17 month speech milestones

[TwistedTrout]

Hi. Am wondering how much notice you should take of milestones? dd is 17 mth and doesn't say any words or even attempt to. She understands simple phrases like "where's upsey daisy" or "get your shoes then" and will point and scream if she wants something, and point and scream when she sees someone she knows. She also says dadadada and bababa but only as babble not for any reason. Most of the day she just plays quietly. Do I bother with the health visitor yet or just wait and see how she progresses? Thanks for any replies.

It's up to you. 17 months is still very young, but it might be helpful in the future if you flag it up now. For example, if you would like for your daughter to have a hearing test, you could point to her lack of speech.

In the meantime, try to encourage her to make lots of noises, any noise, car noise, woof, miow, choochoo, whatever. Try to keep your sentences short and repeat key words, and repeat some key words often every day - words such as milk, more, up, etc. If she has a favorite toy give it a short simple name and repeat it lots of times every day. Encourage her to play with toys such as shakers, little drums etc and praise her for making any noises at all. She will find her voice eventually!

I have never really taken any notice of milestones, some children will sit/walk/speak a little later and it's no indication of anything at all. However, if any concerns are noted in your DS' red book, and concerns flagged, it might just be helpful in the future if she doesn't speak at 2.

Thank you. I am happy to leave it for a bit if milestones are just a rough guide. In the meantime I will try your tips to encourage her talking and give it a month or so to see if there is any improvement. Appreciate your advice.

Some children just like to wait until they get it right... DD talked from about 14m and hasn't stopped since, but DS1 only had 6 words until he was 2.2. Then he immediately started talking in sentences - he obviously didn't want to experiment until he felt confident (was the same with walking). DS2 is 11m and is clearly going to be like his sister - he says 'dere' for 'there' and 'da' for yes. They're all different. They also tend to work on one thing at a time - she may be figuring out her motor skills just now and have no time to spare for words. I do find that signs can help too - just in terms of you knowing what they want. Also, don't underestimate what she can understand - by now it's probably a lot more than simple phrases. For example, if you say 'don't touch that, it's mummy's', does she turn to look at you with a guilty expression?