8 month old not babbling yet

[CassW]

Just wondering when your babies started babbling. My DS is 8 and a bit months and has not made any consonant sounds yet so no dada or baba. He does vowel sounds, lots of raspberries and a weird clicking noise with his tongue. I know its not his hearing because he turns to his name and will imitate the wierd clicking noise if we do it back to him. I saw the health visitor today who says she has never heard of a baby not babbling at this age which I find very hard to believe and is going to speak to a speech therapist. I'm not overly concerned but am wondering what others have experienced.

My ds (10mths) has only just started babbling and saying dadadada. He also made a wierd clicking noise but seems to have stopped for now. I wasn't concerned either but as your hv is, I'm wondering if I should see my hv (haven't been for months). Will be interested in any replies you get.

ds2 wasn't babbling much at 8 months. He was like your DS. DS1 has a communication disorder so I was worried. HV was unconcerned but saw us again a month later by which time he was babbling away. He's now 16 months and is fine. The most important thing to look for (if he's obviously hearing) is to see if he starts pointing at around one yearish. If he does this- very ulikely to have communiction probs.

I was quite concerned that my dd/dss didn't babble when their contemporaries did. IIRC three of them were over a year before they started babbling to any degree (although two were prem babies so that may have been a "reason". However, all of them were stringing short sentences together by the time they turned 2; so they might have started slowly but caught up very quickly.

Don't know how the got in in previous post.

My ds wasn't babbling (i.e. making consonant sounds) by his 9 month HV check and I was a bit concerned, particularly as he'd had an ear infection a couple of months previously. HV not worried at all, but suggested arranging a hearing test (which I think she forgot about!), and almost literally as she was walking away from the house ds started saying 'dadadada' !!!
I have no concerns now about his language development which seems entirely age appropriate (he's 18 months). However my worries did prompt me to go out and buy 'Babytalk' by Sally Ward which I found helpful in terms of giving me ideas about how to talk with ds.

I think if you feel ds is trying to communicate and is making some kind of babble (don't get too hung up on the particular sounds), its unlikely there is any serious problem. HTH.

agree with JimJams, don't just listen for babbling, look for other forms of communication such as eye contact, pointing and shared attention, early gestures, general interaction. As mum of child with severe autism can honestly say he did none of these as well as not making babbling sounds or noises that developed into sounding more "organised". If worries persist, don't be put off by well meaning (ill informed) health visitors etc, go straight to developmental paediatrician (there will be a wiating list anyway).

My DS1 wasn't babbling by the milestone the HV seem to be guided by either. but eventually by about 11 months he was babbling & starting to make proper words like 'flower' 'more'. He was no where near the same pace as his little play mates...then all of a sudden he just started chatting like no tomorrow & over took all the children of his age. He still is a very very good talker for his age. So I think its just as they say 'every baby is different & goes at their own pace' however I can see you may be concerned incase there is something a miss & your not looking into it so my advice is go with your own instincts, after all you know you baby better than anyone else! You'd just KNOW if he was not trying to communicate in any other way.

I'm having similar worries with DS2 (now 11 & half months). I keep being told to not compare & I'm truly not...but my instinct is telling me to get it checked out as there are other factors a miss as well as him not babbling.

Dd is also 8 mos and not babbling. Haven't had the 8 mo check with HV but fully expect to be alarmed as you were.

Hi. Just had 8 month check for ds2 who's 8 months and no sign of babbling. HV wasn't in the slightest bit concerned as she said he was concentrating on other development things such as rolling and sitting and reaching. She told me not to worry about it and that he'd start to babbly when he was ready. Isn't it strange how different HV have such different views!

theres babbling and babbling, my dd has been making noises, dada, mama, monkey and snake noises, clicking of the tongue etc from about 8 months but only now is truely babbling constantly and is nearly one. If they are clapping playing peek a boo etc I wouldn't worry they are comunicating. Dd was slow on the moving front so some babies just do different things at different times.

If anyone is really worried about a communication problem don't be put off by a hv, some are good, but many simply wouldn't recognise a communication disorder. Worrying signs would be lack of pointing (after 12 monthish), inability to follow a point (same kind of age), inability to copy gestures. These are all far more important than babbling and develop around the 12 months mark. They should be in place by 18 months. If yu were genuninely concerned and the HV was unhelpful you can usually self refer to speech and language. Some areas have drop in clinics and you could always ring for advice anyway.

Perhaps it's time to start a thread "Stupid things my HV has said that have turned me into a quivering wreck"

I wouldn't be worried CassW, sound exactly like the sluglet at that age and she sure can make herself understood now!

Thanks for your messages which are all reassuring. I must admit that it was my HV saying she hadn't come across it that threw me. I had expected her to say not to be concerned at all. Anyway he is definately communicating with us and claps and waves in immitation which DD now 27 months didn't do until about 12 months. So I'm no longer worried at all and I think my concern has been a positive thing because now DH and I talk to him quite a bit more. Maybe he has just been missing out on the one to one chat with us because of very chatty DD being about.

I read Mumsnet all the time but this is the first time I've posted - its great -just like having a whole lot of big sisters on line!

Cass- if he's waving that early I'd say he's fine. My autistic ds1 found picking up things like waving really difficult. In fact I knew with pretty much absolute certainty at 4 months that ds2 was "fine" when he copied something I did- now he's 16 months, and its obvious that he's fine.

As I said most HV don't really have a clue when it comes to language type problems. Honestly they worry parents who don't need to be worried, and dismiss those that do! Grrrr.

Hi dinosaur-come and join us in the Autism/AS thread- there are some other newly diagnosed Mum's there. My DS1 is just 4- he was diagnosed about a year ago.

Pointing's the big one isn't it. I was so relieved when DS2 started pointing at 12 months and 1 week of age (not that I was looking for it or anything!)! Now he doesn't stop and I realise what a big omission it was (DS1 also liked peekaboo and games like that, was/is affectionate and could kind of perform actions like clapping with a lot of encouragement- but pointing- not until he was almost 2- he's actually just recently gone a bit crazy about pointing, but usually he uses his little finger )

Dd had her 8 mo check today. HV took a middle ground--she said not to worry too much, but to come back in a month or 2 if proper babbling did not begin.

Jimjams & others: do you happen to know if the med profession looks at babbling to rule out autism exclusively, or is/are there other disorders to be ruled out if a child is slow to talk?

I'm sorry to hear that you were both repeatedly ignored, Jimjams and Dinosaur. Must have been horribly frustrating. Jimjams, your posts are always eye-opening.

expatkat- to be honest I think babbling is totally irrelevant to the development of autism. My autistic DS1 babbled far more than his NT (normal) younger brother, and even started talking at 8 months!

Things like waving are far better indicators. The big big one is the development of pointing (which comes at about the same time as being able to follow a point). This indicates that something called "shared attention" has developed and if that's there autism isn't! Pointing would usually develop from about one year. You know when you see babies sitting in pushchairs pointing at a dog "da"- they're not autistic!

If your ds is clapping and waving then I would pretty much guarantee he isn't autistic!

I think lack of babbling would tend to flag up hearing problems more- but it doesn't look as if your ds has that. Possibly also dyspraxia- but I think that's unlikely if he's clapping as well. TBH they can't really pick up a verbal dyspraxia reliably until about 3 anyway.

He's probably just slow to babble- my ds2 was- he's "chatting" away no (16 months) although totally in his own (consistent) langauge. He'll be slow to talk properly but I know his language is developing as it should iyswim.