19mo and still not saying anything or even standing alone

[BibiThree]

I'm just so worried about my dts, they're nearly 19mo and are still not standing alone, walking or even saying words. One of them will attempt Daddy and we ahve the occasional hiya or bye bye, but nothing else coherent.

They seem so behind developmentally, the still seems very babyish compared to their peers in looks and ability. They were only 5 weeks early so even allowing for that they are still months behind.

They have head hearing tests and have ben referred to see a form of educational psychologist, and have physiotherapy and speech referrals, but in the meantime I'm driving myself crazy worrying about them.

Can someone please reassure me it could just be they are late developers and I'm worrying too much? Can thsi late still be "normal"?

TIA

Hi BibiThree, How do they communicate with you? Do they wave, point and share attention well? Lack of speech isn't such a worry at this age if they're communicating well non verbally. A typical 19 mo could have anything between a couple of words, and 200 -they really are all vastly different at this age.

Re the physical milestones, BIL is a GP and doesn't generally refer children who are not walking until they are 24 months. I don't know about standing alone, my two differed by a few months there.

I think if I were you I'd request a HV visit or take them to the GP for a check up for some peace of mind. It may well be a wait and see job at this stage, but if they are similar at 24 months I think you should push for a referral to a developmental paediatrician, just to be sure.

I'm not sure the non-speaking is anything much to worry about at this stage at all. My ds could only say mama and dada at 19 months, maybe not even that. At 19 1/2 months he started to get a few more words. He is now 25 months and has a huge vocab and puts 3 words together.

The not standing does sound a bit more unusual though. However, I do have one friend whose dd didn't walk until about 24 months and is now absolutely fine.

bumping for you

Are they interested in toys, do they play with toys?
You say they are not talking but how is their understanding? For example if you show them a book and ask where is the cow are they able to point to the cow?

My DD didn't stand alone until nearly two, and didn't weight bear until 20 months, she was also 4-5 weeks early. She is now 2.3 and catching up really well!

My dd2 is 19months too - her words consist of da-da, mama, ara (for her sister)and ear. She can make herself understood with pointing, she understands what we say to her really well (frighteningly well some times). She bottom shuffles so didn't attempt to walk until a few weeks ago when she would only do it holding my hand ( we have wooden floors so standing with socks on was tricky). I did buy her some first shoes and found she started pulling up more once she had them. Out of the blue yesterday she started walking (unaided), she did this suddenly and all on her own.

My DD1 was completly different she spoke really early, but didn't walk or stand unaided until 22months.

So in a nutshell your dts are perfectly fine all children progress differently, but to put your mind at ease I would speak to the HV.

Thank you all for your responses. I just needed to hear that I'm not alone!

Their understanding is okay, they can fetch things, understand commands like "please give that to dd1" or "bring me the doggy" but they aren't good with body parts or animals.

They don't tend to communicate further than pointing to what they want and grunting.

I have expressed my concerns to my HV and she has organsied the referrals for the dts, so hopefully I've got nothing to worry about, I just can't help myself sometimes.

Thanks again everyone.

As the others have said, talking I would not worry about at all at this stage unless their understanding is also poor for their age and their ability to communicate in other ways impaired in some way. My ds1 couldn't say anything comprehensible at 19 months, but was talking clearly by age 3. As for standing and walking, this is again something hugely variable and not necessarily a cause for concern. My ds1 walked at about 23 months, with the help of physiotherapy, which made a HUGE difference to his development and I would recommend... He is now nearly 5 and can run, jump and hop and is cognitively extremely advanced for his age (reads fluently, can do sums in his head, sings in tune, can write quite well for a 4-year old), even if still at the low end of the ability spectrum with his gross motor skills.

It is competely possible that your twins are just late developers and will catch up just fine. If they aren't, they certainly don't sound hugely behind with their development at this stage, so there's no reason at all to suppose they have a serious problem. You are doing the right thing getting them referred, anyway, as you know you are doing everything that can be done to help encourage their development.