No speech/words at 17 months...normal?

[NinkyNonker]

I'm not generally a worrier when it comes to development, dd is very normal in all respects and at 17 months she runs everywhere, has a good level of understanding, feeds herself and eats like a horse etc. But no words yet! Is this normal?

She has said mamamamama and dadadadada before, but not to us, though she does have noises for us I think. She has a noise for the dog etc, but that's it.

What is expected at 17 months? Am I turning into a pfb worrier?!

There is no definite expectations at any particular age. I think if they are not walking or trying to talk by 2 then it's time to see a doc but even then there might still be nothing wrong.

My DS had words at 10 months so imagine my surprise when my DD said NOTHING (except noise) until 19 months .

She turned 2 in December and she speaks as well as DS did at her age - never shuts up!

DS didn't move from the spot until 13 months and didn't walk until 17 months, lazy toad.

I was horrified when DD was wrecking the place at 10 months, crawling and hauling herself up then walking by 13 months.

Im currently PG with DC3 and hoping it doesn't move or talk until 2!

My DS only had single words up to about 2yo. But he 'burbled' constantly.... stream of gibberish that eventually crystallised into sentences.... and by the time we went on holiday when he was 2y 3m I remember being complimented on my 'articulate little boy'.

One thing you could try and which worked for us was to encourage speech by getting her to ask for things by name. DS used to point at something and I'd hand it over like a well-trained lackey. So I started saying 'do you want the ball? Say ball?' and if he said anything close I'd let him have it. Oh I'm krool :)

If her understanding is fine then that's all you have to worry about at this stage imo.

I don't think that is cruel, Cogito - I do it too with my 2 year old. It's using motivation to encourage langauge development which imo is the best way.

I found 'biscuit' was the best motivational word.... :) Then again, I used the same technique to encourage him to walk. By holding the Rich Tea just out of his grasp he finally let go & staggered towards it!

My DS didn't say his first words till 17 months - but I think this is still within the normal developmental window (U Penn site which I just looked up for another thread www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/acquisition.html puts the window at 9-18 months). I think others are right - if she understands words, points at objects to draw attention to things, and has noises which she uses consistently to mean things, then it's not a worry at the moment. Worth chasing up in a few months if she still isn't saying any words (just for your own peace of mind - hopefully, she will just be late in developing rather than have any problems).

My sister works with under-threes in the States, helping to assess learning difficulties, etc...she is not a speech pathologist but there is one on her 'team'. Anyway, she sent me this email some time back (I'd written to her about someone I know's child of 18 months; they were concerned because he had only mama/dada; all is fine now a couple of months later).

She says "As for the 18 mo old. you would expect him to have a handful of words besides mamadada (some slps don't even count mama/dada as words), and using those words to label objects and people and to request objects/food, also does he combine gestures like waves or points with words or word approximations? Does he point to pictures in books when asked? Some kids are beginning to put 2 words together by this age but not a norm -- kids usually have to have "the magic 50" as in 50 words before they put 2 together....

and most words/approximations are not understood by others at 18 mos."

She also told me when we spoke about this that the fact that a child doesn't do these things is not a reason to panic or think your child has a problem - but that it is a good idea to have it checked out as there may be a physical reason - like some kids lack muscle development that is needed for speech, and this can be corrected by simple techniques/execises - or there may be things you can do to prompt speech in a child who is capable but not motivated...

Hope that helps.

Ds is 18 months and has a few "words" but not really distinct at all eg "A" for cat and "Bmmooooo" for moon. He started of just saying mamamama, dadadada and babababa and then slowly these started to mean me and dh (and sheep / baby). Then he started with different noises and gradually I realised that this was him saying the name of a thing not just randomly chittering.

My hv told me they don't do anything until they get to 2 with no words. And she said even then what they look for is evidence of understanding what you say and some sort of communicating what they want eg pointing and urgently grunting. Mention it to yours if you are concerned but I would expect they will just tell you to wait and see.

Thanks all, reassuring and interesting! She definitely has good understanding, we can tell her we're going upstairs and she'll run and start off up, ask her to go and see Daddy and she'll go off in search of him, where is K (the dog) and she looks around and points, we need to clean your face and she'll get a babywipe and have a go etc etc.

She has vocal sounds, you can tell she is trying/very close but just no words yet. A few of her 'friends' of a similar age have words (a few now) so that got me thinking. She has been quite 'advanced' in everything else and comes across a little older than she is as she is tall and very confident walking/running and in her manner, so it is a first for me to be doubting something!

Good idea on the prompts etc, I'll have a go. I talk to her all day, and she definitely 'joins in' in terms of participating, pointing, telling me what she wants etc.

She sounds just like my 16mo. I was also starting to worry a little before christmas but in the last couple of weeks he's started babbling a bit more and some sounds are starting to mean something I think, such as a high squeal for Cat and "gggeee" for dog.

He's never been a babbler much, or a pointer come to that. He gestures and pulls me to stuff, and knows what I mean when I tell him things. He knows to run to the speakers in anticipation if I whisper "gruffalo" for instance...

DD didnt say a single thing till she was 2, despite encouragement/ bribery/ intensive coaching etc etc. not even a "mumma" or "dadda"

Between 2 and 2.5 she just suddenly got it,learning a few new words pretty much every day.

By 3 she was perfectly articulate and able to have a conversation about pretty much anything

OP, I'm an Early Years SLT. I would really recommend going to your local Children's Centre if you haven't already - you will get loads of information about what you can do at home with your little one to encourage language development. They may even have appointments where you can pop along and have a chat with a Speech and Language Therapist who can give you specific advice.

In general, the best thing to do is to keep chatting to her during everyday routines (bath, dressing, shopping etc) so that you do a 'running commentary' for her. Avoid asking her to say words (like 'it's 'teddy'. Say 'teddy') and avoid asking questions like 'ooh what's that?' 'what colour is it?' as she doesn't have the answers yet. It's more useful for you to say the words for her - doing this, you are helping her to understand the words, which she needs to do before she can use them. If she copies the words, then great - if she doesn't, it's still fine. If she points at something or shows you an object, make sure you name it for her.

Hope that's useful. I can't recommend Children's Centres enough

OP I am very impressed by your daughter cleaning her own face own demand! We have to have WWIII to clean DD's face. Anyhoo. It sounds like she's extremely close and the clear indications of understanding are the mosr important thing. Just a thought: I have often heard that development often focuses on one thing or the other - so children with very advanced language might be a bit behind on motor skills and vice versa - maybe your daughter has been focused more on mastering physical skills rather than linguistic ones and these things will all just follow in their own time?

Well, I say cleans, she grabs a wipe and swipes it at her chin...but isn't happy when we take the wipe and do it properly! Funny little things. She is a right little strop monster at the moment.

Thanks Josie, I'll have a look at our local centre.