So about the pointing thing in babies???

[trixiethepixie]

I only heard about it the first time here a couple of weeks ago as I have thrown every baby development book out to avoid stressing. So when are babies meant to be able to point by? My ds is 14mo and doesn't seem to do it yet. He has started reaching out with his arm and hand outstretched to things, like the lights on the ceiling, the trees out the back garden. Is this a precursor to pointing? Am starting to worry a little as my hv asked me if he was doing it yet when I rang about another concern I had and is talking about sending him for a development test.

You'ld expect pointing by 18 months.

pointing is an indication that a child is noticing things and seeking to draw your attention to them - as a shared experience.

The thing you are looking for is not the ability to extend their finger but the desire to share the world with you - so looking/pointing at things and then looking at you for you to look at it too.

THAT is the skill that the HV is looking for. Does your DS do that - look at things andthen look for you to see them too?

Hmmm a little, I think. Would that include him endlessly passing objects to me as in looking at something, going for it and then passing it to me? (feeling like a stupid, first time mum who is getting it all wrong).

He has been very late with all developmental milestones, except crawling which he culd do before he could sit, but was a prem and low birthweight baby so I was trying not to worry. The concern I had raised with the hv was the lack of babbling and of course I go and google it and am very anxious now.

She is talking about sending him for a (sounded like) Griffens test. Does anyone know anything about this?

I honestly don't know the answer to that trixie - not sure.

DS had a Griffiths test - he was 4 so will be completely different to what your DS will have - it's basically a look at how your DS is getting on with different areas of development - so communication (would be non-verbal for your DS's age I imagine), gross motor skills (sitting, crawling etc) and fine motor skill - how he picks things up etc. So whoever does the test will ask you questions about his development, and say give DS some blocks/toys to play with and maybe show him a picture book. It won't be at all intrusive or scary for your DS.

In terms of concerns about babbling and communication - it's early days, particularly since your child was prem - hopefully there is no problem - but if there does turn out to be a problem, it's good (though I know it won't feel like it±!) to be in the system so early - the work that speech therapists do with young children is non scary and does no harm at all even if there doesn't prove to be a problem.

Thanks TC. It sounds similar to a test he had at 12mo (Baileys). He did quite well on that one then.

He did start to babble about 11 months with gaga noises but stopped about 12.5 and now just shrieks and shouts to communicate (very testing on my patience and eardrums). I thought at first he might be concentrating on learning to walk but it's gone on too long. The hv did mention speech therapy but thought he was a bit young yet and to send him for a development test first.

it's never too early for speech therapy from the point of view of the child, as with a very young child they can work on non-verbal communication, turn taking etc.

A few good books (if you are interested) with advice about stuff to do to help young children with communication

1)BabyTalk by Sally Ward - likely to be in your local library
2)You Make the Difference by Ayola Manolson - £13, not likely to be in your library.

Also if you are anywhere near a Surestart centre, they quite often do some sort of course to help you help your young child with communication.

Yes, I think she said they usually start speech therapy about 16 mo.

Brilliant thanks for the book suggestions. Love reading and willing to do anything to help ds along. Was actually going to nip down to our library later as ds loves books so I'll take a note of those titles.

another vote here for Baby Talk by Sally Ward. Excellent book.

trixie. My son used to shriek and it is incredibly difficult to deal with so you really do have my sympathy.
He didn't start getting any support until he was three by which time i was absoloutely exhausted and worn out and he was very very angry and frustrated.
the shrieking can be a good sign as he is trying to communicate but struggling to do so ( worse IMO if he was not trying). Try not to prompt him to speak and don't ever use "say xxx" which is tirture if a child is struggling to speak.

Personally I can not recommend highly enough a good quality EFA like Eye-Q which you can get from Boots. Efas can help speech and communication. My son finally started talking at 4 when I put him on those

Had a wee look at the eye-q website and it said from 2 years old but I'll follow your suggestion for when he reaches that age. Atm he loves all types of fish and gets them regularly every week.

Thank you for the sympathy pagwatch. That must of been horrendous having to wait until he was three to get some support for your son. How are his language skills now?
I am finding ds so hard to listen to lately and daydreaming about returning to work full-time. I had said the same thing to dp - at least he is trying to make himself heard, however irratating it is.

If he's good at imitating it might be worth trying some baby signing with him - something special on tv or the sign and sign DVDs you can get at ELC are good for that.

You read my mind TC. I started yesterday doing some simple signs for him (food and drink) as I was hoping it might bridge that communication gap. Just on our library website now and I think they have material on it so I'll put in a request. Thanks