Should I be worried about my 13 month old’s communication?

[CathyandHeathcliff]

He’s advanced in every other way, he’s been walking since about 10 months, he brings us books to read to him all the time, he claps when we say clap and he can copy us when we do things, he’s also very inquisitive and always exploring.
However he never calls me ‘mama’ and he used to say ‘dada’ now he’s stopped. He doesn’t really wave, although he can, as I’ve seen him do it a few times. He doesn’t really point much...he says something like “what’s this?” or a variation of it often. But nothing else sounds like words, just sounds. He often sounds like he’s talking but I can’t understand any words.
He’s my first baby and I have anxiety, so please be kind

At 13 months they should be saying a few words. My son has just turned 1, and he only says mumma dadda and ta. And his brothers name. He waves too. I think he's normal. I have 3 older kids and can't actually remember what they were saying at that age!

He sounds normal.dont worry at this age. I was worried because for ages my youngest DD didn't wave. I can't remember the exact ages but she took longer than her siblings. She is just as clever as them it's just something she learnt later for one reason or another. It happens differently for every child.

With my huge sample of 3...
I’ve found they are either concentrating on 1 major skill at a time so either talking or walking and once they have mastered it will go back to the other.
My oldest didn’t walk till 18 months but could hold a conversation, next the exact opposite and my youngest was walking (then running, climbing and destroying everything) at 10 months but wasn’t talking more than a few words by 2.

A 13 month old not talking is completely developmentally normal

This ^

Each baby learns at their own rate.

Here's an example of what you might expect from a baby of his age.

www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf

I don't understand why you would think to be worried about your son's communication. He is communicating well with you;listening, making his needs known etc. He is entirely normal.

Your son sounds pretty advanced to me! My daughter is almost 2.5 and she didn’t say anything at 13 months and only had a handful of words age 2. She’s coming on leaps and bounds now though. Much like her older brother who was slow to talk but never stops talking now age 4

Nothing concerning there whatsoever OP.

As for losing words, they’re just experimenting with sounds at that stage. Again, nothing to worry about.

Relax and enjoy.

As others have said, nothing to worry about from your description.

You mention he says an approximation of 'what's this' a lot; little ones often say this because it's what they hear said to them when they look at objects/pictures with someone. Imagine if someone was speaking to you in a foreign language and they said the same thing every time they showed you an object - you'd be quite reasonable to guess that the object's name is whatever they said. Same with kids and 'what's this'.

When you talk to your son, try to label things and make comments rather than asking questions. This will help him to associate what he sees with what you say - if every time he sees a ball and you say 'ball', eventually he'll make the link and start to use the word himself

He sounds absolutely fine! My daughter didn’t wave at that age, or point, but she did speak about 15 words or so.

She’s now starting to write her own name from memory and she’s only 3, so really, really don’t worry. He sounds right where he should be.

Sounds bang on. I was impressed nearly called mensa because my 13 month baby can say "tih toh" at the right bit of hickory dickery earlier. His other words are no, mama, dada and row row. Other than that it's all just babble and noises.

Speech is funny though, it can be nothing-nothing-nothing, then a neuron suddenly clicks into place and bam, you can't shut the little darlings up.

Sounds completely normal.
DD had barely any words until she turned 2, then she had a massive verbal explosion (and has barely shut up since!!!)

Neither dd not ds waved or asked to be picked up, or pointed.

Neither child particularly talked. DD said a word or two ( 2 together at 14 months) may be one word before but rarely spoke until 22- 23 months. About 250 words by 24 months. Could do one more and one less to three. Interested in print very early. ( Jabbed my finger into the words)

Ds didn't have 50 words by two.

Ds was obsessed with wheels. Looked at the pushchair wheels played with the wheels of ride on toys. Scared of plastic bag noises.

DD made eye contact when young. Stared intently as well though.

Both autistic. Ds diagnosed at 4 DD at 12.

I'm not sure why people are bringing up autism, OPs child is far too young to even think about signs of autism and she has only said he doesn't say many words.

OP he sounds totally normal. Children cant be advanced at everything and being able to walk at a young age is a totally different ball game to being able to talk at a young age. If you're concerned about his communication, maybe look into baby sign language and teaching him a few different signs. I found this really helped my DD to communicate and also improved her speech.

Ds 1 was about 20 months when he started talking. He’s 16 next week and I’m sure he hasn’t stopped talking !!!!
Ds 2 was 2 when he started talking. He’s just turned 14. Again once he started he’s not really stopped!
At 13 months I wouldn’t worry to much

My son didn't talk at all at 13 months. He's 3 now and his speech is fantastic. This is completely normal OP.

He sounds ahead actually! My kids didn't talk until 3 and a half and 2 and a half respectively. You are worrying for nothing, just relax

Normal, in my experience.

My third didnt really talk much before three, I did some basic baby signing with her so knew what she wanted. At her first parents evening at school when she was 4 the teachers couldn't believe it because she was so chatty with quite an advanced vocabulary. There were never any baby words, I think she was just holding on until she could do it properly - aged 7 now and still very much a perfectionist.
So definitely not something to worry about, although I admit I probably would have been more concerned had she been my first.

My son didn't really speak till he was 3. We took him everywhere and were very worried. The speech therapists less so, because they said as long as he understood what you say and could communicate his needs to you, than most likely he's just a late talker. Which he was. By 4 he was totally caught up and now at 7 the teachers tell me he has an extensive vocabulary for his age.

My DS is 2.8 and way way above average in terms of his speech (confirmed by nursery and HV, not just me being braggy). He didnt say a single discernible word until he turned two, not one.

I really wouldn't worry until much later than this, and people suggesting autism in the basis of what you gave said here are being ridiculous.

My eldest could only say one word unti he was about 22 months, then picked up a few more by the time he turned 2. In the few weeks that followed his second birthday he suddenly had a language explosion, and became incredibly articulate for his age, and still is far above his age range two years later. I did worry about autism (still do a little due to other small flags), but all children are very different with language acquisition and nothing you're saying here suggests there's anything to be currently concerned about. Your child has another year before a health professional would even think lack of speaking would be a possible learning delay, and even then, by itself and all other developmental falling in 'typical' range wouldn't cause huge concern.

It's so difficult because we all know now the earlier you can intervene if there are language and communication problems the better and so many children are diagnosed far too late.

Having said that, when the nursery said to me in the termly that my son didnt speak very well, and he didnt, made sounds, understood everything and then moved to words only me and his sister understood, I distinctly remember saying at the review "Im not worried, he understands everything and Einstein never spoke until he was 7!" The key thing is interacting with you and the world and language will come ... maybe he has ear wax, might be worth getting that checked, as my daughter had that.

Of course, now everything is ok and he went thru school and now at uni, but imagine if my innate feeling everything was ok was wrong, I could have delayed him getting help.

There is a saying that you get "either a walker or a talker

Ha ha my ds was late with both!

My mum's saying was "You'll spend the first two years teaching them to walk and talk - and the next sixteen telling them to sit down and shut up!" She was not far wrong.