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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

16 month old has "lost" all his words.

44 replies

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 10:38

DS had 3 words and about 5 animal sounds at 8 months. At 13 months he had 15 words including "all gone" when he'd finished eating and "hot" if the radiator was hot or the fire was on so not just nouns. However for the past 3 months he rarely says anything other than Daddy and Mama and random sounds. He understands everything we say but he's definitely frustrated so I don't understand why he isn't using the words he knows. Has anyone else been in this situation where their child has stopped talking? Dont know if I should be worried?

OP posts:

Branleuse · 12/02/2013 10:42

did anything happen around the time he lost them? medical treatment? trauma?

Original poster

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 11:00

no just teething, which is very bad at the moment, 5 new back teeth in 10 days but he has had very sore gums for a few months, I wonder if that's it?

OP posts:

MariahHairy · 12/02/2013 11:32

Any loss of skill/regression should be looked into imo. at this stage it is quite common to loose the odd word but not to loose all the words (and your DS had quite a few). Have you talked to your GP yet? if not I would see him ASAP.

do you feel your DS also lost other skills or just his speech? any other changes? I would also ask for a referral for a hearing test to rule our hearing issues (such as glue ear).

but I doubt teething is responsible for his loss of words though.

SocietyClowns · 12/02/2013 11:38

Please get his hearing checked. My dd1 did the same and went from a lot of words at 1 to talking gibberish at 18 months. I put it down to her being bilingual and didn't notice she had developed severe glue ear and could hear very little! Didn't find out until she was more like 2 1/2 and it took her to 3 1/2 to recover her speech fully. She has caught up well now at 5 and sometimes I wish she'd stop talking for a minute!

Catchingmockingbirds · 12/02/2013 11:45

Take him to a GP. Has he regressed in any other ways?

Original poster

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 12:07

he has had two ear infections recently so I might get his hearing checked. I had a quick google after I posted here and it seems regressions can be due to the child focussing on other skills. He is very physically advanced for his age and is climbing lots , trying to jump, loves dancing etc so it could be that he's just focussing on that? he does occassionally use his words, he might say dog or car but not as often as he had been doing. He is well able to communicate lots of pointing and yes and no. He understands and carried out instructions like "put the nappy in the bin", "give that to daddy", "where are your shoes" , he always responds top his name so he can hear quite well. I will get him checked anyway.Thanks for all the replies.

OP posts:

SocietyClowns · 12/02/2013 12:27

OP my dd had no obvious ear infections and also still followed instructions and responded to her name. Which is why I didn't have her checked for so long until I realised her speech was suddenly behind when she was over 2.
Won't hurt to get his hearing checked just in case.

Original poster

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 12:33

I will society thanks.

OP posts:

Original poster

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 12:59

just realised he got the MMR vaccine around the time he stopped talking, is there still a link between autism and MMR?I thought that it was disproved? just saw DM has an article on it today.

OP posts:

Branleuse · 12/02/2013 13:01

its been disproved I think, but there are still a lot of people individually who believe there was a link for their child

nickelbabe · 12/02/2013 13:03

no - it has been totally disproved.

it is more likely to be related to the ear infections.

Original poster

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 13:06

God Im panicking now, thanks for the reassurance.

OP posts:

Jakeyblueblue · 12/02/2013 13:35

Don't panic, take him to get checked just in case but my ds went through about a month of not using any words or sounds he'd always said. I wouldnt say he was frustrated at any time though. He was 15 months and I was fretting because he wAsnt saying six words anymore and coming up to 18 months. I asked the gp and he asked if he'd advanced in other ways, like you he had started running, jumping etc. he said not to worry and give it a bit more time which I did. Now at just turned 19 months he says probably 100 words and is setting to put two together. I don't think he regressed or lost words, I think he just didn't want to.

silverfrog · 12/02/2013 13:39

I would investigate any loss of skills.

yes, toddlers can sometimes plateau while concentrating on a new skill, but to lose so many words, and, crucially you say it is frustrating for him - so he wants to communicsate but is unable to.

I would set the ball rolling wrt looking into this if I were in your position.

Original poster

magoosmom · 12/02/2013 14:02

well I said he's frustrated but what I meant really was he's having alot of tantrums if he doesn't get his own way so I don't necessarily think he wants to talk but can't. I felt it was more that he wasn't bothered because as I said earlier he will say words occassionally so they aren't lost. I doubt he;s austistic because he's very sociable and when I bring him to his music class he's often the only child up dancing and copying the teachers actions while the other kids (up to a year older than him) cling to their mothers.

OP posts:

Catchingmockingbirds · 12/02/2013 14:04

I'd always have any regression checked over. My step daughter began to regress at a similar age starting with just the loss of a couple of words and then continued into her pincer grab, then all use of her hands, her ability to swallow, all gross motor skills etc. It turned out to be caused by her having Rett Syndrome, children develop normally then regress at about 18 months. She permenantly lost all of her skills and is now very severely disabled.

I'm not saying your son has Rett Syndrome, but wanted to highlight the importance of having any regression brought to the attention of a medical professional.

Catchingmockingbirds · 12/02/2013 14:05

I doubt he;s austistic because he's very sociable and when I bring him to his music class he's often the only child up dancing and copying the teachers actions while the other kids (up to a year older than him) cling to their mothers.

My son was like this, he got his ASD dx last year!

redwellybluewelly · 12/02/2013 22:55

My dd was babbling away with a dozen or so words at one, then lost all words when she started walking. She was dx with an 80% hearing loss at about 20months due to repeated ear infections and at 2.6yrs has a noticeable speech delay.

Worth getting checked out

exexpat · 12/02/2013 23:00

The MMR/autism link has been thoroughly debunked. I have read that regression at that sort of age is common in children who are later diagnosed with autism, whether or not they have had the MMR or other vaccinations around that time. But yes, it is also very common for children to stop doing things they have mastered while they move on to learning new things, so no need to panic.

banana87 · 12/02/2013 23:19

How are other skill areas? Does he socially interact with other children (or the amount that is developmentally appropriate?), does he copy things you do in play (I.e. put a phone to his ear and babble), does he play appropriately for his developmental age?, have you noticed any repetitive behaviours?, does he make eye contact with you and seek your attention or does he prefer to be alone?.

I would take him to the GP immediately and get his ears checked as well as ensuring they document your concerns regarding his regression in case you ever need to rely on it.

Although the MMR-autism link has been "disproved", I do believe there is a link between vaccinations and autism in children who are susceptible to autism (but how any parent would know that is a mystery!). He is far too young to be getting that type of diagnosis anyway, but keep on top of your GP and health visitor so that if things don't get better you can do something about it sooner rather than later.

alto1 · 13/02/2013 00:09

My dd started saying words at 8 months too, then started losing them from 12 months - it was glue ear and she had bilateral grommets at 16 months. Her vocabulary tripled in a few days. We could tell from her reaction to her toys that she'd never heard the sounds they made before.

The operation was a doddle by the way - she was her usual self as soonn as she woke up and had a meal

HansieMom · 13/02/2013 00:18

Rett Syndrome is almost exclusively girls. It is tragic to think about.

Catchingmockingbirds · 13/02/2013 08:57

Yes hansie, but I was using it as an example of why it's important to have any regression checked out.

Catchingmockingbirds · 13/02/2013 09:04

And sadly it's even more tragic for the small percentage of boys who do have RTT as their life expectancy is far shorter than their female counterparts. That's one thing we were thankful for (if thats even the right word to use?) when SD was dx, that we'd have much more time with her.

SocietyClowns · 13/02/2013 13:02

alto1 [envious] that your dd got grommets so young. They don't consider them here until a child is at least 5!

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