18mo not talking - would you worry?

[dappleton]

18mo DS only has one word 'dada' and one sound 'woowoowoo' when he see's a dog. He makes other babbling sounds but nothing connected to any object/activity. He doesn't try to copy what we say. He has good understanding and can follow simple instructions. Would you have anything checked e.g. hearing; or should I just wait it out until he's 24months with crossed fingers? - should just say he is growing up in a bilingual environment if that makes any difference.

I wouldnt worry, its still v early.

Sounds perfectly normal to me. DD1 didn't say her first word until 23 months old. 2 months later she was putting 2 words together and it went from there. She was a late talker, yes, but she is now 6 and is such a chatterbox we can't shut her up!!!! it's hard, but try not to compare with others. your DS will get there

Would agree with the above. When our daughter was aged 18m we were told she should have at least 6 words - we could make four only by counting 'bye bye' as two! At age 2 she was speaking in short sentences and has never looked back.

I would look at all types of communication as a whole, so is he using gestures etc, is he making eye contact, is he understanding you? If he is concerning you though then I would urge you to get him checked out. If you see your Health Visitor or GP and explain your worries they can (eg) get his hearing checked at the very least.
DD was a bit different as she became ill at a little older than your DS and then just stopped talking. But there was no problem getting her referred for a hearing test and it was actually the audiologist who noticed that she had autistic behaviour and referred her on. It was a good idea to get her checked out whether it was anything or not IMO.

PS.Not implying that I think your DS is the same, ecause I don't know him, but if you really are concerned I would write down your concerns and chat with HV or GP about them, maybe write down and check again in a month and see how much progress he has made.

Thank you all for your responses, it's reassuring to know others have been in similar situations with good outcomes.
Needingsomeadvice - his overall communication is good; he makes eye contact, plays jokes, understands and carries out instructions. Think i'll use this post as a benchmark to see if we have progress over the next month (as you suggest) then head off to the pediatrician if no progress!

I think lots of children only have one or two words at 18 months, don't they? I think mine were only on Mama at that stage. Then it all kind of explodes in the run-up to 2.

Obviously you want to keep an eye on it, but worrying is premature I think.

I would not be concerned, especially as bilingual. I have heard that these children do often talk later. But long term benefits are fantastic.

If he has good understanding and is communicating wih other means (gestures and pointing, bringing you things to show you etc) i would not worry yet.

Re the "bilingual-children-talk-late" - this is a myth. There is a lot if research in this area... if you are concerned then dont get fobbed of with it. DC2 is 21 months old, grows up trilingual and is talking in short senrences...

Sounds perfectly normal. Loads of DCs don't really say much at 18 months but, as Devora says, it does explode before they reach 2. I think you can uncross your fingers and leave it until 21 months before you worry about getting anything checked.

absolutely not at this stage.

My ds only babbled until 19 months, when he started with a couple of words - just Daddy and Mummy and cat originally. He's now two and has lots of words and is putting them together into two and three-word sentences, and is learning new words literally every day. It's something I was really worried about when he was 18 months and it is true that it's amazing how quickly it develops! Honestly, relax, talk to her and read to her and don't worry - see how she's doing when she's two.

DD didnt start talking until she went to nursery at 3. Even with upmost encouragment she would not talk.

HV's wanted to send her for speech therapy but i refused.

They will speak when ready

My very nearly 18 month old has been referred for a hearing test as he had no words at 17 months, when I last spoke to the HV. He had meningitis as a baby, so they referred him very quickly - I got the impression that if he hadn't had the meningitis they would have been happy to take a "wait and see" approach. HV seemed much more concerned about his overall communication - pointing, showing me things, understanding, playing games like peekaboo, all of which are fine / good, so on this basis nobody is really very worried. It seemed sensible to go ahead with the referal and get on the waiting list (a month on and we still don't have an appointment). All of that said, in the last week he can suddenly say 4 words and a few animal sounds on top of that, so I think we were probably a bit premature (I am a worrier, and DC1 was an early talker, adding to my panic!).

thank you for the rest of your responses, i'll try to relax!

That's interesting brighten. My DD had meningitis just after her first birthday, she's now approaching 17 months and I'm conscious I'm probably over concentrating on how her speech is coming along.

She has a handful of "words" but not all with proper pronounciation, she misses the end off of words like dog and cat and says a lot of things like they sound with the letter D. We had her hearing tested before she left hospital and her consultant saw her last week and didn't think there was a problem with her hearing but said to keep an eye on the missing off the endings if she carries it on.

It's good to see lots of people saying 17m is still early and I'll try to relax a bit, thanks op!

Stopeating - if it's any reassurance my dd (18mo) also says nearly everything with a 'd' sound - and hasn't worked out how to use two different consonants in the same word so 'diddoh' for window, 'duddle' for cuddle, 'wa-wa' for baby wipes etc etc. She's never said 'c' or 'g'. Cat is 'eee-ow' (progress from 'dee-ow'!) and dog is 'oo oo', never mind missing endings!

OP, a bilingual friend of mine went to see a speech therapist at the children's centre and found them really helpful with suggestions - they have 'English time' and 'German time' and clear rules about which language is spoken when and it's made a massive difference to their dd's communication. If you go to a children's centre with a speech therapist could be a worth a try?

Our 2 year old was saying quite a few words but not putting any of them together, so at 18 months I am not sure he was saying much at all to be honest! However, buy 2.5yrs he was stringing more words together and now at 2.9yrs he puts sentences together, albeit in a funny order sometimes! Our HV was monitoring him around 2 but she could tell his general understanding and communication was there and no major concerns. I think they all develop differently and I knew not to worry overly and I am glad I didn't now.

My 18mo DD only really says, mummy, dada, uh oh, & nana (banana). I can't think of any others. I'm not at all worried, shes very forward in other ways, she was the first in our nct group of babies to walk etc. In fact seeing 8 babies grow up closely, all born within a few weeks really makes me see how differently they develop. Just enjoy the no answering back for a bit longer!

I have it on good authority from my sisters that our mother took me to the doctors to check if I was deaf when I was small as I only spoke when it was necessary. I'm not deaf and have a vast vocabulary !!!! Also one of my sister's had her own language for a while when she was small and grew out of it. If you have a bilingual household - fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!

Was it Thomas Carlyle who said nothing till age 3, then announced 'Mother, this porridge is cold'? Probably apocryphal but I use it to reassure myself that being able to make monkey, cow, dog, bee and snake noises and everything else being goggy or da is normal at 16 mo. Bet dour intellectual old Carlyle never said goggy or da, mind you...

OP I am in the same boat as you as our 18mo ds hasn't got a lot of vocabulary yet. I spoke to speech therapist friend who assured me that as long as they are babbling / making noises (speech) at this point then the words (language) will follow.
It is still worrying but I guess we have to give it time.