugh being vocal, but seems a world away from the whole 'dadada' thing that every website says he should be doing. He had a bit of a traumatic start so extra worried.

Sorry typos. I'm useless on my phone!

I'm a worrier so I'd probably get a hearing check just to rule it out but from an outside perspective it really doesn't seem at all concerning at this stage. He should be babbling by one, but with development you need to look at the whole picture - if there are quite a few areas he's falling behind on it's something to worry about. Most babies are ahead in some areas and a little behind in others - totally normal.

DD nearly 8 months and no words here either, loads of different noises, lots of the "kaaa" noises you reffered to. She is very good at crawling and she pulls herself up on furniture so I think shes just more mobile rather than vocal ATM

I know it's a cliche thing to say, but genuinely, all children are different!

I've nannied many children over the years and honestly, no two, including a set of twins, reached milestones at the same time as another...they are all ahead in someways, behind in others and utterly average in few!

Please please don't worry!

As an example,

My last charge was chattering away at 8m and making recognisable sounds for mama, dada, , her siblings...but wouldn't crawl until she was one and didn't walk until 18m...she's now a wonderfully "average" 6 year old!

Another charge at 11m crawled early, sat early and is talking away...but would not let solid food past his lips...seriously, if you gave him the food your baby eats now, it would sit untouched...we cracked it at around 13m but jeez it was a drawn out process...again...a wonderfully "average" 8yo!

My current charge is coming up to 15m and is only just starting to make words that sound vaguely like anything other then a screech....it's been a joy for the ears ...but he'll get there! He's an absolute joy (aside from the screeching!) and there's no concerns from any professionals!

Dd had a 11 month check the other week and mama dada and one other word was at a high level of performance at 11 months, I think you're a little ahead of yourself. Stringing two sounds together eg ah - ba was more like it for my dd at 11 months.

OP, please don't worry!

DS wasn't a babbler at all. He was born prem and his physio doctor said he was busy focusing on his physical milestones and the talking would catch up eventually. He said "mama" at 22 months. At 2-and-a-half years he started saying colours, but not clearly. Then a month later he just seemed to pick up words really quickly. By about two years and nine months, he was chatting non-stop!

I was worried at first too, but at his two-and-a-half year check up, the Dr said she was happy that DS was attempting to say colours, and he could point to the correct objects so his understanding was fine, and that was good enough. He was potty trained at two years and four months so it didn't hold him back at all.

He's 4 now and never shuts up!

My little girl was the same at that age and now???.....she talks and talks and talks and talks.....and talks. She was actually very late with quite a few things, crawling and walking and I remember posting my concerns on here,but she did it all eventually as they all do. Don't worry so much.

7 months is nothing. My ds wouldn't talk for ages and ages, waaay past one. We always joke that he wouldn't speak until he knew all the words. There was no babbling or making sounds for him. It was like he waited til he knew every single word properly.

Of course, he's now a perfectly ok ten year old who won't shut up, (although I'm fully expecting him to regress in about three years when he becomes a teenager.)

What I'm trying to say is all babies develop differently (and despite what others may say, at different rates) and seven months is very young yet.

Neither dd1 nor dd2 babbled much. They were both in sentences at 15 months and had heaps of words.

Ds babbled lots and was much slower at speaking.

I have one who babbled (a lot, and in two distinct languages as she is bilingual) and one who was a very quiet baby who didn't babble at all really - both talked early. The babbler had clearer speech, earlier, but not by much.

Please don't take all these websites as gospel.. Some babies are saying those words at that age. My baby said "nnngg" until he hit 10 months and now it's all "mama" "baba" constantly! They are all different.

My Ds is 10 months old and I too was starting to worry about his lack of speech. Dp and I had a conversation about it the other day and I kid you not that evening he started saying dad and mum and we haven't been able to shut him up since it'll all come in time, try not to worry. You baby is still very young!