Developmental delays

[BenandJerry]

New here and a questions for you Mumsnetters. Hope you can help. If your child is deemed to have a "developmental delay" and not hitting some/all milestones (my daughter is not talking at all (not even 'mamama' or 'bababa' ) at 14 months, amongst other things) does that more often than not mean a "DELAY" with the assumptions the child will likely catch up with their peers in the end? I am panicking that she may NEVER talk. What is the likelehood of that?
Jen

is she making any sound at all - if so what type of sounds? was she late with her teeth - does she eat solid food ok? babies are all so different. i think 14 months is fine for her not to be talking - many including my ds1 didn't really start until 18months, some 2 years. some experts believe that some children wait until they feel they can say the words rather than practice outloud. just chat away to her at every opportunity at her level,really engage with her lots of eye contact, observations of what is around her so the words have meaning. einstein didn't utter his first word until the age of 3 - it will be worth the wait!

einstein was probably autistic!

My dd is 8 months and has just been refered top salt.

hercules - why has your daughter been refered at only 8 months????
Ta shrub

no babbling, no vowels or constanants. Also 2 year wait! No raspberries.

I truly wouldn't worry just yet. My dd is 20 months and started 'talking' more properly around 13 months or so and is now a total chatterbox but it happened very slowly and gradually at first. However, I'm constantly meeting people with children the same age or older who are saying very few words and they're all ok. Personally I think it depends what the child puts their energy into. Dd was very interested in speaking but has taken longer to do more physical things. Your dd will suddenly surprise you and when the words start coming you won't believe how quickly they multiply! Oh and look out for mispronounciations: dd's first 'word' was dice meaning dog.

Ben - I wouldn't panick just yet!!!! What else does she not do for "her" age. I met a child who walked at 26 months (that's way later than average). She may be slower in some things and faster in others. There are plenty of 2 yo who ONLY say baba and mama and dada....
I was going to ask if anyone knew 10 months who could not sit up unaided ???

no words at all though.

It's such a worry isn't it? Mine does ocasionally oo and ah and the occasional raspberry but no consonants, ever. What does your daughter's doctor say? Has she had her hearing tested or is it obvious she hears?

Having had two sn children , one with developmental delay and one with cerebral palsy, I would assume a delay to mean just that, unless further investigation proves otherwise. Not talking at 14m isn't too much to worry about just yet, imho. As well as the 2 sn children, I had another child who couldn't say any more than mama and dada at the age of 2. She had speech therapy and is now a non stop chatterbox. She does have sppech therapy in bursts still, but only to correct her pronunciation. Hth.

hercules, I know she doesn't say words...but does she make any noises?

in ireland we have hearing test at 9mths...has you dd had one yet?

and i know its been said before but they all do different things at different ages.

14 months is probably a little early to be worrying about not talking. Have you spoken to your HV about it? Has your dd's hearing been tested?

I used to worry that my ds1 would never talk. He has high-functioning autism and finally started to talk when he was about 3yrs old. He still has language therapy but speaks clearly enough to be understood by complete strangers. HTH.

My dd was diagnosed as having delayed speech but it wasn't detected until she was 3 years old. I think I was concerned by around 2 years that her speech was unclear. I normally knew what she was saying but needed to translate it to others! Lots of talking to your DD and pointing at and naming objects will help (I'm not saying you don't do this already!) but keep doing this and her speech will come along when she is ready.

A delay usually means a delay- ie they get there in the end and following the right order. My son has autism and a language disorder which means that he is learning language in a totally abnormal way iyswim.

IMO always best to get things checked out early - 14 months is difficult to know what is going on- but try not to panic (difficult I know). Some children are just slow developers- but by keeping an eye on things any problems will be noticed early and you'll have a chance of early intervention which makes a difference.

My DS did not speak until he was about 2 - no clear words until then but he did 'know' loads of words and the doctors said that he was a the back end of normal - now aged 4.5 he talks non-stop and has a huge vocab - far bigger than his peers. When he started talking, he more or less went straight in with full speech - one of the first things he said was 'Where is my Daddy' rather than just Dada? Try not to worry - easier said than done!

I dont know if this helps but my dd was born prematurely so my health visitor has always said that dd will be a little later at new milestones, like I had to wait an extra month before I started dd on solids for example. Personally myself, I do sometimes worry that maybe dd should be doing things that I see other children do at her age, such as saying more words etc. but I keep saying to myself that she'll learn in her own time, and that every baby is different, and not too worry so much. Not sure if that is at all helpful, but thought Id try

Just wanted to add... my son is now 3.5 and has only JUST got round to putting sentences together... at 2 he could on manage to grunt "uunt, uunt"... then, since about 2.5 could only manage the end of words eg outside "ide" etc.... I'm sure your littlie will be fine and try not to compare to others kids and get into that whole competition thing.... keep chatting to her/him, ask them lots of questions. I was told to start with noises... "quack quack" "beep beep" etc and ask "what can you hear" when walking etc... give them lots of encouragement to talk. Games like putting beads etc into a cup and tipping them out and say "full" and then "empty"... after a while just fill it up and don't say anything and leave your child to fill the silence by saying the word themselves... this works with open/shut etc etc.... picture lotto is another good game for them to learn vocab... it will come in time, just keep getting them checked if you are still unhappy in another 6 months time. Hope that's of some help. I was worried for a while too and frustrated at hearing other kids talk who were younger but now I can't shut him up and he just told me tonight "me love you sweetheart".... bless!!

Oh also.... he was very early climbing, walking at 10 months etc and sometimes when they are quick at one thing they are slow in another. Babies who don't crawl generally talk quicker as they have to learn to ask for things whereas mine just climbed up onto the worktops and helped himself!

Hi MancMum - when you say that your ds did not speak until 2 yo but not in sentences until 3.5 yo, did he try to speak as in 'jibberish'? My ds who is 2y 2m does say quite a few words but also comes out with a load of 'words' which possibly only the man from Mars would understand. He does not however, say Mummy or Daddy yet which I find most frustrating! I know it will come in time but this waiting is so hard! He says ' where's it gone' 'wherezitgon' and loads more so I am not particularly worried - it is just the 'foreign language' he speaks that makes me wonder if his speech is a bit jumbled up and he is in need of speech therapy. What do you think? Any comments gratefully received!

BenandJerry,

I could have written the self same question to this site two and a half years ago.

My son was diagnosed with both developmental delay and speech and language delay by his paediatrician at two and a half (I was concerned beforehand as his speech was pretty much non existant till then except a few sounds).

It is highly likely that your DD will talk when she is ready to. My son is now 5 and chats away like nobody's business. His speech is now much clearer than it was a year ago.

Has your child had a hearing test?. If not I would ask for one to be arranged.

A developmentally delayed child learns the same as other non delayed children but their progress is slower as it takes them longer to process the information (this is my personal understanding). My son is likely to be at near enough the same level as his peers during the next couple of years but early intervention with such a delay upon getting this diagnosis is vitally important.

HTH

Hawaii

Hi

I have twins...ask anyone with twins about development and the majority will say that each child reached their 'milestones' at completely different times. One of mine started walking at 1 year, the other still isn't (5 steps max) at 21 months!!! The non-walking one is deaf but we have known this from 9 weeks and, although it does affect their development it shouldn't stop them reaching the same goals, obviously.

It is so unlikely that there is a problem, I know lots of people whose children spoke 'late' (who decides these time scales anyway?!?), BUT it is so worth staying on top of things so that if there is then at least you are ahead of the game. Hearing test is an obvious one or, in time, some kind of speech therapy - waiting lists can be forever so we paid to go to a fantastic place in London called Christopher Place. But you won't need that yet...just keep speech therapy up your sleeve if necessary. The worst thing is to ignore any problem which is obviously not the case with you.

My daughter said 'bye bye' today (first words ever!!) thanks to all the help she has had; only 21 months and profoundly deaf. Amazing help out there if you need it.

As others have said before, just keep talking to your child, repeating sounds, always reacting to any sound she makes so that she realises it is worth the effort, and give her the time to talk before rushing in and interpreting her needs for her.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Tinkerbell, where have you been? (It's probably just me - Mrs Tinybrain - but the last time I remember hearing from you they were still in hospital? Or had just come home?) You must have been very busy! Lovely to "see" you and hear about them anyway

my daughter has a development delay but they usually dont diagnose until they have missed several milestones, if they diagnoise at all. please dont worry

Janh - Hi!!!!!!!! yes it has been an unbelievable time but I now have two of the most glorious darlings in the world...well in my opinion anyway. It's been a long and, at times, exhausting journey but they made it and are now 21 months!! Never thought they would make it to 2 weeks!!

Hi, my daughter babbled normally as a baby but she started nursey at 3yrs4mths and she had a very limited vocabulary, she could only say mum and a few other words. At 4yrs she started to speak in sentences and now at 5yrs10mths she is finally a little chatterbox. Although last months grommets have helped hugely after ongoing hearing problems, I am however in the process of seeing my GP regularly as he and I have an inkling she may be mildly autistic as she has difficulty with eye contact, concentrating and she has no interest in peers or imaginative play!