To think a 13 month old cannot say 106 words?

[TinyChatterbox]

Just over a year ago I had my first child and like many did an antenatal group. As lockdown commenced several of us managed to track each other down on Facebook and we started a group chat. There are now 5 of us who were in the original antenatal group in this chat and its been lovely to catch up albeit virtually every now and again.

All 5 of us are first time parents and one of the group boastfully posted yesterday evening that her daughter (who is 13 and 1/2 months) can now say 106 words. Now I'm not disputing she may think her child says that many words but she's talking utter bullshit isn't she. There is absolutely no way her 14 month old actually says 106 words which could be understood by anyone.

It's really pissed me off and I'd love some clarification because one of the mums in the group, who is quite a young mother, has responded in a blind panic that her child who is also 13 months only says 8 words. She's understandably completely freaking out and has messaged the health visitor as there is clearly something wrong with her daughter.

YANBU - The mum is deluded to think her child says 106 words.

YABu - It's perfectly possible a 13 month old can say 106 words.

Worse he didn't sleep night or day from he was a newborn- so he had a shit load of time to fill. I'd rather he had slept than spoken so much.

I'll empathise with you on having one of the non sleeping variety mine doesn't nap or sleep through how he functions on so little sleep is a mystery.

It fucked a lot of the other mothers at our village baby group off and we were ostracised by a large group of them.

Several posters have said similar and it must be so incredibly frustrating to have others ignore you because of something you cannot help. I wouldn't do that to this mum and I'll obviously still acknowledge her and her child's achievements but I do think she only posted about it to show off and be competitive and I think that's the key difference.

Highly unusual/rare according to professionals so whilst it may happen once in a blue moon its more likely to be wishful thinking on behalf of the parent/bullshit. I'd also be concerned with the link with learning difficulties.

My 2 had very good vocabulary at a year. They were both late walkers though 15 and 18 months. My friend who’s son is the same age as my son’s was a bit worried about it but her son was much stronger physically than my son. Unless there is a special need it all evens out I the end.

I have a 15 months old who doesn’t say a single word

@LetMeBubble

I have a 15 months old who doesn’t say a single word

I honestly think that's much more common than a child having 106 words at 15 months let alone 13 months.

My DS was advanced with speech. On his first birthday I counted how many words he could say. It was just over a hundred. He could name most things; bath, tap water, drink, car etc. I took my older DC to the paediatrician when DS was eight months and he was on my knee pointing and saying words. The doctor had never seen anything like it before. Years later I was working with him and mentioned my DS and he still remembered. So yes, rare, but possible.

I would just smile and nod to boastful mum and reassure your other friend that her child will be fine. My SIL and I had our first children 6 weeks apart and she was constantly comparing. When I finally reached saturation point, I kindly pointed out to her if the events (first tooth, first word, etc) weren't going on my son's CV then I probably didn't need to worry about the date they happened.

@Willyoujustbequiet

Highly unusual/rare according to professionals so whilst it may happen once in a blue moon its more likely to be wishful thinking on behalf of the parent/bullshit. I'd also be concerned with the link with learning difficulties.

ADHD and ASD are correlated with unusually early speech, but they are not learning difficulties.

My youngest DC didn't start talking properly until he was nearly three years old. His older siblings would translate his babbles and he had no need to talk properly.
But his vocabulary was and is amazing, he'd come out with words that even I had to look up because I didn't know the meaning.
No idea how that works!
I wouldn't worry about late speech, he also took longer to walk but as my own mum said, you rarely see grown people unable to walk (unless differently abled eg)

Cannot remember with my children but granddaughter is 13 months and she doesn’t really say any audible words but she is very capable of making her wishes known!

TinyChatterbox

Thank you. Needed to hear that. Was getting anxious for her.

@peak2021 - that's an unpleasant & really unnecessary comment

This mum made me laugh tbh. Maybe she's certain of the amount of words her baby can say because they're, 'One', ''Two', 'Three', 'Four' ........?

My 21 year old son has perfect pitch. Also quite rare. I don't normally go about telling people though. Because it would be bragging about my offspring.

He's rubbish at plenty of other things though.

My mum once told me that when I was a small child, comparing toddlers just wasn't done. They were celebrated more just for being a toddler, if that makes sense.

Try not to let it get to you.

@LetMeBubble

TinyChatterbox

Thank you. Needed to hear that. Was getting anxious for her.

Honestly try not to worry as several posters have stated 50 words by 2 is average. This is exactly why I got cross at her message as she caused one of the other mums to worry unnecessarily all so she could boast how clever her child was.

When my first ds was 8 months old he was speaking, by that age he was definitely chatting away so yes he would probably have had well over that (actually I know he did because we used to go through his big book of 100 words) People would stop me at creche and ask about it, always panicking that their kids should be at the same place. I was always saying 'but he's not even moving, all kids are different etc.'

I can only speak for my own children. DD did not walk until
She was 3 but could speak far more than 100 words at 13 months.

Eg mummy I love you. Look look doggy. Dog black. Dog big. Mummy car. Car red. And chattered all Day long every single day. At the two year health check the lady asked her to pick the blue one and she said clearly light blue or dark blue ? And then added turquoise - the health visitor said she was abnormal!! She never argued or did anything other than what she was told but she could not climb the stairs, walk or run. Youngest DS was walking by 1 and said nothing abs maybe had two sounds - he certainly did not have 10 words by two - but at 2 could outrun his sister who was 9.

So yes entirely possible. But all children are different. My eldest has joint problems diagnosed at 4. My youngest was partially deaf and has hearing and speech issues - diagnosed at 3/4 years old.

Psnext ds started speaking at 20months and was running about by 10 months

All of my Ds were early talkers and probably said around 100 words at that age.
My Dd said about 3 words until she was about 2 and a half.

Both my older 2 were speaking in fluent, clear concise sentences by 13 months. My youngster didn’t say a word until she was 3 and a half.

All have autism and ADHD. The eldest has never slept through the night, she’s 16. My middle child is on antidepressants at 15 and all 3 have EHCPs.

So yes it is possible, but there are pay offs.....

@Sh05 sad I know but I wrote all her words down . I was a single mum and never thought I would have my much longed for child. Her first word was gentle. 😂

My 15 month old can't say any words. Loads of sounds but no discernible words. Loves walking and competent at climbing stairs too though.

The average at 12 months is just a couple of words. But of course you wouldn’t think that from this thread.

If I started a thread saying “AIBU to think that Mercedes cars are completely unsuitable for families?” then you’d end up with a thread suggesting that 90% of the UK drove Mercs. If I posted a thread saying “AIBU to think that no women are over six foot tall?” then you’d get a sample suggesting that the average female height in the UK was seven foot three. No need to think that anyone on this thread is lying, or to think that the accepted stats about what’s normal are incorrect, you’ve just got a naturally skewed sample.

@PatMustardsMoustache

Both my older 2 were speaking in fluent, clear concise sentences by 13 months. My youngster didn’t say a word until she was 3 and a half.

All have autism and ADHD. The eldest has never slept through the night, she’s 16. My middle child is on antidepressants at 15 and all 3 have EHCPs.

So yes it is possible, but there are pay offs.....

Sending hugs to you and several other posters on this thread who have shared their struggles. You are all superheroes.

There are definitely some toddlers who can speak clearly enough for non family members to understand. There was a child in my eldest’s nursery who used to freak me out at how advanced her speech was from toddler age (18 months plus). It was actually scary - she spoke like an articulate 6 year old.

Both my two children probably had that many “in context” words at 14 months. But with my eldest his speech was unclear so only we could understand what he was saying for a long time and we would have to interpret his speech for him. But with my second everyone comments on how much he’s talking and how many words & sentences he has (I would never mention it myself as I’m not into competitive parenting). He’s not yet 2 and saying things he’s picked up from his older sibling such as “I’m not your friend”, “you’re the worst mummy I’ve ever had” so it’s not all fun and games to have them speak early .

Crikey. Definetly surprised at how many people are saying this about their own children. I was quite sociable when my eldest was that age, antenatal group friends, a few baby groups, plus a few nieces and nephews. Honestly can't recount a single child having more than a few words at that age. My 2nd is 13m now, and I'm not sure he has any words? Daddy I think.
I just said push, so he said back psssssh, but I wouldn't count that as he didn't say it of his own accord.
Not worried in the slightest. He understands a lot, signs the odd thing, and has been running since 11m. Would rather he slept than talked. As it is he does neither!