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Original poster

Reassurance sought...I'm fine until I start reading other people's posts about their child holding full on conversations at age 7 months...

53 replies

Jessajam · 15/01/2007 15:56

DS is 17 months. He says 'oh dear' if he drops something. He says 'Byeee" and he says "Ah doo Daht" (which we don't understand!).

He isn't consistent with "Dada" or "Mama" or anything else much, although he does babble away to himself a lot.

Normal, yes?

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LittleSarah · 15/01/2007 16:48

that she really began

pooka · 15/01/2007 17:23

DS is 16 months and only I can understand a few things he says - jump/up/down. And I mean it's only ME that can understand it - wouldn't call them proper words in any respect.
The only thing he says with absolute clarity is choc-choc. That's my boy!
He makes lots of noises and what sound like sentences but gibberish.
DD was marginally quicker to speak than him, but really one of the last of her peer group. When ds was born (she was 2.2) there was a sudden and amazing development - whole sentences and monologues.
And now she's a chatterbox.

Tutter · 15/01/2007 17:25

if it helps, ds will be 20mo on wednesday. he only says 'uh-oh'

DaisyMOO · 15/01/2007 18:05

Not suggesting at all that people on here exaggerate but I have a friend who swore blind her 9 month old was talking in sentences. Having spent some time with them I came to the conclusion that it was wishful thinking

And don't think that just because they are early/late talkers that they are bright/thick. Another friend whose little boy really was talking in long sentences at 20 months, is now aged 6 and struggling at school....

Don't stress, it all sounds fine to me and 99% of the time they get there in the end.

boo64 · 15/01/2007 20:40

I'll second that - apparently brother was 3 before he talked and then went to Cambridge so definitely isn't a thicko!

boo64 · 15/01/2007 20:42

sorry, maybe I am a thicko, that was meant to say my brother

aviatrix · 15/01/2007 20:42

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Smithagain · 15/01/2007 20:45

DD2 is also 17 months. She can say hello (completely indiscriminately), uh-uh (which sometimes means "all gone" and sometimes "oh dear, I've dropped something"), and mumumumumum (which appears to mean anything else she wants to say). She understands a few things we say, but even that is a bit hit and miss.

But she has a fine repertoire of grunts and is getting very good at sign language, along the lines of slapping the sofa when she wants to get up and dragging me to the biscuit tin when she's hungry. It's all a bit strange, after DD1 who talked really early, and hasn't stopped since. But I'm not worried yet - this thread has been really useful.

wrinklytum · 15/01/2007 20:49

Yes please don't worry about your little one.My ds was an early walker and talker,dd has been a late bloomer.They are all different!

lackofgravitas · 15/01/2007 21:04

This is where keeping a blog comes in really handy. At 17 months DD said: ta, dada, tickle, all-gone and rou-rou (that last being her rendition of 'round and round the garden'). First two-word combination came about eight months later (to my eternal amusement it was 'no, daddy!').

Not that long before I'd been convinced she was never going to learn to walk (she wasn't mobile at all until 14 months, when she suddenly started to crawl like she'd been doing it all her life). My friend was always trying to reassure me, reminding me that her DD hadn't walked until 19 months, but she'd been talking in sentences at that age, so all I was thinking is 'great, she can't do ANYTHING!' And then, of course, it all came together.

She's now 2.10, and sometimes I seek out strangers especially to STOP her talking (she's very shy).

MerryMarigold · 15/01/2007 21:06

my 14 mo says 'bow' over and over again. i think it means ball. nothing else.

mrsnoah · 15/01/2007 21:25

bless ! Make the most of the lovely babbling sounds jessajam.
Before long it will be 'Mum, can I have some more money? No I will NOT go to bed etc'

Ds10months will not crawl or move off his fat little backside because his 2 much older sisters fetch and carry to his every whim.

But he does shout 'YEAH' in the middle of their heated debates.

mosschops30 · 15/01/2007 21:29

ds just turned 2 last week and says the usual mummy, daddy, booby (scooby), bobo-bat (postman pat), tinky lala po, bob-bee (bob the builder)

see he spends far too much time watching tv, and when the hv comes round this week he will just be able to tell her everything from cbeebies

Cappuccino · 15/01/2007 21:32

my mil was convinced that dniece started talking at five months ffs

she then asked constantly about my dd, who is 4 months older. 'Isn't she talking yet? dn is saying 'get down off the settee' and some bollocks

my dd is 2 and all her friends have been blending words for ages eg 'blue plane' 'moon gone'

the only words she blends are 'no! no! no!'

I'm not worrying - after having a dd with cp first time round, I know that if there was something wrong, there would really be something wrong.

kids develop at different rates. step off that comparison wagon now, it is the way that madness lies

Lilymaid · 15/01/2007 21:39

Your DS sounds perfectly normal. My brother didn't start talking in English until he was around 3 - he waited until he could manage complete sentences. He "didn't" read for a long time - but was eventually caught out when he asked what a road sign "deceptive bends" meant.
My teenage DSs always seemed behind some of the child wonders of other mothers in my area. Elder is now at good university, younger is planning a business career after a degree. Take the long view ...

tribpot · 15/01/2007 21:43

My ds (18 months) has just added to his general repertoire of sounds: bin

This may mean:
[washing] machine
medicine (also sometimes min)
swings
The Actual Bin

Therefore I can sometimes decode "mama bin" and other classics like "bye-bye oh-oh" (goodbye dog) but no-one else has the faintest idea what he's talking about, except dh obviously.

I like to test him on his knowledge of how porridge is made. "What's next?" "Poom" [spoon] "Then what?" "Ay-eep" [wait for the beep on the microwave] Etc. I definitely think: enjoy all this madness and then embarrass them with it when they are 18.

me23 · 15/01/2007 22:12

my dd just turned 19 months, says 'juice' 'mama' 'bYe' 'uh-oh' also much less often 'shoe' 'hi' 'row row' (when sing row ur boat.

says woof woof on seeing a dog or any animal really lol.

her childminder says I should take her to a speech and lang therapist

surely itstoo early for that?

tribpot · 15/01/2007 22:29

I think far more important than how many different 'words' can she say is: can she communicate what she wants/doesn't want and understand you when you talk to her? I'm sure she can (within reasonable bounds, i.e. a bit flummoxed by discussions of astrophysics) and so there's nothing to worry about. Ds had a classic on the climbing frame/slidey thing at the weekend: "do you want to go down the slide?" "NO!" - very clear and definite no. Still stood there in the way of all the other kids, obviously.

Kif · 15/01/2007 22:51

my dd was like OP's dc. she's fine now (nearly 3)

i think motivation helps... my dds best vocab was from nursery: 'mine'. my mil is good at persistently asking for them to say the words, whereas i tend to just get her what i know she wants, so she can get away with being lazy

Raggydoll · 15/01/2007 23:18

dd recently said her first word (she is 16mths) and it was 'bang'! And just to be sure we understood exactly what she meant she picked up the remote control, pointed it at her daddys head and said it again 'bang bang'.

Her older brother had a cowboy set for his birthday complete with TWO pistols and they have been very popular.

Oh, my heart swelled with pride .

arfishy · 15/01/2007 23:45

DD didn't talk until she was 2.5, not at all. I got really stressed and started to look for a speech therapist (PFB syndrome) and literally the week I found one she started to talk.

She's 4 now and has a huge vocabulary and is of course far ahead of her peers

me23 · 16/01/2007 12:06

yes dd understands what I say to her for eg 'put in in the rubbish bin' and she will go to the bin. and go inot your bedroom etc..

she points and gestures to what she wants aswell.

prampusher · 23/02/2007 13:25

yep me too... my DS is lovely and I'm sure he is doing fine then someone says is he this or that yet and I think nope and should he be. This really bugs my DH and I end up feeling bad...
It really does seem that they all go at different rates. I went to a class some months ago and one of the mum there was saying v loudly that her daughter was advanced as she was walking at 10 months. Annoying huh! We do all get there in the end though don't we... you don't see fully grown men and women still bottom shuffling and crawling! Actually I'm looking for reassurance because DS (11m) doesn't sit in one place for a second or seem to want to play with something... always onto the next thing... are other babies like this at this age? I know the answer must be of course but would be good to hear it.

wulfricsmummy · 23/02/2007 13:43

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Daisybump · 23/02/2007 13:51

I used to think my DS was a genius and so well developed in his speech at around 1yr to 18mo....but looking back at the videos we made, it's all gobbledygook to my ears now.... I think because you are with them constantly you can understand them. I'm sure other people won't be able to have the same full on conversation with their LO as they do, so don't worry about it .

hope that wasn't too irrelevant, I haven't read the whole thread!!