The "talking" thread got me thinking...

[Weegle]

I don't actually have a clue what would be considered early/average/late for talking. I have a lot of baby friends who are listening out for first words (babies are around 8-11 months) which I thought was too early?? To me I will accept that DS has spoken his first word when it is a clear sound with a clear meaning e.g. cat whilst looking at the cat. But he says mama (when wanting something/upset), and dadadee and various other "babbles" but some friends imply this is speech but I don't figure it is as I don't think he's really got the meaning attached to it and it's just babble. Who is right? Also, DS has specific babbles which mean something to him e.g. "hada" just before the bath and "barter" when having his nappy changed - again I would say these are babbles but one friend says this is his own words. I'm confused! Obviously it's how long is a piece of string, but when is early/average/late for first words?

check out this site - is very good and will explain all the developmental milestones.
IMO babies that age are just babbling - learning to make sounds with their mouths etc.

also, they are learning how to make conversation ie - they babble and you respond - all part of the aquisition process.

I think they do sometimes manage to get a simple word out. They definitely seem to associate certain sounds with certain objects ("mama" being an obvious one, as it gets a response from their mothers). The thing is that their central nervous system is not wired up well enough at this age to get words out regularly - it is all very hit and miss. According to my mother (who works with children and knows a fair bit about child development) I spoke the odd word clearly at 9 months. Even if a child isn't saying anything which is obviously a word, it is all practice and learning social skills (such as turn-taking in conversations) which they will use for the rest of their lives. When my daughter babbles (or even when she cries) I still call it talking, as she is trying to tell me something when she does it, but I won't count any of it as her first word until it is very clear, I think.

ds1 was 13 months I think, dd was definitely 9 months, with very clear words, but she was always an early talker, with no baby talk at all. Interestingly she never babbled, or made any sounds - I was really worried she was deaf or had some other problem, but I think she was just listening intently, as she spoke with perfect intonation - her first word was UP going up the stairs, and she would say U-PPPP U-PPPPP U-PPP

Ds2 is nearly 10 months and doesn't babble all that much, but isn't saying words .