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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Babbling in complete sentences - has anyone else experienced this in their 17-19 month olds?

35 replies

RoRoMommy · 05/09/2008 15:16

My DS has been babbling in complete sentences for about a month now. What I mean by that is that he speaks to you like he's conversing with you, sometimes as a question, sometimes a statement, sometimes a command, with pointing and gesticulating and everything. He'll even repeat exactly what he babbled if you say "what?" We speak back to him in English and Spanish, either guessing what he's asking or talking about, or just making stuff up.

I wonder if anyone else has had this experience, and what it means to further speech development; that is, will he just come out and start talking in complete sentences, or will he stop babbling and start adding words one by one, or keep babbling and adding words? He also says a handful of words, including dog (gog), cat (gat, could be spanish gato), gua (agua for water), grasee (gracias for please), mas (spanish for more), and pees (please).

Not worried, just curious.

OP posts:

cmotdibbler · 05/09/2008 15:25

Ds used to babble in sentences, then it was slowly replaced with the urge to use proper words, so he stopped babbling, used single words, and is now back to sentences

reginaphilangy · 05/09/2008 15:25

My 13 month old does this. She can 'speak' to me for ages, pausing for though before she answers my questions too! She knows exactly what she is saying. 'Tis v v cute

Don't know what it means in terms of speech dev though, i just take it that she's found her voice and likes to use it

cyanarasamba · 05/09/2008 15:26

Yes, my friend's son is convinced he can talk perfectly well. We are just too stupid to understand.

No idea what this means in terms of speech development, but it is most cute.

Original poster

RoRoMommy · 05/09/2008 15:32

it's incredibly cute. He's so adamant about some things! And the pointing and consternation at times is absolutely hilarious, but we try not to laugh because he's taking himself so seriously!

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wabbit · 05/09/2008 15:32

My ds now almost 3 did this... we were convinced (maybe stupidly) he was using inherited memory as his heritage is Indian/Burmese on his biological father's side... the sounds he was making were so unlike dd's very positive L,L,L .. MaMaMa .. DaDaDa sounds when she was at the same stage

ajm200 · 05/09/2008 15:32

My son has been doing that for about 7 months. He's 22 months now and quite a lot of his sentences are starting to make sense now. He can string 4 or 5 words together but still lapses into babble if he is stuck for a word.

It's dead cute when he decides to have a long nonsense conversation, with all the pauses to allow for responses, hand gestures and giggles when he thinks he's said something funny.

Make the most of it.. they grown into silent sullen teens far too fast.

Original poster

RoRoMommy · 05/09/2008 15:34

Oh god, the laughing, it's so funny. He just cracks himself up sometimes, it's great. And if we laugh, he laughs this completely FAKE laugh along with us!

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lecohen · 05/09/2008 15:35

Hiya,

Hope it's ok to post here but do you still have that furniture village coupon please RoRoMummy? x

lecohen · 05/09/2008 15:41

Just read through this thread...my dd who will be 2 this month also babbles with some coherent words mixed in, so entertaining!

Sunflower100 · 05/09/2008 15:45

My dd too - it always seems so important and urgent! Hilarious! She did it to a friends 3 year old who struggled for ages to understand- it looked like they were having a conversation!

Original poster

RoRoMommy · 05/09/2008 15:47

I almost wonder if it's a "meta-language" that only other little ones really understand. My friend who is one of a set of twins said that he started talking before his sister, and his parents would often ask him to translate; he said he would do so, but can't remember if he actually understood what she was saying or just deduced what she wanted iyswim.

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PuppyMonkey · 05/09/2008 15:49

Yes yes. DD2 (17ms) wakes up in the morning and does the folowing:

lllaalllala dadddeee bbaabba gone shasha back?

And at night she might do:

Na night ba ba ba ba ba luv oooooo eeeesh mornin'

I hope she never stops!

Original poster

RoRoMommy · 05/09/2008 15:52

Oh, that's so great. That's like the middle stage, I'll bet, with babble and real words mixed together. We should make an audio tape of these verbalisations because one day they will be hard to remember!

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wehaveallbeenthere · 05/09/2008 15:53

That stage of development is wonderful! Make sure he can see your face (or get close enough he can touch your face) and articulate words to him. Even though you cannot understand his babble he IS trying to converse with you.
If you are able, get down on his level and see what he is talking about. When he realizes you are trying to converse (really converse, not baby talk) he will be delighted.

blondemum · 06/09/2008 08:43

MY 19 month old will say, da da ge me me ahh mummy? I just say yes. And give her a huge smile. I just love it!!!She says words but can't string a sentence together unless it's babble.

Umlellala · 06/09/2008 08:54

My friend's dd did this at this age - found it fascinating as my dd did the classic one word, then two words etc. Friend's dd was then saying just one (comprehensible) word or two for ages and suddenly, when we saw her last week (she is 2.1) she is speaking full sentences! Convinced it was all in there...

(agreee with wehaveallbeenthere, that you should try and have a conversation and guess what he is saying to you. i had 'conversations with my dd - asnd now ds- pretty much from birth )

Chaotica · 06/09/2008 16:59

As a very late talker with a very early memory, I remember doing this myself. And I knew exactly what I meant... One day I 'heard' that I was saying 'babababa' when I thought I was telling my dad to get me out of the cot. (When I did start to talk I used complete sentences>)

UniS · 06/09/2008 17:08

Boy did this for a spell at around that age. IIRC a SALT I know said he was learning the pattern of english grammer and sentence construction but didn't yet have the fine vocal control for the words to be more than babble. gradully he got more understandable. Still his dad and I have to translate some stuff for family that don;t see him often.
hes 2.5 now.

wehaveallbeenthere · 06/09/2008 20:32

This thread is delightful. When you get to know a word (usually the subject of their babble) try to get them to annunciate by showing them the form (really exagerate) of the word.
For example, you look in the mirror and say not too slowly but really exagerate it so you can see the form of lips, tongue, etc. the vowels...A,E,I, O, U and then when you have a word that has that sound show them how to pronounce it. They will become clearer on their pronunciation (less babble) and it helps the connections in their brains form so they speak real speech.
Remember to do the folic acid thing so they will have better brain development.

solo · 06/09/2008 20:41

Yes, my 20mo Dd does it too and uses single words mostly. She's started to say 'here you are', but apart from that, no real sentences...
I don't recall Ds doing it at all though. I was having proper convo's with him at just over a year old.

Eddas · 06/09/2008 20:41

dd did this and was talking in understandable words at a very early age. She was clearly understood by most people by 2.6(ish). Ds is now starting to do it, i'm hoping he'll not speak as much as his sister who at 4.3 will not stop bless her! It is a lovely age DS is 17 months and I love his babble. I do try and converse with ds (as i did with dd) and just make out that i understand what he's saying

MIL is of the opinion that they (children) know exactly what they are talking about and it is us (adults) that are stupid as we don't understand

Jas · 06/09/2008 20:43

Ds is 2.6 and still lapses into babble at times. He did it for ages, then started adding word, usually at the end, so I would get a huge long snetence of nonsense ending with a very clear "mummy" or"no"
Now it is mostly understandable (to me) with a bit of babble to fill in the bits he doesn't know yet.

DD2 also did it, and went straight to full sentences when she did speak (well before she was 2.)

MrsMattie · 06/09/2008 20:44

My son used to do this at that age. It was like he was talking an unknown language completely fluently. Strange and fascinating.

2cats2many · 06/09/2008 20:45

It's totally normal- it's called 'scribble talk'.

MmeLindt · 06/09/2008 20:48

DS did this with his friend in kindergarten, they both babbled at each other but seemed to understand each other perfectly. The teachers were fascinated and delighted with them, it was so cute. They started speaking real sentences about the same time (around 3.5yo) Both were late speakers, DS is bilingual and only now at 4yo is he sorting out which words belong to which language.

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