To worry my one year old is behind?

[glueandstick]

I'm probably being neurotic, but I'm concerned my 14 month old is developmentally behind. According to the HV at this age kids have 6 words. We get 'mama' and babbling. I'm convinced that I should be expecting more. At the same time I don't want to be a pushy mum.

What should a 14 month old be doing in speech, actions and in general? (This probably isn't even the right section, apologies)

" I can tell her to fetch daddy's shoes and she'll take them to him"

Then you're totally fine, honest honest. Enjoy your lovely baby x

Animal sounds count as words At that age as long as she is attempting to communicate (pointing, calling you) and understands what you say (get daddy's shoes) then I think she's just fine.

Oh and ds is very wordy now - he collects idioms and uses them with relish. He would announce to his nursery teacher 'well we got here in the nick of time today' much to their amusement.

My son has just turned one and all he can say is cat, ta and dada. Doesn't say mama. Sometimes says something that sounds like hiya.

I wouldn't worry too much I don't think it's all that common for them to be saying 6 words by that age!

Also my ds has only just learnt to crawl and can't walk yet either. They all develop differently x

He also didn't walk until 16 months so it wasn't as if he compensated!

At what point do you stop worrying you're not doing enough? (The answer is never isn't it....)

Thank you all for the lovely reassurance.

My dislike of softplay, music groups and groups in general has marked me out with the HV to be a 'bad parent' and forever trying to get me to 'engage'. She gets plenty of interaction with other people and I do go to a couple of organised chaos- sorry - baby groups. I'll stop worrying and put down the revision time table.

I have a 14 month old DD too OP. I think you have nothing to worry about our DDs sound similar with the following instructions etc.
Mine will copy you if you say Mama, Dana or Papa but she doesn't seem to get what they actually mean. She doesn't call us as such.
Her first word was the dogs name and she definitely knows what that means, she follows the dog around and shouts her name if she starts barking. 😂

Perhaps we need some talk stories for the competitive mums. Tomorrow our word of the day will be falafel. Music will be Brahms. That'll do it.

I have four kids. DD1 spoke fairly early I think but nothing amazing. DS1 said his first word at 10m and was talking in sentences by 18 months 'Daddy gone work? Oh yes Daddy fix planes' I thought he was a genius He isn't... he is a bog standard male now :)
DD2 didn't say a single word until she was two... and then came out with sentences, like she was waiting to get thing right
DS2 didn't have a single word until he was 3.5, severe speech delay and only a few intelligible words by 5. ...
You can't tell who spoke first and who took nearly 8 years to have intelligible speech (DS2 never shuts up now! and is basically a walking Wikipaedia)

Relax... children vary incredibly ! Your baby girl is understanding language and that is FAR more important (and pretty good for her age!)

Never

As much as I can comment on here and say don't worry they're all different, I still occasionally worry when peoples 10 month olds walk etc!

But I shouldn't worry and neither should you, but you can't help it.

I do repeat things a lot to him and I'm pretty sure that's why he learnt cat first. But still no mama! sigh

Oh and I never did baby groups either! Not my thing at all.

Brickin - she sounds lovely! Your poor dog 😂

I am a bit concerned that she has mastered sighing already. God help the teenage years.

Fuck baby groups, they're the work of the devil.

So hugely variable by individual. With almost exactly the same birthday my DS was only saying a few words at 2ish when his best friend was chattering in full sentences. They're both extremely bright now but my DS is probably more academic. Unless you have other causes for concern, just wait and see. Read books aloud, talk about things you see, wait for the words to start flowing.

My 16 month old can say
Mama
Dada
Bye bye
Cat miaow
Duck quack quack
More
All gone
Ball
Bubble
No
Yes
Prune (We had a lot of constipation issues..)
Up
Down

Probably some other things too that I'm forgetting. She can't walk at all, not even close, won't even pull up.
It's really nothing to worry about, at this age they all learn things in their own sweet time.

My boys are 8 and 11 now. Neither of them uttered a single word until just before they turned 2. Then they said the occasional word for a few months. It wasn't until they were 3 years old that speech came properly. Now they both talk non stop, huge vocabulary, clever kids, tops of the class etc. I really regret the hours I wasted worrying (although to be fair I never worried about DS2 having seen what DS1 was like).

Have a look at this publication, it is very helpful. I haven't worked with children of that age for a long time as I work with older ones now but know that the most important thing you can do for your child is talk to them and name items that they pick up or point to.

www.foundationyears.org.uk/2015/03/what-to-expect-when-a-parents-guide/

This is also another site I point parents towards if they are worried about their child's speech but don't normally refer children until after their 3rd birthday. If you do have any concerns have a look at your local areas speech and language department and give them a ring for some advice.

www.talkingpoint.org.uk/progress-checker

All of my three DS were early walkers (10 months) and early talkers,15 months 20 words. HOWEVER it means NOTHING. DS1 and DS 2 are average kids. It makes very little difference, my children certainly don't have superior walking and talking skills compared to their peers now they are 9 and 6. Obviously DS3 (nearly 15 months) may turn out to be a genius, but doubt it.

It's not the norm and there's a huge difference with regards to norm. Like walking, there's a range for normal. My dd shocked the hv by speaking in sentences at under 1 but my sons were well over 2.

At this stage what is important is his comprehension. Would he understand you a little? Does he communicate in other ways like pointing?

If he's meeting physical milestones early then it just means that he's not got round to working on his speech. Babies tend to focus on skills in bursts.

My 10 month old says:

Mumma
Daddy
Nanny
Oh dear (she copies me, probably no idea what she's saying!)

Is standing but can't walk unaided yet. She points at thing when you ask her to.

My nephew didn't walk until around 15 month. I don't think he crawled before a year. He's a very sporty little boy now and incredibly clever (and a budding pianist).

They are all so different and the rates of development in these early years doesn't seem to set the path for the future.

She sounds great OP.

My ds was like this, only said No and Tractor to he was about 2. He's now 11, doing great at school, not top of the class, but getting on well. He is quiet and a deep thinker. And sometimes his words get stuck, but it's fine.

His learning style is nothing for ages, then Just as you've given up ( and were about to try for an appointment with the educational psychologist) , he can do it all with bells on.
Please don't worry op.

I was told they're looking for 6 "appropriate sounds" by 18 months. By appropriate sounds we're talking about "aah" with a hug or "brmmmm" with a car.

Don't worry.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but if you put "ages and stages 14 months" into Google, you get the questionnaire a doctor would use to assess her, plus how to score it.
Most of the communication section at this age is about understanding rather than words though.
And my DS was behind on communication every time I did the test on him, until he had a leap forward at 18 months and is now totally fine. Even if she is 'behind' (and she doesn't sound it at all) it doesn't necessarily mean much, could just be she's been concentrating on fine motor skills instead. Mine was always ahead on problem solving, and behind on speech/gross motor, then he caught up on both those and slowed down on the other things while he was concentrating on those.

My son didn't have 6 words until he was about 2. He wasn't walking at 14 months either! But at 2.5 he is now speaking just as much as his peers and probably running faster! I really wouldn't worry at this stage. They just all develop at different rates.

You never stop worrying OP, so it's easily said than done.
I am childcare trained, and have knowledge of the EYFS curriculum. According to HVs my DS (2.5) is speech delayed. According to the EYFS my son is completely on target. HVs have completely unrealistic goals for our babies. DS has only just started saying more sentences e.g. 'I did it' 'I got a car', although he is selective with when he talks (talks non stop at home though). Myself and DH know exactly what he's saying, and sometimes other don't. I trust my motherly instincts, rather than HVs, and I know he is doing perfectly fine. Also all children develop at such different rates, maybe read up about the EYFS if you're interested to know more.
Before you know it your DD will be a chatty 4 year old, who doesn't stop talking, and you'll wish she would!