Nodding/shaking head for yes and no

[Chocolateteapots]

My almost 16 month old doesn't do either yet. should I be concerned?

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I have an almost 16mo too. She shakes her head but as far as I can tell, just to copy me, not associated with no. And doesn't nod her head. I'm not at all concerned. Try not to worry.

DC1 was very late to do this (2.5) but it was noted by nursery around the 16 months mark that she couldn't respond to simple yes know questions (e.g. do you want more ?). we now have a dx of autism and learning difficulties. not sure when a child should be able to do this. but not being able to do it at 16 months was noted as unusual by our nursery. maybe have a chat with the HV. it seems to bother you.

DC1 (nt) did it from 9/10 months consistently.

Thanks both. I'll speak to HV as suggested. With regards to autism, were there other signs you noticed?

not really at that stage. things became very obvious after 2.5.

at 16 months my main niggle was lack of speech and even more though lack of understanding. DC2 was able to follow simple instructions at that age, answer yes/know and other simple questions. with hindsight, DC1 was not really understanding what we said and only had a handful of words.

I wouldn't unduly worry but follow up your niggles. any other concerns?

i don't think so, he points and shares, answers to his name. He points to several body parts.

I'm a born worrier!

we had neither of those. probably nothing but speak to HV if only to put your mind to rest

Mine is 23 months and has over 300 words, talks in sentences and has never nodded/shook her head for yes and no!

oh that's interesting to hear! I suppose if they have the words though, there's no need to gesture.

I think the point is to communicate yes or no. either verbally or by gestures. my child couldn't either.

My 26 month old has only just learnt this. So she has a speech delay ( only two words) so it has been most welcome.

At almost 16 months DD didn't have the words or the gestures. Her language has developed over the past 3 months. Eventually it just clicks!

DC3 is two tomorrow and has hardly any words, but can say yeah, no and uh oh (a handful of other consistent sounds but nothing anyone outside the family would recognise).

He can shake his head for no but can't (or doesn't) nod.

I honestly can't remember what he was doing at 16 months. Obviously he wasn't nodding but I don't think he was shaking his head either.

How's his comprehension, do you think?

Sorry, should add that the HV has no concerns about my DS because his understanding is good and hearing fine. 16 months is honestly very young for meaningful communication.

My DD is 17mo. She has been shaking her head for a couple of months and about a week ago started accompanying it with a 'NO!' [sigh] Absolutely no sign of any nods or a 'yes' yet.
I really wouldn't worry, they all have their own little skill sets and as PPs have said, 16mo is still early. I also agree that as long as they are communicating their needs somehow, that's good enough. DD has a fair number of words but she is still heavily reliant on the 'point and scream', and why not when it's so effective?

Thank you all for your replies, I didn't realise more people had left comments hence my late response.

I think his understanding is good although I'm a first time Mum so nothing to compare him to! He's very good at pointing to his body parts, will point out some familiar things in books, will go to the bottom of the stairs when i say 'bath time', puts his bath toys back in the basket when i say put the toys away, waves when you say hello or goodbye, claps when you say well done or clever boy. General communication - he points to request, has about 15-20 words. The shaking his head thing does seem to be the only worrying thing at the moment.

We phoned the HV yesterday and they have suggested we go to the SALT drop-in and see what they say so I'll be doing that next month when it's on, hopefully they will just put my mind at rest.

Great to hear from you all though, thanks again.

@Chocolateteapots hi can you please update? TIA

Hi, yes my son is almost 9 now and absolutely fine! Extremely social and doing well at school.

@Chocolateteapots thank you for update. It's great that he is doing really good. When did he start saying yes and no and shaking and nodding head?

I honestly can’t remember now! I think he started using the words before the actions, he was fairly good with speech so I guess he just developed slightly differently to the expected. Sorry if that’s not much help but you really do forget all these worries after a while.