17 month old ds still not talking - should I be worried?

[BrightonMama]

He understands everything and can follow instructions, can pick out different animals in books etc. Pretty sure he's not deaf, either. But apart from the occassional mama and dada, the only thing he says is 'Dat' while pointing which basically means 'give me that', 'what's that?' etc.

His non verbal commuincation seems pretty good. In fact I wasn't that worried until a friend with a baby the same age told me she'd gone to see a SALT - and her DS is actually saying some words.

Oh, he can repeat 'mama', and 'yeah, yeah, yeah' when I say it to him, but he can't even imitate any other sounds when I say them first.

What do other mumsnetters think? Is it time to see the HV?

my ds said quite a few words at 12 months old, but hardly uses them now, he just grunts at me for toys now . My nephew and brother were about 3 1/2 years old when there speech broke through, ive heard that age is quite normal for boys and girls can be a bit quicker, 2-2 1/2 yrs old normally.

Not at all, my DS has just turned 2 and he has only in the last couple of months started to speak anything more than just mama and dada, its nothing to worry about all babies are different and when he is ready it will just blurt out all of a sudden!

Cool - will save my worrying for later on!

Was just about to start a thread on exactly this. DS2 is also 17 months and only says "mum" (but not sure if this is not just a convenient sound), "out" and "baaa". I'm sure DS1 was already saying a few words by now and he already seemed to be quite late in comparison with his peers.

Non-verbal comminication from ds2 is excellent though and he can also follow instructions really well. I don't know whether he just can't see the point of talking or whether it's just a typical second child thing (i.e. walk earlier, talk later).

Glad to see others are in the same boat!

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Sounds like your ds is developing well. My ds is 17 months too and the only word he says very clearly and means exactly what he says is 'no'! Actually, he does sometimes say 'mum' and 'dad' but not very often. However, like yours, he understands lots. That's a highly encouraging thing in itself, so don't get hung up on the vocab!

I also don't think there's anything to worry about. I had to reply though, as our DS (18 mths) also mostly said "mama", "dada" and "dat". Especially "dat" - which he says SO often and so insistently that he has become quite famous in our neighbourhood for it. "dat dat dat DAT DAT DAT!!!". I think of it as a sign of his enquiring mind and nascent genius

If he can understand I wouldn't worry.

My DS1 hardly said anything at 17 mths, then at 20 months something just clicked and by 2 he was talking in short sentences. Development isn't necessarily an even thing.