9mo who doesn't 'talk'

[Gracie123]

Just posted this on the childrens health section, but I think it's probably more appropriate here.

Noticed recently that all my friends babies are starting to babble and say mama, baba, dada etc... Even though they are younger than DD.

I'm not really competitive and don't care if she actually says proper words, but I suddenly realised she doesn't really make any noise. She does scream when in pain or severly over tired, but sometimes I go days without hearing her voice.

It's hard to remember, but I'm pretty sure DS was quite 'chatty' at this age (although no real words), but DD makes no attempt to communicate.

Her hearing tests were all fine, should I make an appt to see the HV?

DS make some noises but didn't get to say mama or dada until he was about 18m, he said "Fido, NO!" much earlier than anything else but then I spend the day telling the dog off.

DS was a relatively silent baby, at some point we thought he couldn't cry at all (didn't cry either) but now, so many years later, I find myself telling him all the time "DS, please, just one minute, just one, just one minute of silence please!".

How much do you talk to her? If you are talking to her all the time she may start making noises.

generally i've found that babies can only learn one thing at a time, so if they are quick movers/learn to walk quickly they generally don't speak as much! which is exactly how my LO is! he's now 11 months and only just starting to make much more baba noises, however at 9 months he definitely didn;t speak very much but was crawling and climbing and exploring everything. whereas other babies in the group who generally just sit and don't move have more speaking and listening skills.

Thanks guys. She's actually been relatively slow (compared with peers in our friendship circle) on quite a few things, but still within developmental norm (according to google). She couldnt sit up by herself until nearly 7mo and is nowhere near crawling.

I talk to her a fair amount, as does DS (3yo) and I wander if she just feels like there is never a break in his conversation.

Just wanted to check it was normal really, but now feel quite reassured

She is only 9 months give it a bit of time, each child develops at their own pace not necessarily in line with others.

I wouldn't worry. My mother swears I never said a word until I was nearly 2 and now I work as a lecturer so I guess its not permanent :) My 9 month old only does 'aaa' 'pffffff' and 'bwa!', occasionally 'bwabwabwa' which seems to mean 'I'm bored. You're boring. Oh my life already!!!' Other than that we just have crying or giggles. I guess she'll talk when she has something to say :-)

dd is 11m and i have only heard mama twice, she says dada and ca! for cat, lots of gagagagaga for pretty much everything else, but that's it. i chat to her all the time, and sing, she's pretty chilled though, and is interested in everything, so i'm confident the little cogs are going around in her head

But that's my concern really Porcelina is that we don't have any gagaaga or ooooh or anything. She just stares at you blankly when you try to engage her.

She does giggle if you tickle her, but she doesn't try to talk much at all. In fact a saw a video of her at 4 weeks old and was shocked by how chatty she was then. She is much quieter now.

Has she had any ear infections or anything? Worth getting her to GP and checking her hearing out IMO.

can i 2nd what deardoctor said?

glue ear can have a impact on the 'babble' languange that babies have, so hearing quality can vary considerably.

does she ever get startled with your sudden apperance?

for e.g when you bend over her cot suddenly ?

keep chatting to her in face, with lots of expressions and gestures.

good luck!

He does do the startled thing when I go to get her from her cot. I actually have another thread on her here (age discrepancy because I can't count she was born in July).
We ended up seeing a paediatrician today re: another illness and he has suggested that her lack of talking does need looking into. He said her ears were 'very waxy', but didn't mention that might be having an effect. Could it be? How do you clean them? Your not supposed to use cotton buds anymore are you?