Normal comprehension - 13 months

[Herty99]

Hi, my son has recently turned 13 months and I am a little concerned at how little he seems to understand. It is hard to compare to other children his age during covid times so I’m not sure if it’s normal or not. So just wondering if anyone can tell me what their children were like at a similar age?

He babbles lots and in the last week has said his first word (duck said at the pond in context multiple times). But his understanding seems really low. He responds to his name most of the time, although not when distracted. He seems to understand no/stop as he gets very upset when he hears it. He will respond to sit down, give me, come here, some but not all of the time and often only when accompanied by a gesture. He seems to know water and spoon as he looks at those items when named. He has a few other words that sometimes I think he understands but other times he seems to be completely oblivious too: sock, shoes, book. I think he knows mama and dada, as sometimes he will call mamamama when I leave and similar for his dad, but he doesn’t seem to look at us when we say things like where is mama?

So, is this a really low number of words to understand? When looking at milestones on google (I know I need to stop) they seem to suggest that he should know lots of objects by now, should go pick up his coat if asked and be able to identify body parts, which he is not able to do.

So what is normal for this age?

And any suggestions on what we could do to help him improve would be much appreciated.

Yeh my 13 month old would definitely not go get a coat. Sounds normal to be honest. Although she can point to her nose etc but then that’s something I have made a point of teaching.

I think that sounds pretty normal. Mine understood a fair bit by that age but was saying hardly anything. They're all different. I would see where you're at by age 18MO and then age 2. Just talk lots to her. Flashcards and simple books are good too. But try and avoid 'testing her' as she may be resistant to this. Mine refused to demonstrate what body parts she knew til about 15MO when she was suddenly able to point to them all lol. She's never liked doing things for show x

To me, his understanding sounds perfect!

All those milestone books and google etc just enhance your worries in my opinion. I would throw them away and stop googling because usually, if there is an actual issue you would notice without those books. It's good to keep an eye on development but not overdo it because people tend to overanalyse their child's behaviour really quickly and then tend to worry.

Mine pointed at 14/15 months, some people would call this late but he did it in his own time and that's ok, with that came that he couldn't point to his nose or in fact any body part because, he couldn't point. Nothing wrong with him, comprehension in two languages is great now, starting to talk and will be 2 in January.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. Yes, I need to stop worrying, easier said than done though, especially when google is right there! I suppose the important thing is that he is progressing, at 12 months he only seemed to understand his name, so he is moving in the right direction.

My son is also being brought up bilingual @cheesebubble, his dad speaks to him in his native language, and I do wonder if that has contributed.

@Herty99 I do believe it does have an impact on comprehension and him being able to speak. Don't forget that for 1 word, bilingual children always learn 2 which means that other children might understand 10 words, yours would only really understand 5 but knows 10 as well?

He now speaks both languages (repeats words, points at things and names them etc, lost track 50 words maybe? But a mix of the two and mor English than German) but he doesn't put two words together yet. The health visitor even said that often it takes them longer to start with, not language delay as such but just a bit slower.