10 month old not babbling,imitating or responding to name. Should I be worried?

[LavenderBlue95]

Hi all,

My Ds is 10 months old now. He is so quiet! He will grunt and squeal but he doesn’t babble at all! He was going “ ba ba ba” about a mont ago for maybe 2 days but nothing since.

He doesn’t clap, wave, point or imitate things I do or respond to his name. I thought it was maybe a bit too early to worry at this age but a couple of people have commented on it recently and never I’m a bit concerned.

He’s always been “on time” for other developments. He can crawl, sit well, pull to stand and is taking steps with his walker.

Were any of your children just late to babble or was there a medical reason?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

My son was language delayed but we didn't figure that out until he was 18 months old, as he wasn't completely non-verbal and he was our first. It was the pediatrician who noticed it and referred us for an evaluation.

He wound up having speech therapy, which helped a lot. Can you get him seen by a pediatrician?

@MissConductUS Oh bless him, so glad the therapy helped him.

I think I will mention it to the health visitor just in case there is something not quite right

You're right to get on it early, if there is something wrong. My son really struggled in primary school, as the language delay delayed his reading, which made all of his subjects harder. He needed a lot of additional support.

The good news is that he's a very bright young man and he's finishing uni next spring, where he has done very well indeed.

From what you've said I think it's worth doing this progress checker for 9 months. It will help you to see if he does need some extra help.

Thanks everyone, I’m going to call my health visitor in the morning. I feel awful that I didn’t think it was anything to worry about yet

Thanks everyone, I’m going to call my health visitor in the morning. I feel awful that I didn’t think it was anything to worry about

Please don't feel awful. It's still very young to pick up any speech delay and your HV will most probably say "wait and see".

I'd definitely ask for a hearing test though, just to rule it out.

I spoke to my HV this morning. She did tell me not to worry but is going to bring his 12 month review forward and has referred him to have his hearing checked.

@LavenderBlue95

I spoke to my HV this morning. She did tell me not to worry but is going to bring his 12 month review forward and has referred him to have his hearing checked.

Can I ask how you got on?

@Hotpot33 So, he actually started to babble the same day she came out to visit him and hasn’t stopped since (some days more than others). She told me not to worry as some of those things they don’t flag up until 12 months but she’s going to come back on the 1st December as I’ve been really worried. Hope that helps

Hello, I would just like to ask how is your little bpy doing now? I have an 8mos who doesnnt babble and imitate also.

Hiya,

He is 16 months old now. He started to clap and wave at 11 months but still doesn’t point. He imitates a lot too now. He says about 10 words and is very chatty! He went through stages of being quieter and then chatty again. We have no concerns about his speech. Hope that helps :)

@LavenderBlue95 hi how is your little one now?

Hi, he is 3.5 now and the chattiest little thing! He started to point at about 17 months, so on the later side of “normal”. He has double glue ear which could explain the lack of responding to his name. Once he started talking again he took off completely and was and still is very advanced. He still has some “quirks”, which makes us question if he could have something going on. But, I can’t believe he’s the same child I worried so much about. He’s happy, chatty and a lot more confident.

I know everybody is saying you’re right to worry, and I definitely agree to get it checked with HV. HOWEVER, my boy babbled at 8 months which can be considered on the later side, he’s 12 months now and still only babbles, doesn’t have any meaningful words really, barely ever responds to his name, I’m honestly not sure he even knows his name, he walks though and climbs and laughs all day. He claps but he doesn’t wave, he pointed a few times for about a week but stopped after that, he doesn’t blow a kiss, someone commented that he should be doing more gestures and I used to worry just like you.

However, I recently took him to a very good doctor abroad (we were abroad anyway) so I popped in as he was due a vaccination. He told me that milestones are very very general and he doesn’t like to focus too much on them. It sounds like your boy is more of a mover than a talker. Lots of babies communicate later. It’s also been suggested that babies who have all of their needs met really well tend to have less motivation to talk. I’m sure you’re doing an amazing job with your little one and he will probably catch up soon, he’s still soo young. The difference between my son at 10 months and now at 12 months is huge. 10 months is such a baby. Check with your HV but I’m sure he’s fine. Good luck with everything 🥹

Hi @sal96 how’s your little boy coming on?

He’s just turned 15 months. Has quite a few words these days (not all of them clear but he knows what he means) he says doggy, baby, birdie, bye bye, narnar (banana), iya (hello), nom (food), brum (car), mama, baba (dad in Arabic), dada, he tries to say sam but comes out sa (that’s his aunt) and he says nanan (nan).

He responds to his name sometimes now, not when he’s busy but when he’s not focused on much else. He comes over for hugs and kisses, he points to things and passes us things for example he gets the dogs lead of a morning and brings it to us. He got the carrier out today and passed me it and said ‘shhh’ because he wanted a nap 😂 it’s amazing how quick they come on. His language is not as advanced as some kids his age but it’s come on so much and every child is so different. Oh and he started blowing kisses too with his hand and he loooves dancing. Literally anything with a beat comes on and he starts dancing 😂

@sal96 ahhh that’s amazing how much he has come on in a few months, do you remember when he started pointing?!