Very Quiet 12mth old.

[cantmummyhaveabreak]

My DD2 was 12mths old on saturday. She was born 8wks prem. she is now about size of an average 7mth old (about 16lb in weight)... She isn't crawling, isn't walking, but will sit unaided and has started pushing herself up in the arms when on her front.

She is alos VERY quiet... she rarely cries, unless she's hungry. But doesn't really make any other noises. No sounds of works, no gagaga etc... When she had her last cons check (about 3 wks ago) he wasn't very impressed and said they'd watch it carefully as there may be a problem... I never thought at the time to ask, but what could be a problem? What could possibly cause her to be very behind on development in this way? I know i'm most likely worrying over something or nothing, but i'd quite like to do a bit of research but dont know what i'm possibly searching for....

I didn't know if it was best to put here? but thought it's worth a shot...

Otherwise she's the picture of health, hearing is fine, vision is fine, eating is fine... just the crawling/walking (ie- supporting her weight) and being VERY quiet....

any help/advise greatly appreciated!!

How unhelpful!! With a worrying comment like "there may be a problem", he should have said something!!! I would ask for another appointment / phone call or at least a chat with a HV as soon as possible just to put your mind at rest, at least if you know what you could be dealing with, you can channel your worrying appropriately!!

I'm no expert but lots of children don't walk / crawl by 12 months and some kids are quiet! Hearing would have been my first question but you've said she hears fine. Could also be worth asking for a referral to a speech therapist who will explain more about language acquisition and stages of development etc. Some areas have drop in Speech Therapy Clinics.

Good Luck and as you say, you could just be worrying unnecessarily. Hope someone puts your mind at rest soon!

My son was a month premature and easily missed his crawling and walking 'normal' milestones by several months. He also slept nearly all day until he was about 3 or 4 months old.

He caught up with the above by about 18 months, and I long for the days when all he did was sleep

I agree with Deirdre and speak to your HV for a referral to SALT as this is the area my son still struggles with.

Honestly, i dont think SALT would be of any use yet as she's still 'mentally' behind too, she's just like a 6-7mo really that can eat like a 10mo... she doesn't understand anything yet, nothing...

I will see if i can get an app/ at least a good chat on the phone about what may be 'a problem'... aparently he thinks she's about 3-4mths behind what she should be 'doing' as a 10mo...

I have 2 older DC's and they were both full term healthy babies- so i suppose i'm gonna worry more with my tiddler!!

ok well in my limited experience, I had to fight to get a SALT appointment before DS was two years old. He got his first group evaluation at 22 months and they said that they made an exception, (probably because I'm a pushy mum).

Some things to do to encourage noise is to play games that you can narrate with noises, like skittles. Make lots of CRASH sounds when she hits them. Play with musical instruments and imitate the sounds loudly and try to encourage her to immitate you. Blow bubbles, and say 1-2-3-GO and blow, and then say POP loudly when she pops them. Play with cars and make lots of vroum-crash noises (I have boys!). Play games with animals and say quack-woof-miaow loud and clear. She might imitate you, which is the objective!

If I was you I would probably have her ears checked, first for glue ear and then if you can get a more in-depth test as your GP or HV for a referral.

At 12-months it is too early for specific SaLT therapy, although some good advice about talking to and playing with your child can be given by surestart playgroups or HV's.
How do you know her hearing is fine?
The newborn hearing test only tests the inner ear and not the middle ear. It is difficult to test the middle ear until the child is old enough to make reliable responses to sounds, e.g. "yes I heard it Mummy' - I am not an audiologist and they are making advances in the testing of younger children all the time. If I were you I would start there, ask for an audiology referral to complete the hearing tests. It is expected that a child of 12-months is making noises, responding verbally to sounds and trying to communicate through sound and working on (but not necessairly speaking) first words.
For motor development: not all children crawl and not all children walk by 12-months, so there is no diagnosable delay. I think that may be what was meant by 'there could be a problem'. I am afraid 'watchful waiting' is the best you'll get from the NHS for the next 6-months.
They should be more proactively watching weight gain though and I would expect a follow-up appointment for that.
For what to expect from milestones, a good, cheap, thin book is Mary Sheridan's 'Birth to 5-years'.

Thanks for the extra advise there. we already do the 'ott-loopy mummy' noises with everything we do!! she can't pop bubbles yet, still just gets excited and flaps arms about, but the other DC's shout 'pop' etc when they pop them... have books with animals in that were great with DS & DD1, and we go throguh that a couple of times a week, sometimes just me and her, sometimes with other 2, but again do all the noises etc. She basically just watches and occasionally laughs a little.

As for knowing her hearing is ok she had a full follow-up on her hearing tests at the audiology dep in the hospital when she was 10mths. They were all fine, the reactions of an average 12mth old on hearing (even though she was actually only supposed to be 8mths at the time)... i just think she's too nosey like her mummy and wanted to know what the noise was all the time!!

her weight is ok... she's on the 0.4th centile when she'd been born on the 50th, but she's been climbing from the very bottom line since about 5mths old- so she's actually doing really good on the weight front.

Part of me does wonder if it's the weight delay, and the fact she's so small still that is delaying anything meaning she supports her weight. My other 2 were really squishy big babies and did everything around the expected age. DD2's speach was a little delayed, but that was due to a problem with her lip which can't be rectified without surgery, she seems to be fine now so we dont think she'll need the surgery.

DD2's lips and mouth are all perfectly formed, so she can't have the same problem as Dd1 had. And DD1 was still making noises before 12mths, saying dada etc by her 1st bday. DD2 just barely makes a peep....

god- i think i've just gone round full circle with that post...