Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Behaviour/development

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

Original poster

Worried about 16 month old

26 replies

lastjaffacake · 05/04/2015 22:49

My DD is just under 16 months and not talking yet. She makes noises (lots of squeals, shrieks, sings "lalalalala" and occasionally "yehyehyeh" to herself) and copies sounds others make (such as "shushing" sounds or if someone sneezes she makes an "achoo" sound) but has no actual words. When she was younger she used to babble (mamama, dadada etc) a lot more but hasn't done this so much since she became mobile. She seems to understand everything we say, follows instructions really well, recognises objects and is very happy, sociable and affectionate. She walks well, her fine motor skills are good. I'm just getting really worried because people keep asking me if she's talking "yet" and seem surprised when I say she's not. I've also read that they're supposed to be saying at least 6 words by 18 months and I can't see how DD is going to get to that point in the next couple of months. At her 10-12 month check the HV said she was advanced for her age so I don't know how she's fallen behind in her development. I talk to her, read to her and sing to her all the time..I just don't understand where I'm going wrong. She has a dummy but only for naps and bedtime. Could that be the problem? I'd rather not get rid of it just yet as she's teething at the moment and it seems to be the only thing that eases the discomfort. Any advice would be much appreciated.

OP posts:
Ferguson · 05/04/2015 23:18

Oh Dear!! You poor mothers; why do you have to think you are "doing something wrong"? And she HAS NOT "fallen behind"!

It sounds to me you are doing everything PERFECTLY! Only babies don't read the developmental instruction book, so they don't do things when people want them to!

Our DS didn't walk at that age. There are NO hard and fast rules on when things happen, only broad generalisations on ROUGHLY what the AVERAGE baby will do at certain stages. I don't know what the 'leeway' on these things is (though I could probably find out, if you wanted me to.)

Just relax, and enjoy every moment of your time with her, (and it sounds like you do), and every little step in her progress. I wrote a 'diary' of DS progress,

Does she have access to paper and crayons, so she can 'mark make'? Sand, water, Duplo bricks to learn colours, counting, building towers - and knocking down, dolls and teddies. Keep TV and 'screens' to a minimum. Look at flowers and leaves emerging, listen to birds singing, and enjoy the sun shining.

Undeuxtwatcinq · 05/04/2015 23:21

How old was she when she started to walk? I was told that at that age they develop language and mobility separately and they focus on what they are learning at the time. I had concerns with my DS at that age but it all worked out fine in the end. If u really are concerned though and don't want to wait until next HV appt, go and chat to your GP.

Taler · 06/04/2015 04:22

My DD is almost 17 months and hadn't said her first words yet, plus her "babbling" seems to have lessened too.

Like your DC she is very sociable, affectionate, understands what you say, has plenty of time with me/DH/nursery with stories, songs, etc.

Her friend who is literally a few hours older than her says loads of words! I know you shouldn't compare but I bet we all do!

I can't lie and say I don't wonder if my DD is a bit 'slow' with her speech when her friend can say "hello" (not just "hi" but "hello"!!!), but the previous comment is correct that all children develop at different rates.

I am not at all worried and I really don't believe you should either. 'Speech' is clearly not the thing that our LOs have chosen (subconsciously of course) to master just now. With mine it's all about walking/running!

It'll all come, you'll see :)

AlwaysDancing1234 · 06/04/2015 04:37

Nothing at all in your post would cause alarm bells to ring for me. I'm no expert by any means but Your DD sounds perfectly 'normal' and I'm sure in a few months when she wont stop talking you'll wonder why you were worried! It may just be she's concentrating Her brain power on learning to walk/run etc at the moment. Just carry on talking and singing lots (I give DD a running commentary sometimes!)
Oh and ignore 'other people' saying " is she talking/writing/reading/roller skating yet"!! Some family asked "is DD walking yet" when she was 6 months, and now at 9 months one already asked about potty training FFS!

MisterDobalina · 06/04/2015 04:41

My eldest didn't say a word (not even mama or Dada) until 2.3. A year later and you'd never know.

Your dd sounds perfectly normal to me. Also, aren't sounds counted as words? someone might correct me on that one though..

Brambles34 · 06/04/2015 07:06

I was concerned about my 16mo old not talking. The nursery were also concerned with his speech and communication skills. Turns out he has glue ear and although can hear us, it's not clear enough for him to replicate words himself. (We had no idea he had problems with hearing) Now waiting for second test then grommets/hearing aids. Just a though Smile

PlasticCircus · 06/04/2015 07:12

Sounds really normal to me! My son is almost 18 months and in the past few weeks his words have really really developed- he didn't have any at 16 months really. Now he can say about 6 or 7 words pretty clearly (and not just to me)- especially 'no'! Smile

Artandco · 06/04/2015 07:20

Sounds fine. Neither of my sons started talking until between 2 and 2 1/2 years. They walked before 1 year so no correlation.

By 3 years both spoke bilingually just as well as peers who started talking before 1 year

Original poster
lastjaffacake · 06/04/2015 07:27

Thank you all. You've made me feel so much better. It's just so hard not to rise to the bait when people say "oh, my DC were chattering away at her age" etc although, rationally, I know it's pointless to make comparisons. Brambles, now that I think about it, DH had to have grommets as a child and so did his sister. I hadn't thought about her hearing as she seems to hear us fine but might be worth getting checked. Is that something the GP would deal with?

OP posts:
Brambles34 · 06/04/2015 07:35

I went via the HV but I think the GP is the usual route. My GP said glue is the usual culprit for a non talking child so def worth getting it checked out Smile

Original poster
lastjaffacake · 06/04/2015 07:52

Thank you. Will make an appointment and try not to stress myself out too much in the meantime.

Undeauxtwatcinq, she only started walking properly a couple of months ago (although she was pulling up and crusing around the furniture from about 10 months) and is now working on running so maybe she's been concentrating her efforts on that.

OP posts:
GotToBeInItToWinIt · 06/04/2015 08:11

DD is 17 months and has about 8 words and a variety of other 'words' that only we can understand. My MIL constantly says to me 'ah don't worry she'll talk soon'. I think she expects her to be talking in full sentences! My point is that whatever stage of development they're at people like to comment. I think it's 'throwaway' to them but they don't realise how much you take it to heart when it's your own child. By the way MIL is adamant DH was talking in sentences at 9 months! People 'misremember' ??

AlwaysDancing1234 · 06/04/2015 08:19

I agree with InItToWin it, people definitely Mis-remember! If you heard MIL and my DM they'd have you believing heir kids walked, talked and were potty trained whilst reading and writing novels at the age of 6 months Grin

flanjabelle · 06/04/2015 08:30

Their understanding is much more of an indicator at this age. Dd is 17 months and is only saying a few words consistently, but she understands everything I am saying to her and follows 2 stage requests (eg dd please will you pick up the teddy and bring it to mummy) so I'm not worried at all. She says loads of words when prompted but only about 10 off of her own back.

It's really hard not to compare, but they really will get there in their own time.

Cobo · 06/04/2015 09:40

Saying "achoo" is a context-specific sound with a recognised meaning - a word, in other words. So she has one already. :)

Mirshid · 06/04/2015 21:27

My dd is coming up to 15 months old and is also very quiet. I go through stages of worrying and then not being concerned at all... She has very good understanding but can only say mamma v occasionally though in context and she can neigh... (I have got horses so I can only assume this is why!!)

wtftodo · 06/04/2015 22:04

Haven't read all these comments yet but: my 18mo had a massive explosion of words at 16-17m after being "behind" verbally. She had had some words at 12-13m which vanished. She is also v active and I always assumed that's why she wasn't making sounds etc. However she does have glue ear it transpired, and I would echo suggestions that you get it checked out. We were referred by drop in speech and language therapist who we visited at hv suggestion as daughter wasn't making consonant sounds at 9/10m. Oh and if she is "ah choo"ing in context then that counts as a word surely!

wtftodo · 06/04/2015 22:05

Also her understanding is much better than her speaking which I assumed was normal but the audiologist said this can be related to glue ear.

toffeeboffin · 07/04/2015 17:04

My 15 month old is exactly the same. He makes loads of noises but as for words the limit is pretty much mama and baba, but they don't really seem to match the thing i.e. I can be 'baba' as can DH.

He has just started to shake his head to mean 'no' accompanied by a noise that sounds like 'nah'.

He definitely communicates though - we have a 'conversation' and there is intonation, questions, answers but all gibberish : )

Original poster
lastjaffacake · 07/04/2015 19:40

Today we were at the park looking at the birds (DD adores birds) and I was sure she said "tweet tweet". It seemed so clear at the time but no one else was around to hear it and I haven't been able to get her to say it again so now I'm wondering if I imagined it Confused

OP posts:
ImperialBlether · 07/04/2015 19:42

When my children (in their 20s now) were that age we were told they had to speak 4 words by the age of 2. I couldn't believe what they counted as a 'word' tbh!

DIYandEatCake · 07/04/2015 21:02

She sounds pretty similar to my ds (also nearly 16mo). I'm not worried about him though - he has an older sister and I can remember her having a sudden leap in talking at around 17-18 months. it's amazing how fast they pick up new words when they start. I think ds is beginning now - just today he's learned 'uh-oh!' and 'duck' (well, dah! but near enough!). Yesterday he could only say 'mama' and occasionally 'bye-bye'. Good advice to get hearing checked, but if it's ok I'm sure she'll start picking up words soon.

Original poster
lastjaffacake · 07/04/2015 22:34

Imperial, that's really interesting how much expectations have changed in just 20ish years! I find that quite reassuring actually.

OP posts:
ImperialBlether · 07/04/2015 22:48

OP, we were in the surgery for her two year assessment. She asked how many words my daughter spoke. I said 'None.' My daughter went "da da da" and they said, "There's a word!" To my mind, that wasn't a word! Then she said something else, eg, "Waaah" and they said, "There's another!" At the end of the session they said she'd said about 10-20 words - I wasn't convinced but was grateful she'd passed the test and got her out of there quickly!

Try not to worry. Wait a while and see how it goes. Your daughter hasn't read the text books, don't forget!

boloriabullet · 07/04/2015 23:42

My brother (who is now 31 years of age) was referred to speech therapy aged two because by then, his vocabulary comprised of four or five made up words....
He's now a celebrated scholar and an extremely talented dentist Grin
Please don't worry, keep doing what you are doing, she sounds like a wonderful well-loved little girl