Lack of Babbling

[MrsMath]

Hi all. So this is my first ever post so please bear with me. My son has just turned 10 months old and i noticed a few weeks ago that he has never stuck his tongue out. i didnt realise this was even a "thing" until i have noticed other babies doing it a lot. When he was born i queried whether he had a tongue tie which was dismissed as even though he struggled to latch he would feed well from a bottle and has always been >80th percentile. (he has now recently been diagnoses with both a tongue and lip tie)
I have noticed recently that he just never babbles, I get plenty of squeals and shouts but there are no distinct sounds like ma's/da's/ga's etc. He seems to be hitting all of his other milestones with the exception of his gross motor (he can pull himself up onto furniture but is very clumsy which i believe is due to his size - he is currently 12.1kg at 10 months). He waves, claps his hands, responds to his name, however, he never attempts to imitate any noises or babbles (he will imitate me if i cough or clap but no noises). (there was one occasion around 4 weeks ago he babbled whilst picking up his story book and he hasnt done it since) which is making me wonder whether this is related to his tongue tie as it was there once and then never did it again. Naturally my mind is falling down a google/youtube rabbit hole of reading accounts from parents with autistic children where the only real red flag was a lack of babbling. Has anyone experienced the same? Thank you if you've taken the time to read this essay!

Yes DD rarely babbled and is now on the Pathway but not babbling doesn't automatically mean ASD.

Are you getting the ties cut? If you can I would really recommend doing it.

Has he had a hearing test too? I'd do this progress checker for speech and language and if it throws up any concerns, ask your HV to refer him for a hearing test and ask her to do the Ages & Stages for 3 months.

Hi, thank you for getting back to me! The HV is coming out at the end of the month for his check when he will be a week off 11 months. I’ve noticed he goes through stages of having quite waxy ears, however, I really don’t feel like he had any issues with his hearing. Put it this way - last week one of my dogs farted in the next room and he swung his head around to see where the noise was coming from haha. Yes I want to get the tongue tie dealt with as he can’t even stick his tongue out. I am really frustrated that they dismissed my concerns when he was a few weeks old due to how well he was thriving. It really doesn’t seem to be effecting his eating, but I guess if it’s all he’s ever known then babies adapt! He is very vocal lots of op’s and aa’s just no actual consonants put together

Hi mom... How is your baby doing now.. As you said rarelly babbled... Dis he imitate you at 12 months with verbal?

Hello! Well around a month after posting this he started babbling again and never stopped since! I spoke to a friend who is a speech therapist who said that babies sometimes are too busy concentrating on other skills. He was 1 year old at the weekend, he does try to imitate some sounds (but he can’t imitate anything that involves using his tongue to make noises) he will clap, wave, play pick a boo and blow kisses. are you having similar concerns with your baby?

Hi @MrsMath - how is your lb now? My son is 10months old and I was about to write a post identical to yours!

Hello! My son has just turned 19 months now . He is a character to say the least. He has around 5 works which I understand is less than he should have, however, he has randomly came out with words such as “delicious” and when he was playing with his grandad a few weeks ago and when his grandad stopped playing with him he shouted “again Grandad” I often feel like he can say words and just feels like he shouldn’t. The lack of babbling made me lose so much sleep and fall down so many rabbit holes however, as time has went on I feel the anxiety has eased somewhat. How is your boy doing otherwise?

Sorry that meant I feel like he can say words and chooses not too! It’s been a long day!

Great to hear that he is doing well - such a little menace for keeping you on your toes with his words!!

My son is doing well in other areas, I think (we should have his 10month check soon). He is crawling and trying to walk. He claps, points and waves and I feel like he understands simple instructions, but just grunts and makes vowel sounds when other babies his age and younger are doing lovely babbling. He did start blowing raspberries last week and so I have my fingers crossed that some babbling comes soon.

Hi how did your little ones come on
@MrsMath
@twentynineteen

@Mumof3bb1 he is doing so well! He has what I’d say is a definite speech delay - (when you compare him to most kids his age who are mostly girls) however, ironically he was referred to speech therapy a few weeks back having only around 10 words and typically he has started saying a lot more words since then. His lack of babbling used to keep me up at night however, I took a lot of comfort in that he was showing great understanding of everything!

Op I'm so glad all is going well with your little boy and you're feeling less worried now. I'm mum to 5DD's and I'd like to tell you about DD4. She didn't babble at all either but definitely understood everything we said and obeyed simple instructions such as "get your shoes please" or "give the ball to Mummy" etc at quite an early age. She was a sweet, docile baby just not at all vocal and incidentally also had a tongue tie that was released at 10 months under a G.A, She had very delayed speech and didn't have any words at all by 2 and a half much to the consternation of all the HCP's she encountered. Interestingly, by 3 she was speaking clearly in sentences with a wide vocabulary for her age. Our conclusion was that she seemed to have a pattern of not doing anything until she could do it well and quickly and when SHE was ready. Her baby milestones were generally on the late side and she seems to have maintained that stance throughout her life - slow and steady wins the race. She is now a happy, successful and highly regarded doctor - I so wish I'd known that would be the outcome at times when I was worrying about her just sitting contently with her blankie and a rattle whilst her peers were toddling around and chatting to their mummies!

@MrsMath aww that’s great to hear he’s improving day by day, my son is going to be 10 months on the 13th he was born 3 weeks early, he sits well unsupported and will reach for toys, he get himself in and out of sitting, has just learnt how to crawl and can pull to stand with ease, struggles to sit back down though, just stays standing until we get him back down.

he is not babbling like the other babies, makes occasional noises and screams but no babbles Ma, baba or dada.

His eye contact is okay ish,when he’s in his pram he becomes a different baby and will not look at anyone, he doesn’t copy us or clap, wave or point. EVERYTHING goes straight into his mouth, wants to lick and bite everything.

Sleeps and eats well, I feed him I can’t deal with the BLW mess🙈

He will bang his hand on table if I do it, and can bang two objects together.

I feel like a terrible mother and im at the very end of the rope. We read together, sing, babble, all day long.

when I make the mama movement with my mouth with no sound he copies that movement sometimes with his mouth but no sounds if that makes sense.

Smiles when he sees me/husband or other family members, can lift arms to be picked up and will use me to pull to stand up.

I find he twirls his arms/feet occasionally and kicks legs really fast when lying down, and stares at the door handles the blinds and lamp in my room.

I am at the end of my tether, HV seems to think I have health anxiety.

He has no separation anxiety and I feel he stares into blank spaces at times.

will smile if I say smile, and looks at where I point at times, 70% will look when I call his name, if he isn’t engrossed in something.

Will watch me do the actions to heads shoulders, knees and toes but can’t mimic any songs or actions.

will lift arms up to come to me or my other family members, if he drops a toy will look where it’s fallen.

enjoys when I play peek a boo, but won’t play it himself, cannot pass me any toys.

my main concern is lack of babbling and the no gestures!

Sorry for the long post!

@Mumof3bb1 i can absolutely relate to how you are feeling. Every little indicator that I thought could be a sign of any kind of delay I was completely fixating on it and to be honest I made myself quite unwell during that time which I now regret as I feel as though I missed out on a lot of happiness and “firsts” that I’ll never get back because I was so consumed with worry. I remember feeling exactly how you were right now and every Avenue I went down in regards to “no babbling” took me to the same possible diagnosis which made me so scared for how his future may look. The only advice I can give which I was given myself at the time is to please be kind to yourself, your son will end up the person he will be whether you spend this time worrying or not so please try to enjoy him as much as you can. My inbox is always open if you want to chat more x

@MrsMath thank you for such a kind message, I feel so helpless, I try and enjoy every minute but at the back of my mind I worried sick 😭

@Mumof3bb1 It is so easy to spend time worrying isn’t it? You care/we care for our babies so it’s impossible not to. How have you managed the stress from worrying? and how is your little one now?

Hi @Mumof3bb1 goq is your son now?

So up until Christmas he only had around a handful of words, almost overnight he seemed to turn a corner. He is the biggest chatterbox now and never actually shuts up. I really wish i could get the time back that i spent worrying about his speech delay. I

@MrsMath Great to hear that. Thanks for the update.
did your son coo when three/four months?

@MrsMath May I ask if your dc blew rasberry as a baby?

Hello sorry I didn’t see your response. He did coo but no he didn’t blow raspberries - he didn’t actually stick his tongue out until he was around 14 months old

@Yas1362

@MrsMath thank you for the response. I’m noticing the same for my son. He is 5.5 months.