Developmental worries at 14 months!

[lunavix]

I've just posted on another thread saying I'm trying not to be worried but I am a teensy bit

Ds seems to be developing a little slower than most of his peers... he's not walking, although he can by pushing a walker (although it's rather spread-eagled like he has a carrot up his butt!)

He also isn't talking... although he does make a lot of talking 'noises' and I know that is a good sign.
He has said mama, hello and bye, but has lost them all since. He has no interest in words at all, if i point to something and say a name, he just looks away.

I've been working with a little girl the same age and I've been teaching her words, colours, bits of the body, and while I know girls are meant to pick up things quicker I'm worried he is just a little too slow. She also 'plays' with toys whereas he is still really just chewing on them and throwing them away!

Am I just a paranoid mummy?

my ds walked at 15 months, & i think started talking around the same time, or even a bit later. he's now 3.4, talks all the time (& is clearer & has a better vocab than lots of his friends of a similar age), usually when running around. or climbing. i don't want to dismiss your fears, but he does sound ok to me. is he pointing, i know that's a big developmental milestone they should hit around 12 months. hth.

well without any proper qualifications I would say that you shouldn't be worried, and you shouldn't get in to the comparason game

not walking is no big deal under 18 months I don't think
talking noises is great, they babble and babble and then one day out come words and you think where the hell did they get that from and the answer is that hey have been preactising for ages

How is his eyecontact, and does he point to things?

THat's some of the reasons I haven't been worrying too much, he babbles lots (he IS talking, just no words iykwim!). He doesn't point, but he can sort of follow a point, so I wonder if that's just laziness!

Someone said most babies are walkers or talkers.... just hit me as he's neither!

snap suzy, re pointing; mumsnet is very educational!

Is he mobile at all? Does he crawl?

Yup crawls madly just has no real balance. Walks peculiarly like his legs can't really take his weight (wide apart and bending out)

hc cyi

I wouldn't worry at all about the lack of walking then.

ds1 walked at 16 months and said his first words at 2.1.... he is now top of his class, huge vocab never shuts up and never stops running around...

DO NOT WORRY!!

With advice from Hulbaby I got dgs a Ball Blaster toy which he can stand up at and put the balls in and they come at the bottom- I found it really good for both spending time on his feet and "playing". He is the same age as your son.

Developmental milestones vary a lot and they do lose some skills when they start doing something else.

Do you feel you can communicate with him eg does he get excited and put his arms up when you go to pick him up from his cot for example?

Is he pointing out things of interest/able to follow a point across a room?

lemonice - yup he does (more for other people though!)

jimjams - no he doesn't point. At least I've never noted him pointing which I know could be different, but to the best of my knowledge he never has. I think he has on occassion followed a point, for example I point at dp and he looks, but it hasn't been often and clear iyswim.

Hmmm - worth keeping an eye on him then and if he isn't pointing out things of interest (pointing to things on command say is a little different) by 18 months then it would be worth telling someone and asking for a referral ( or going to a SALT drop in clinic if there is one).

For now he's still a little young to get too worried about the lack of a point (girls often start to point around 9 months, boys usually around 11 months- but my ds2 wasn't until 12 months + 1 week and he's fine).

In the meantime have you seen the Babytalk book by Sally Ward? It shoould be easily available and if you start at where he is in the book (rather than age iyswim) then you may fiind he catches up really easily.

You could see if you can have a chat with a SALT- mention the not pointing and see what they suggest. My friend took her baby to the SALT drop in clinic at 8 months and they did take her seriously and he started getting SALT from a very young age.

oh and if you talk to the SALT mention losing words as well.

Does he wave bye bye? If he does then I;d really recommend starting Makaton with him, if he doesn't then you could try it (watch something special for example) but he may not be that interested.

I think he's young to be seriously worried but it is worth keeping an eye on. You certainly don't sound paranoid, just reasonably worried. DD didn't walk til she was 19 months (lazy blob!) and her talking definitely improved just after this although still not very clear words at 26 months. She's also got glue ear which I've always been skeptical about as I think a lot of people get deflected from investigating communication problems (rather than language) by this but she definitely has difficulty with language but communicates in all other ways. She also seems miles behind others her age who are sooo sophisticated to me!

Well, I know its easy to say this, but I would try not to worry just yet as 14 months is really a bit young for worries about either walking or talking. I have to say I was starting to feel a bit uneasy about ds2 when he had no words at all at 16 months (and had only just started walking), but suddenly in his 18th month he acquired about 20 words and is adding to them all the time now. He has always been very communicative though, lots of eye contact and non verbal communication, so I wasn't fundamentally worried, just a bit impatient...
Are you worried by any other aspects of his communication? I do agree that Sally Ward's book is a useful guide and gives you something you can DO to feel you are being helpful...

I agree with Davros. But I have to say my dd's probs were 'mild' at 14 months and although dont over worry just keep an eye on things, like all us muvvers do. Ouyt of interest, is he your first?