Worried about my daughters speech

[nyleye15]

My daughter has just turned 18 months and I’m worried about her speech she doesn’t say an awful lot and I don’t know where to turn to get her help for speech... She does have an understanding but doesn’t point to things she wants which worries me but we do tend to give her things straight away so that’s probably my fault but I don’t know how to get her to point at stuff she wants...

she says words

mama/mum
dada/daddy
nana/nan
Ball
Gone/all gone
What
Bye (more bah which I correct and say bye) she can also wave
Bear
Out
Ta
Yeah
Uh oh
Brrrmmm (when riding car)
Barks at dog when dogs barking

And has said bubble, dog and cat a few time’s.

She doesn’t talk on demand..
I talk to her constantly and read and we listening to music etc I sing to her and I just don’t know where I’m going wrong.

I see other toddlers and they seem more advanced in this area and I worry as she has been hitting all her milestones early but with speech not so much.

Would I take her to the doctors or would they brush it off as I don’t know if it’s their expertise?

Honestly it sounds like your daughter is doing really well with her speech! My son at 18months had literally 0 words, and even now at 21months has quite a few words but still no mummy or daddy (which is gutting!). He doesn’t particularly talk on demand, though everything is ‘no’ at the moment.

So whilst I think that your daughter is doing really well, I understand how hard it is not to worry. I think the first step is to talk to your HV as they will be able to give better advice, and if they feel it necessary could potentially refer for speech and language therapy (but they might also feel that it’s not necessary at this stage).

For my DS we have been working with a private speech therapist, and he has made so much progress in a very short space of time. The main thing we have been working on is making sure he looks at us when we’re talking, at least for 5mins a day. It actually means you can end up talking less at first, but he’s gone from 0 words to about 20 clearish words and maybe 10 more that I understand but no one else would!

You are doing everything right for your DD

Thank you so much for your lovely reply I have been worried so much I will speak to my HV and see what they say. Thank you again x

@nyleye15 she looks like she is on track for her speech, only 8 words are expected at 18M so she already has that. Does she use them in context? does she babble through the day? Not pointing to request is a little concerning at 18M, giving her things should not stop her from pointing to request, there will always be things out of reach (it is not uncommon for a 18M toddler to point in excess of 50+ times a day). Does she point to share interests (like a plane in th sky)? Pointing is a critical milestone, and not pointing by 18M would be considered late, not pointing by 24M would be very late (and should prompt further investigation).

@aladdinMum I have been on the phone to my HV already as not pointing Can be a red flag for being on the spectrum. She used to point before she was one and has pointed at a ant on the tv today and tried to grab it and pointed at me today but not for a ‘reason’ so I am looking to get it investigated. Thanks for your reply

Those are very encouraging signs, it sounds like pointing is emerging :) pointing before 12M would have been very advanced (as it tends to appear between 12-18M)