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Original poster

15 month old son - and only says mama dada - how can I get him to pick up other words

39 replies

foxy1 · 02/07/2006 16:18

Hello

I have a 15 month old boy who says mama dada and thats about it. It talks in his own language but does not seem to try and repeat anything that I say to him. He points at everything and seems interested/curious in everything around him but has not developed his speech any further. My sister is training to be a speech therapist and has said that by now he should be say up to 6 words and so has worried me a little. Any tips/advice on what I can do to get him to repeat back to me what I have said. I am using lots of single words like:-

Drink
Food
Sleep
Bath
Dog
cat
book
Music
etc etc

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

OP posts:
TheBlonde · 02/07/2006 16:24

Don't worry would be my advice, he will add words when he is ready

My DS is 16mths and has one word mama which is applied to me, DH, random people in shops etc

stitch · 02/07/2006 16:26

just talk to him as normal.
its something like six words at 18 months is the norm i think

trinityrhino · 02/07/2006 16:29

my 15 month old dd has eh eh eh when she wants something and mumum for me and daaaaa for daddy

I didn't think she was supposed to be able to say much more at the mo

Snafu · 02/07/2006 16:32

Chill, foxy1. He's way too young for you to be fretting about this.

Talk to him as you normally would - or you'll end up driving yourself round the bend. All children develop at different rates - this 'X words by X age' is not set in stone.

He'll pick up new words in his own good time, and soon enough there will come a time when you'll be posting asking how to get him to shut up for 5 mins...

MadamePlatypus · 02/07/2006 16:34

I don't think this is that unusual. DS wasn't interested in repeating words at all until he was closer to 2 and didn't really start speaking until about 20 months. He has always been very active, and if he wanted something was more inclined to work out a way of getting it himself than asking somebody else. I have never heard of 6 words at 15 months before.

A good book if you want to do something practical is 'Babytalk'.

edam · 02/07/2006 16:43

Your ds sounds perfectly normal to me. Just talk to him as you go about your daily routine and he'll pick words up at his own rate.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing - your sister is only training and has either misunderstood or only been given a fairly simplistic understanding of child development so far. Not trying to be patronising, but when you are teaching people, you often have to give them cut-down explanations before they get to the level where you can go into real detail.

It's the difference between GCSE science explanation on the likelihood of brown eyed people having blue eyed children and the full explanation a geneticist like Tamum (I think) would give you.

KristinaM · 02/07/2006 16:50

agree with snafu - he's totally normal. If you get all stressed out like this & try to make him talk, he will pick it up and it could even delay his speech.

Dottydot · 02/07/2006 16:55

sounds absolutely fine - ds1 didn't say anything - not even Mummy - until he was 17 months. Then came out with 1 word (and shame on me I've forgotten it) and then nothing much more until he was well over 2. We were worried at the time but needn't have been - although he's still v. quiet and shy outside, at home we can't shut him up and he's an extremely eloquent 4 year old. Don't worry - they're all different and take their time at doing different things. Jimjams always says if they're pointing at this age that's a v. good sign - so sounds good.

juuule · 02/07/2006 17:03

I don't think this is anything to worry about. My 2nd ds hardly said much more than that even after he had turned 2. He just grunted and pointed for whatever he wanted. I did worry at the time because his brother had a wide vocab by the age of 19m so I took him to the gp when he was 2y. The gp wasn't concerned either and said I wasn't to compare him with his brother. He did talk much better before he was 3 . He is now 16 and never had any speech problems once he began to talk.

After that I have always judged my children by them understanding what I am saying or asking of them. The principle being that if they understand what I'm saying then it is only a matter of time before what is going in comes back out.
Two of my children did have minor speech problems (lisp, inability to sounds some word groups) but these cleared up with time aswell.
As long as your son is understanding most of what you are saying and you are speaking normally around him I would say he will learn what he needs to given the time and don't set too much store by the milestone recommendations - children learn at their own pace not by the book.

jambot · 02/07/2006 18:42

My DD is 15 months. Although she is very verbal, I don't understand a thing she says. She has said one or two words, but they seemed to be once offs and I've never heard them again.
On the other hand she understands a huge amount and I can give her fairly complex instructions which she will carry out no problem. Tonight I asked her to go to my bedroom and fetch my red jumper, which she duly did.
She is at a mums and tots group with children very close in age. Have only heard one of them come out with a word. Otherwise they are all vocalising in 'martian'!
Wouldn't worry at all.

fisil · 02/07/2006 18:46

I agree to try not to worry. DS2 is 14 months and has a few words, but many many more that we don't understand - like jambot says. For example, he often just babbles "ga ga" type sounds. This evening I was feeding him when a helicopter flew over, and he spat out the bottle to say "goh ca" several times - which I had heard before and now think is probably helicopter (a very important word for him). He doesn't say mummy, though.

GarfieldsGirl · 02/07/2006 19:25

I would agree with everyone, Don't worry.

ds1s first word was 'car', then it was 'wassat?' and 'whosat?'. He didn't start talking much more than the odd word until after he was 2 when he started going to a preschool, then his speech just came on in leaps and bounds.

I've always talked to him normally as I would anybody else, and I do the same with ds2 who is only 8mths so obviously won't be coming out with proper words yet.

15mths is def not the time to be worrying about it. Don't forget every child develops at different rates, and he sounds just fine to me.

Psychobabble · 02/07/2006 19:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Witchycat · 02/07/2006 19:41

Just to add to what the other's have said about not worrying. My dd is just 18 months and it's only in the last fortnight that she's started saying half a dozen semi-recognisable words.
If it's any interest these are:
Mummum
Daddad
Ro-ah (her brother's name - Rowan)
more
mi (for milk)
"goooaaaaaaaaaal" which she says with both arms raised in the air (I kid you not!).

I think if he can understand the words you say and makes different sounds, I really wouldn't worry about words just yet.

beansprout · 02/07/2006 19:43

Repetition is good as well - "where is your ball?" (ds looks for ball), "give me your ball" (mum holds out her hands, ds gives mum the ball) "I have your ball now" etc etc etc.....

They understand loads before they can say it back to you so just keep talking, labelling etc. Ds is 20 mo and has about 30+ words and most of those have appeared very recently. Your lo is doing fine!

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 02/07/2006 19:49

Follow hisfocus of attention, if he's looking at a toy car then say "car" ", if he's playing with a teddy for example do not pick up a nearby car and say "look car", follow his attention and say "tyeddy"

Also never try and make him speak.

madrose · 02/07/2006 19:53

your Son is perfect and perfectly normal. My DD has her own language too and says DAT one hellva a lot, daddy on occaision, D for the cat who is called bob - thats it. But I have taught her simple signs for certain things and events and she is able to sign certain words backs (not many but enough) - handy as sometimes I just don't know what DAT is .

SSSandy · 02/07/2006 19:53

dd same at that age. Later she picked up "more" (i.e. after someone finished eating, she'd say "more), then "more meat". And "all gone!" when her plate was empty.

beansprout · 02/07/2006 19:54

madrose - I have a similar thing - if I knew what "manuhmanuhmanuh" meant I think my relationship with ds would immediately jump to a whole new level!!

madrose · 02/07/2006 20:03

I know exactly what you mean - I just sit there saying - 'did it' 'really' 'my goodness' - she seems quite happy at my reponses but sometimes I get the feeling that she's saying 'silly mummy - you have no idea'

WellKnownMemorablePeachyClair · 02/07/2006 20:27

My son (DS3) is three next month. Six weeks ago he could say no and dummy. Now he chatters away like anything.
So don't worry too much- just keep an eye.

Typi9cally, HV has finally decided to come round tomorrow to assess! But his hearing appears to be down so i'll raise that then. Pain in the arse tho, as ds1 has his Paeds appt also tomorrow.

Original poster
foxy1 · 03/07/2006 17:12

Thank you everyone for your great feedback!! Wellknownpeachychair how did you get on today?

OP posts:
Witchycat · 03/07/2006 18:29

Madrose - 'Dat' = 'That'?

riab · 04/07/2006 21:22

thank heavens for this thread,

I had health visitor round today because I was worried about language development.

DS (15 months) is VERY active and she said his motor skills and curiosity/puzzle solving is more like 18m-2yrs.
BUT he doesn't even say mama, neither does he understand 'get ball' or 'where's your milk'. He doens't point at pictures in books or point to things for us to get them.

He does point but its vague and random and generally if he wants something he goes and gets it. (and has a temper tantrum if he can't reach)

Every other kid at playgroup has more language skills than him but its good to get other views.

staceym11 · 04/07/2006 21:26

my dd did know a lot by this age but she'll never stop talking (like me) and i wish she didnt now! lol

got a friend whos little one didnt talk until he was about 2, he could talk if he wanted, but he didnt wanted as he could communicate in other ways, now at nearly 3 he can talk as good as the rest! just give them a chance, dont worry they all develop differently, and soon enough you'll be wishing they'll stay quiet!!!