Baby not babbling at 10mths

[mmax33]

Hi there, My little boy isn't babbling at all. He'll be 10mths next week. He makes 'aaaaa' noises and grunts but no mama, dada etc. Most of the other babies in my antenatal group sound like they're trying to construct sentences with their constant babbling. He is crawling and cruising around the furniture and is not far off walking, so I thought maybe he has just put all his efforts into that.

But, I called my hv who said 'i'm right to be concerned'. At least she was honest! She mentioned a hearing test but I'm fairly certain he can hear ok but other than that she said to wait till his 12mth review. I'm obviously really worried now.

When did your little ones start babbling and do you think that there is anything I can do to encourage him. Thanks guys

Mine started at around 5/6 months, but shortly after got on a single minded mission to walk! All babbling stopped until he's mastered that - around 10 months, then he took it back up again. He learned to talk fine, but no words til around 15 months which I think is quite normal. I'm a bit sceptical of people who claim theirs have proper words at 10 months. Good to get his hearing checked out, but he's probably fine.

Well if it's any comfort my baby is 9 months and a week and he "talks" all the time, a constant stream of noise, but is still sitting firmly on his bottom, not even shuffling, certainly not the merest hint of crawling and isn't even interested in standing up if you hold him upright. (He's good at eating though, so he is very fat!) So I reckon it's probably true that they concentrate on one thing or the other - your little boy sounds quite advanced with the walking!

you done the right thing by contacting you hv.. however she seems to have exaggerated a little. you have no reason to be worried if he is putting a lot of effort into walking maybe he just a bit lazy - as boys tend to be. see once his conquered his mission of walking he might decide to start but other than that all children are different and individual.

I wouldn't be worried. I don't think my DD said much at that age, but once she learnt to walk her vocab quickly expanded and is v normal. I think they can only really do one thing at a time (don't forget they are going through human evolution in a few short years). I think 18 months is a better guide as he should be walking and using consistent sounds for things.

He also may be saying things that you don't recognise yet e.g. the aaaa could be the a in mama. My DD called dogs gees (as in doggy) then everything she liked became a gee for a while!

My son caused me no end of worry by not babbling at that age either. Does he point to draw you attention to things? If so then that is a good sign.
My son finally started babbling a bit (still not much) and then had a few words by 18 months (max 5 words and not clear) and then by the time he was 2 he had caught up with his peers....worry for nothing!

My ds didn't babble properly at all until almost 12months. Just shrieked, squealed &made an aaaahh noise. I was googling all the time looking for positive stories as I was really worried. However, all of a sudden, around the 12month mark he started babbling away, and proper words came very soon after. He is now 16months and has a lot of words, and is already putting 2 together (oh no, sit down, up mummy... My favourite )

He was pulling himself up at 7.5months, crawling just before 8months, then walking at just over 10months, so I reckon he was concentrating on all physical side.
My HV wasn't worried at all. She said they'd only start to worry if he got to 15Months with no recognisable sounds.
^^ This was exactly the kind of story I was looking for during those worrying few months. Hope it helps set your mind at ease.

Thanks for all your replies. You have really reassured me. Google can definitely make your anxieties worse - i've been trying not to look. Its been really helpful to hear your stories. You have really reassured me.

Hi, I'm a speech and language therapist and it is right to have it checked out when a baby hasn't babbled by ten months. My own first didn't babble until about nine and a half and children vary hugely with many more children than before talking later. However, 10 months is the suggested cut off point in the research at which stage it should be looked at ideally. This doesn't mean that even a tenth of those referred will have any issue at all in the long-term, just that on balance it is good to check it out and monitor it from this age.

Mmax, things you can do to stimulate babbling include:
Rhythmical singing using early sounds like:
Mum mum mummy mum mum mum Mummy Mummy to the tune of Camptown Races (also dad dad daddy and Bob Bob baby Bob Bob Bob etc)
Banging sticks on a drum and shaking rattles as there has been some research that babies precede their babbling with these types of rhythmical motor activities especially with their hands. No need to force it or anything... just have fun with it. Clapping games etc.

Sorry for hijack OP (and I'm glad you're feeling reassured) - working I'm interested that you say that 'many more children than before are talking later' - do you mean that the average age of talking seems to increased? Do we have any idea why? How fascinating!

Hi working - thanks for your reply. When you say it should be looked at after 10 mths, what would you advise? My hv hasn't suggested anything else and he is no longer having a detailed hearing test. Should I be pushing to see a specialist?

He has clapped hands/waved and shaken rattles etc for some time now. He seems interested in noisy things but is just quite quiet (well with words as he has got a particularly loud cry!) He does 'growl' (!) back at me if I make the noise but doesn't seem interested in 'mmmmmm' or 'ddddd' etc.

Hi all!

My DD is almost 11 months. Still not babbling. No sounds. No ‘da’ ‘ha’ etc just squeals and laughs, she does make noises but not sure if it’s classed as babbling cause I can’t hear sounds. Doesn’t wave, point, pat a cake or anything. Is anyone else in a similar situation. I’m concerned and have spoke to HV but didn’t get much.

Any advice would be great ! Thanks guys

My almost 3YO didn't babble much other than a funny 'abooooo' sound until almost a year old. She somehow then managed her first word 'ohoh' at 11MO but her babbling was still quite off and she didn't make many sounds for a while and at 18MO had only a handful of words but her understanding has always been fantastic. Now she talks prolifically and remembers all sorts that you tell her and remembers nursery rhymes etc. Her pronounciation is still quite off but I really think in a year or 2 that if anything she'll be a bit ahead with her language. Everything has to be taken into context. If your baby is social and interacting and shows some signs of understanding what you're saying and communicating her needs then chances are the rest will follow. I told my HV mine wasn't babbling and she wasn't really interested. She just said she thought she was bright and that the speaking would come. We did get a hearing test though. Always a good idea as even a small loss of hearing can really affect speech. Keep an eye on it but don't worry too much. The experts like to think that they all follow one pathway with these things but the reality is far more complex

Long shot! Just wondering how your DD is getting on my DS is exactly the same and he’s 11 1/2 months and I’m really starting to get concerned x
fingers crossed you see this xx

My LG didn't babble properly until almost a year old and even then it's hard to explain but it came out quite 'muffled' like she was under water. Interestingly she said her first word at a similar time. She always understood quite well and understood some quite sofisticated things by about a year old. She's had some persisting issues with pronounciation and can still prounounce a lot of things funny at 4YO but is very articulate and clever and only seems to stop talking to sleep/eat/breathe haha. I'm sure a lot of her issues have come from glue ear. She's just started wearing hearing aids. I'd definitely get her hearing checked but otherwise I wouldn't worry too much just yet. They all follow such different trajectories at this age but most do get there. I think 2 is a much better checkpoint. If your LO isn't understanding a fair bit by this age, pointing and saying lots of words and/or saying some simple sentences then I'd push for intervention but until then just give him plenty of chance to have a conversation with you, lots of face to face contact and opportunities for joint attention and chances are in a year or 2 you'll be searching for his off button 😁 xx

Aw thank you so much for the reply! We’re having his hearing checked next month as we have a big family history of glue ear! They say glue ear is like hearing underwater which could explain why your little ones babbling sounded like that! Glad to hear she’s thriving, fingers crossed my son starts his babbling soon xx

Hi how did your little ones get on?
@mmax33
@Hangingoninthere88
@Abba2021
@ABSEG3
@umbrellasinthesun

Hi Mumof3bb, my son got on great - now 15, excellent company and lots of fun to be with, great spoken language ability and great at other languages too, very academically/ cognitively able, is also autistic (needs some support at school but has good friends, doing well and generally very happy). I see it as a brilliant outcome for him after all the worry I had over him not babbling.

@mmax33 hi how did your little one come on?

Hey @MolArch - please can we get an update (sorry I know this was years ago)