To wonder why my (nearly) 13 month old isnt saying more words?

[Londonlife85]

She isnt really saying anything consistently, she will sometimes say mamama when she wants me but thats it.

She has said 'bye' and water on the odd couple of occasions, whilst waving bye, and when she wanted her water, and she does try to mimcik what we say buts she doesnt properly say real words.

I think everything else is fine, she babbles like shes having a conversation, if i ask her to give me dolly, she will go find dolly and bring her to me etc. She loves bringing her books to me to read to her, and pretends to read the book whilst turning the pages. But from what ive heard she really should be saying atleast a few words by now. I guess im just look for words of reassurance. I know its most likely fine im just worried.

I also think she may have a lip tie, (she was born with a tongue tie) but im not sure if this affects speech.

Most year old babies really don’t talk yet.

I was thinking that, but the health visitor seemed to be like why isnt she talking when i saw her at 10 months. She stressed me out about it

I think very few babies are saying more than a couple of words by that age. My DS didn't say a single word until he was nearly 3! Can't shut him up now. Your HV will assess speech at the 2 year review and refer to speech and language if necessary. But I wouldn't worry at all yet, got plenty of time to start talking.

13 months is really early to be talking. 2 years is much more realistic. Don't worry - sounds as if she's doing really well.

My oldest had about 20 words by just over a year, my youngest didn't start speaking properly till she was almost 2! I wouldn't stress, they get there in their own time!!

She’s too young still, this isn’t unusual. My DN is 2.4 and still only saying a couple of words, and within normal boundaries. Her brother was also a late speaker. You’ve got a year before you need to worry.

It's perfect normal to nor be talking at that age. Ds1 talked kate, 2yr 4 months, then spoke in full sentences. Ds2 talked early, before 1, but started with proper baby talk. He's full of chat now at 21 months.

My 14 month old doesn't really have words yet.

she says more than my 18m old, she only says ma (mum) her sisters name and cat. 😩

Because she’s 13 months old!
My extremely chatty and eloquent, fluently reading 5 year old didn’t really say much until she was 2, and then started talking in full sentences overnight. She doesn’t do anything until she know she can do it properly!
DD2 was a much earlier talker, but still didn’t really talk until about 15 months. No one suggested it was a problem.

DD wasn't saying anything at 13 months. Just waving/clapping and following a few instructions. She's 16 months now and has about 20 words. I wouldn't worry at all.

Only things my 15 month old says are mum, hi and no! My 4 year old was exactly the same but won't shut up now

My DD suddenly started properly talking when she was 2. It was bizarre! Like she's been storing it all up til she was ready!

She has got a few words, and she's only 13 months. It is really early yet. The HV shouldn't have implied that there is any kind of problem when there absolutely isn't. She understands you and can say a few words, which is exactly where she should be.

Thank you all, youve been reassuring. I think i was just over thinking it all, and since my maternity leave ended, i feel like im not spending enough time with her, so i was blaming myelf

In this situation I always refer to this document. It is great for checking what to expect at each age band, and what is coming next. Maybe print it out ready for when your HV is round next.
www.cochlear.com/7378f430-5397-4133-ba9f-c27364e6e7d6/en_rehab_ei_soundfoundationforbabies_integratedscalesofdevelopment_1.47mb.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-7378f430-5397-4133-ba9f-c27364e6e7d6-krGXBOQ

My 14 month old can name everything he sees, he just names it all "gah!". He is also quite certain he can say his sister's name as he calls it out all the time, it's just a shame that none of the letters are correct. I really wouldn't worry!

Usually we say 2-word sentences by age 2. 13 months is still very early for much in the way of speech.

Wow she is still a 13 month old baby, isen't it sad when we expect young babies to be talking. All these targets and Early years expectations put unreasonable pressure.

She is a baby, ignore the HV, sometimes they are overzealous.

I think your HV has odd expectations! Also at this age I understood that you can count a 'word' if they consistently say the same noise for the same thing (person / place / object) so people saying their kids had loads of words at that age doesn't necessarily mean they can pronounce anything properly. Please dont worry

At 13 months DS had quite a few words. DD had 2 My and Dadda which she said to every man she came across and sounded like something from The Railway Children. She is now 19 months nad has a better range - her favourite being No.

Sounds completely normal to me. I think first borns/only’s take a bit longer because they’re surrounded by people who learn what they mean. They don’t have to talk iyswim.

FWIW my dd is not far off three and supplements a lot of her speech with babble that’s the right ‘tone’ for what she’s trying to say. She’s too busy trying to talk a mile a minute to concentrate on her sentence structure but routinely starts adding stuff in to surprise us . The most frustrating thing is I’m waiting to find out what she’s named one of her dolls after, it was one of her earlier words/names and I can’t for the life of me figure out where she’s plucked it from!

Your hv is an idiot who seemingly knows sod all about speech and language development in that case. This is what the eyfs guidelines would expect at this point (this is my daughter's chart, I'm a childminder and track her progress as I do for my mindees ) as you can see, just using single words would be considered normal at 20 months! Even then I wouldn't worry unless a child was "behind" in multiple areas, kids all develop at different rates and the HVs and childcare workers who think that they have to tick boxes ASAP annoy the hell out of me.

If it helps, I had a charge (when I nannied) who said "li" me (nothing like my name), "la" her mum and "car" until the week of her second birthday. Then suddenly spoke in full sentences seemingly overnight. It was really funny as people who had seen her a week previously were astonished, I think she just chose not to talk as the adults who knew her knew exactly what she wanted!