Not babbling 9.5 months

[Rach7291]

How can i help DD babble? She makes alot of squeaks, ooooo, and other noises but no babbling at all. I read to her, talk to her all the time, try repeating sounds shes making etc. i just don’t know how else to help her? She’s 9.5 months old and i’m so worried she’s behind now.

If this is leading you to believe that your DD is a bit behind, there is a very simple way to check. You can fill in this simple progress checker

m If it says tgat she needs some support, come back and we can advice yoj on the next steps.

@BunnyRuddingtonit says she needs support in communication and understanding. Which is no suprise because she’s not babbling 😂

Well the good news is that you’ve spotted it early and can now go about trying to get her some support.

I would call your HV and ask for a referral for a hearing test as sometimes Glue Ear can delay the start of speech. Also if she is seen by a SaLT later, they will want her to have had a hearing test.

Then I would fill in both of these:

9 month Ages & Stages

& the 12 month Social & Emotional Ages & Stages.

You can mark them yourself or ask the HV to do it for you.

If the HV wants to adopt the “wait and see” approach which is quite possible at 9 months as her to book a follow up appoint for one to two months time so that your DD doesn’t get forgotten by her.

Normally you’d have a 12 month check anyway but it sounds as though your DD does need seeing now and that referral put in for a hearing test.

As the progress checker said that she also needs some support with understanding I would ask for a referral to Portage too

@BunnyRuddingtonshe has her 10-12 month review in 4 weeks.
She’s fine on the social & emotional questions. I have no concerns about her hearing. She hears noises and always looks whenever I call her. She hears her favourite songs from another room. I just don’t know whats wrong and why she won’t babble.

Hearing is complicated a d if she does end up with some SaLT she’ll need a hearing test anyway. Having a hearing test is just one of the things they need to do to find out why she’s not babbling

If she’s scoring well on the Social & Emotional Assessment, how did she score on the 9 month Ages & Stages?

@BunnyRuddingtonshe scores ok on most of them but can’t answer anything on the communication.

Ok so is she in black in communication or within the grey? If she’s in the grey that’s fine, if she’s in the Blavk I would call your HV and ask for that appointment to be brought forward

@BunnyRuddingtonShes in the black. Can’t answer anything.

She definitely needs seeing then. A Black in any area usually requires a referral to a Paediatrician.

I could have written this myself for my DD2, I’m now starting to worry because she’s now 9 months. Any update on your DD? How is she now?

@LcfmmmShe’s 14 months now and she babbles mama, nana, dada and yaya. She started babbling at 10.5 months. I’m not saying i’m not still concerned but i feel we’re making progress even if its slow

It’s amazing to hear she’s making progress. My baby just squeals at the moment. She’s been very unsettled for her 9 months really but I talk and sing to her so much but no babbling at all and I’ve become so worried about it. Maybe she just needs some more time. Thank you for responding it’s really reassuring to hear from people who have been through similar.

@Lcfmmm Honestly sounds like mine! She’s a very grumpy child! She just woke up one morning and started babbling. My health visitor told me they don’t worry until 12months so theres still alot of time x

I’ve been trying to get answer for her being so unsettled. We have been down all routes such as CMPA, silent reflux but it seems that it may just be her personality. She’s seems to be abit happier for times throughout the day now she can sit up more so hopefully with each milestone she’ll just keep improving. I hope you don’t mind me asking, did your daughter hit all other milestones like crawling and pulling to stand? x

@LcfmmmWe did the exact same. We have just assumed she hates being a baby. She didn’t roll until she was 7 months, she crawled at 11 months and pulled to stand at 12 months x

@Rach7291 hey OP. Any update on your LO please

@WorriedMama2025She started babbling at 10.5 months. She’s now 18 months and is not saying words, only babbling still.

Has she had a hearing test yet? I think she was in the black for communication. Have you managed to secure a referral to a Paediatrician yet?

@BunnyRuddingtonShe hasn’t had a hearing test, she can hear perfectly well. She understands everything i say to her and can follow alot of instructions.

My DC2 was just like this and now has a diagnosis of AuDHD.

At that age I wish I’d not listed to the HV who was telling me it was fine that she wasn’t speaking as long as she understood instructions. She was totally wrong and we should have had some early referrals.

A hearing test is just standard practice. Any SaLT will want her to have had obe before they see her.

Has your HV referred you to Portage or any groups for DC with Speech Delay?

@BunnyRuddingtonI haven’t spoken to anyone yet. Did your DC have any other signs of autism?

Fairly extreme tantrums and very fussy wirh food. They are now also diagnosed with ARFiD and we do suspect dyslexia, although I haven’t done anything about that yet.

It might be worth filling in the 18 month Social and Emotional Ages & Stages along with the 18 month Ages & Stages, scoring them and talking through the results with your HV.

With the first one, a score of over 50 will need monitoring by your HV. A score over 65 will need a referral to a Paediatrician.

With the second one, scoring in the grey in 2 areas is normal. Scoring in the black in any area should start referrals and scoring in the grey in more than 2 areas should at the very least mean that your HV sees her again in 2 months to check on her progress.

My advice would be that if your HV does want to see her again “to see how things are going” you ask her to book the appointment there and then and no more than 2 months away so that your DD doesn’t get forgotten.

@BunnyRuddingtonshe scored 25 on the first one. On the second, Shes black in communication (obviously) grey in a couple of others.

Anything in the black needs a referral. Your HV will probably refer her for a hearing test initially.

I would also ask of there are any groups for DC with speech delay, we have one running in the next town that my HV jist never mentioned to us.

I having a score of 25 in the Social & Emotional Ages & Stages is a good score though.

@BunnyRuddingtonI have literally zero concerns other than her speech and lack of pointing. I will speak to the HV tomorrow.