My 5.5 month ds doesn't babble - he just shrieks

[shaps]

I didn't think anything of it but now an increasing number of people are commenting on the high pitched squeals he makes ALL day and saying how strange it is. Also he doesn't babble like the books explain - no real vowels/consonants - just shrieks at the very top of his voice. I am now getting paranoid about it and thinking there is something 'wrong' with him, whereas in all other respects he meets the milestones that the books say he should be. Am I being stupid or is this something to worry about?

Do you think he can hear you?

Five and a half months would be quite early for babble. My daughter was making mainly vowel sounds and the odd consonant at that age. So she might occasionally shout "da" but not often, and certainly not dadadada or anything like that.

Speak to your HV if you are concerned about hearing but otherwise just give it a couple more months to see whether any babbling emerges.

my ds made very few sounds at that age, but after visiting a friend with 2yr old who loved to squeal my ds picked it up.....and did it constantly. it drove me up the wall, and it was the sort of screaming if a stranger walked past the house must have wondered what i was doing to him!

my ds seemed to get obsessed with a sound when he figured out he could make it, and it's all we would hear out of him for a week or two.......
have a word with your HV, and see what she thinks, but i wouldn't get too worried about it just now.

dd1 never babbled & at her 7 month check the HV was very doom & gloom about it.

However,by 13 months she started talking & at nearly 3,she has the vocabulary of a much older child.She wasn't much of a squealer,but dd2 is.At 13 months dd2 just squeals,shrieks & says da-da-da.She certainly wasn't babbling at 6 months either.

Ds never babbled at that age - just shrieked too.

Now at 9 months he babbles away with the best of them!

Just as Queenrollo found, at that age my DD would discover a sound and stick with it for weeks, high pitched sqeals, raspberry blowing, growls from back of throat etc- She's 15 months now and 'talks' in her own little language and still copies sounds. But if you are worried have a chat with HV.

Mogwai - yes, I am sure he can hear. He always turns to voices and jumps when there is a loud noise.

But thanks for all your advice and commnets - maybe I am getting a bit fixated on the set milestones in books and need to chill out and see what happens over the next couple of months.

Shaps, just my sympathy really.. My DD was a shrieker and drove me MAD! It is so painful but will pass!

shaps - imo, chuck the books aside. As long as your ds seems right to you, he is probably fine. Mums usually know their babies best. If you do have concerns speak to the hv, but honestly try not to listen to these well-meaning folk who just make you paranoid. My nan keeps on at me, why isn't my dd crawling blah blah blah, she's 7 months old tomorrow fgs! :)

Shaps - if your son's hearing is fine, I really wouldn't worry.

Shaps my daughter is the same. She’s 5 month now. Just wondering how it got with your little one?

I love zombie threads. Especially when you realise the baby referred to in the OP is now 14, nearly 15.

If it helps any, my 13 month old wasn't vocalising anything beyond vowel sounds and shrieks until 11 months old. Now she's an incredibly chatty baby with a whole range of sounds. I won't deny, I was incredibly worried until she suddenly burst out with "dadada" one day, and hasn't shut up since! 😅

Personally, I think this will be a common issue seen in babies as a result of lockdown. They learn so much from each other. I swear DD learnt half her skills in the first 6 months from watching older babies at play groups. She still met her milestones after that, but slower. Now she's started seeing other babies at nursery and soft play again, she's coming on leaps and bounds developmentally again.