15 months not talking or pointing

[jbells]

hi everyone, ive just joined mumsnet to c if i can get some reassurance, my daughter is going to be 16 months in the next 2 weeks and she isnt saying any words she has said dada and mama once or twice but not sure it was in context, she babbles to herself and when she wakes up in the morning i will hear her babbling away, but some days she can be very quiet in general, she has just started waving in the past few weeks and will always wave when we are leaving nursery but only occasionally in other circumstances, she doesnt point but will bring me books to read to her, and take my hand and make me point to the pics or sit there ready to point with her index finger out but not actually point, if i am sitting on the sofa and she wants something she will come and take my hand and lead me to what she wants but not point so then i have to guess what it is. she shakes her head and claps her hands but more when she wants than when i tell her, shes very independant and wont show much attention to adults she doesnt know, but will run and smile to the sounds of peoples voices that she does know, she loves playing with other kids and will run round laughing at them, her motor skills are great shes on the go constantly, sorry for the massive post just gettin really worried, thanks

bumping for you

Tbh - she sounds fine. Speech really isn't a problem at this stage. Pointing - yes you want to see some pointing to share by 18 months but she's not 18 months yet. The other things you mention - waving etc / all sound good.

If she's not pointing by 18 months i'd talk to HV or GP but given the waving etc I wouldn't worry just yet.

as long as you're sure she can hear, and she's inter-acting with other kids, sounds like she's fine.

ds1 spoke in full sentences at 13 months.

ds2 is 2y 7m and only just starting to use a few words in the last month or so

the variation in the 'normal' range is incredibly big

she sounds normal. babies develop at different rates. my ds is 14 months and only really pointing and repeating sounds now. i say sounds because he copies what he thinks we are saying so it isn't the actual word.

will bring me books to read to her, and take my hand and make me point to the pics or sit there ready to point with her index finger out but not actually point, if i am sitting on the sofa and she wants something she will come and take my hand and lead me to what she wants but not point so then i have to guess what it is. she shakes her head and claps her hands but more when she wants than when i tell her

Aww, bless her, she sounds lovely, and bright, and as if she knows exactly what she wants. If she's making you point to pictures, then she's on the ball understanding that certain pictures are coming up next. She brings you books to read, so she's interested and interactive and communicating with you fine. And the coming and getting you and leading you is awfully cute. My daughter did all of that at the same age, and only had "dadda" and "mamma" - neither in context. She's 20 months now, and she still bosses me around with the leading me to stuff and making me point, but she's talking right on schedule as well - "Fish! Num-num!" "Mummy. Mummyanddaddy!" etc.

Your daughter sounds lovely, and independent, and opinionated, and gorgeous. Please don't worry about her, she's clearly communicating with you really well, just not with words yet.

Thanks for all your reassuring messages, tortoiseonthehalfshell you are spot on with your independant and opinionated remark lol, today i popped to my nans and my nan kept bossing her for a kiss and she turned around gave a big huff then eventually gave her a kiss lol, the afta that i went to a friends for a play with her little boy now 13 months and afta about an hour and a half she kept grabbing my hand and walking me to the door reaching for the lock and then reaching to be picked up, guess it was time to go ;)just bin worrying about myself with the pointing and talking think sometimes you can read up too much on the internet about milestones they shud be reaching at a certain age

actually its not pointing that is the marker, but following a point - so if you point to something will she look in that direction? if so then thats fine. my ds didn't point except when he was about 2, but not really much. also he only said about 2 words til he was 18 months, then he said six, now he is 2.5 and a real chatterbox and asks what words mean if he hasn't heard them before like 'what is 'proceedings, mummy?

Kalo - sorry that's not right. The screening test (the CHAT) does look at ability to follow a point but the key indicator is pointing out things of interest (protodeclarative pointing) by 18 months. Both are indicators of joint attention but it's the protodeclarative pointing that everyone gets excited about. It is just a screen though and the usual response to a failure would be to test again a month later and then refer. Ds3 wasn't pointing at 15 months but was by 18. He has always been hopeless at following points but has rubbish eyesight (he's 5 now, NT and wears glasses!)

You can test online very cheaply if you ever get a problem with a referral.

about an hour and a half she kept grabbing my hand and walking me to the door reaching for the lock and then reaching to be picked up, guess it was time to go

Ha! That's very cute, and definitely reminds me of mine. If she's bored, she starts waving to people and saying "Bye-bye" really pointedly, and goes and gets her shoes and her coat and holds them out to me.

Op if you continue to have any concerns don't sit & worry but ask for a referral. Sitting and worrying is horrible although at the moment it doesn't sound as if there's too much to worry about.

tortoiseonthehalfshell i think girls always want to be the boss ive asked my mum when i started talking but she cudnt remember, i didnt start walking till afta 15 months tho, and my dad seems to think i didnt start talking till afta that, its strange one minute there babies and then within a few months we want them to be walking and talking and dancing around, guess they will all do things in there own time

My DC 3, who is definitely my brightest, a v. bright little person. She didn't walk until 18 months, and wasn't toilet trained fully until 3!

As long as your DD keep babbling, the pointing doesn't have to be perfect, then I wouldn't worry. You could always dedicate a week to working on waving or pointing.

If the babbling starts to reduce then I would get a hearing test done quickly (and a proper hospital one). Don't panic or read too much!

hi my ds2 is 3.8 years old and does not say anything he only baby babbles ,but he has development delay ,if you are worried speak to your hv

Well my son is 18 months and is doing exactly the same as your DD jbells. I'm not worried at all

But then again I do not look at developmental charts to see what he's meant to be doing by now. Probably just as well from the sounds of it. He's a happy chap and a good napper and I figured he'd get there in the end

I would personally try not to worry. But I guess it's easier said than done x

hi teaandcakeplease thanks for your reply thats very reasuring, to be honest i think i just started reading to much as i was never worried untill i started reading wot they shud and shudnt be doing at a certain age, she pointed to a picture today for the first time so i guess it will just come in time, prob the worst thing is when u see other babies stringing words together at this age and pointing out things and saying wot they are all the time, its def helped coming on here and knowing not everyones babies r chatting and pointing away lol x

so rather than talking my lovely dd has now decided she wants to communicate to me by winning like a dog and squeaking lol, when i ask her questions and she wants it she will mmmm mmm mmm in a squeaky way and when she doesnt she will make a funny noise close her eyes and oush it away, guess shes commuicating in her own way

LOL - yeah my little man does similar things. Have you thought of baby signing? Heard good things from friends about it

yeah i have thought bout it rand to sign up but it had finished they sed they would send me out when the next one was on but they never did, have just bought a book that was reccomended on here called baby talk apparantly has had good results so when it arrives im going to give that a go, also got a review with hv on monday to see what she thinks altho i know the answer will prob b just keep an eye on her development over next few months teacake have u has you ds hearing checked, im thinking of asking for dd to have hers done

No it was tested at birth and seemed fine. H's does respond to me when I ask questions, if I say would you like a biscuit or banana? He turns and looks at the biscuit tin and says "b?" only.

He'll get there, he's just turned 19 months now.

I wouldn't worry tbh but that's just me and he's my second child as well. So maybe I'm a tad more relaxed?

*he

She sounds totally normal.
DD is 18 months and just recently started using different words, at 15 months I don't think she said more than 'mama' and 'bye bye'.

I don't think she was pointing or following the point very well, either, both of which she does now.

I'm not sure what's worrying you, tbh. She sounds like a lovely little girl with a lot of personality.

Oh, I just saw that she pointed to a picture- so there you go.

And frankly I dodn't know many babies who are 'stringing words together' at 15 months. According to the doctors it's around 18 months when the kids start using more words- so not talking at 15 months is not worrying at all.

thanks for your comments think reading those stupid development milestones just got me over analysing and being a bit paranoid, my dd has recently started waving when shes had enuf of being somewhere, today we went to have some photos done and half way thru she just kept continuously waving think she had, had enuf lol teacake i know i prob sound like a neurotic first time mum hehe bet i wont be nearly as worried with the 2nd which hopefully wont be to far in the future ;)

so went to health visitors they didnt seem concerned said not to worry till between 18-20 months if still not talking to come back, also sending for hearing test to be done just to make sure dd isnt suffering from glue ear :)