15 month old DD only says Mama - normal?

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Per the title, my daughter only really says Mama. I haven't been worried until now - she has been more focused on walking, and other physical things, but she's getting to the point where it seems she's unusually late in talking.

She understands well - she will point to a variety of different things her her picture books when I ask her. She hands me things when asked. She claps on command - that sort of thing.

She's also developed various other ways of communicating with sound and signs. She will smack her lips pointedly when she's hungry. She does a specific "dance move" with her hands when she wants us to play music. She can shake her head for "no" (and usually does this when I ask her to try and say things!).

She does babble and can make a variety of consonant sounds but I wouldn't describe her as talkative and she'll often fall back on "oooh" cooing at varying tones to express interest/pleasure/anger. She'll intermittently produce multisyllable nonsense words. I THINK she's trying to copy sounds from words - like she'll sometimes go "puh puh puh" if I'm talking about her Panda, but it's not quite consistent enough that I'm sure it's not coincidence.

I keep seeing different guidelines about what is or isn't normal at 15/16/18 months, and I'm looking for some more experienced parents' experiences on whether this is okay?

Following as in the same boat. My daughter is also 15 months and doing the same as you describe. I wasn’t overly worried till I met a mum with a 13 month old daughter who apparently speaks fluently and signs to her deaf friends (I saw no evidence of this so suspect bull shit).

My brother didn't talk until he was over 2 years old. My mum was really worried. Eventually he just decided to start jabbering away. He's now a university educated professional, working in a global pharma company. No issues with communication.

Well my 20 month old DS says mama, daddy, bye, hi daddy, cheese, yes and will sometimes repeat words you say but won't say them again. He's been walking properly since 12 months though, my DC are early walkers and late talkers tbh. Their speech usually improve dramatically once they've started nursery. He's starting nursery in May thank the lord!

Will your DD go to nursery? My first born DS who is now 5 years, babbled his way to age 3 and could not speak at all. He had a speech therapist and everything. He started nursery when he turned 3, and his speech improved and started talking properly at 4. And now he won't stop talking 😂

15 months is really young, I wouldn't worry about it if she's going to nursery.

I think DD had one word at that point - not mama or dada (revealing it would be pretty outing!). She was 22 months before she said mama (about her 10th word). She's 5 now, and I can't shut her up. For the last couple of years people have commented on how good her speech is. So, in short, I wouldn't worry yet.

I think that’s perfectly within the realms of normal.

My DS is just 16 Months and doesn’t have any words! He is making the sound for mama but not in context. He jabbers a lot but no idea what he is saying! He has also only just started walking.

Is understanding is fine, he just doesn’t use words yet.

I wouldn’t worry yet, my first didn’t say their first word till 17 months (and mummy came later at 18/19 months!)

Both mine were like this - neither really spoke until at least two and even then were behind their peers. However they both had excellent understanding and I was told by doctors and health visitors that it’s receptive communication that really matters. Eldest was and still is way ahead of his peers at school in all subjects, and youngest is still at nursery but, like eldest, went from almost nothing to pretty much fluent and complex sentences overnight.

Yep ds2 16 months here and no real words. Bizarre as ds1 probably had over 100 words by this point but was soooo lazy and refused to walk. Ds2 never stops moving. He will catch up verbally eventually:)

DS didn't say anything (including mama) for 18 months.. and his first word was 'cheese' - I think mum and dad were about 10th - well behind sweeties, and Lightning McQueen and other, more important things.

Like others, he was on his feet and running around early though - he just didn't feel the need to talk! (I still look back and wonder how we communicated, and yet we did, with no issues or frustration from either side)

He's 7 now, and like many 7 year olds, doesn't stop talking, so I think it was personality, rather than a problem!

They probably will catch up, but if any toddler seems a bit delayed on their speech always be on the alert for hearing problems. Even if you’re “sure” they can hear, it’s often worth double checking, because loads of parents of hearing impaired children didn’t have a clue for years and early intervention is important if there is a problem.

This is the NHS checklist which suggests that only having 1 word at 15 month is a shade behind normal - not too worrying but worth being on the alert for hearing trouble.
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/403180/Checklist_Making_sounds.pdf

Thanks all. It's useful to hear positive stories. A shame to confirm she's officially behind the NHS markers but not surprising. My instinct is that she will get there in her own time but I will bear a hearing test in mind.

Re Nursery, I'll be sending her when she gets a place at 3 but not before as I can't afford it. We do some play groups so she gets to interact with other babies but not as much as I'd like for her (she loves other children and is very social).

I was just about to post exactly the same! DS will be 15 months in 2 weeks, he babbles a little but no words. Receptive language seems good though?

It's hard isn't it

My son is nearly 18 months and says ‘mama’ ‘dadda’ And makes a growl noise for dinosaurs. That’s it.

I’m assured by friends it’s fairly normal, particularly for boys but my daughter at the same age had probably 20-30 words so it’s a bit different for me, albeit more peaceful

They all come to things at their own pace.

My dd was talking away at that age but she was unusual amongst the similarly aged children of friends and now she's 3 and still not fully potty trained so she is later in that regard. I know a few children who didn't start talking until they were 2. It's definitely normal and it's nothing to worry about. They all get there at their own pace. Some are faster at some things and slower at others.

😃 pickled - my DS can do the dinosaur roar too!

I know that people mean to be reassuring by saying “they all get there at their own pace” or similar platitudes but it isn’t literally true. Some children never will get there and a lot of children will only be able to get there with external help.

The OP’s child may well be spontaneously chattering away in 6 months time, but there are thousands of other parents reading over our shoulders thinking “that sounds like my DC, I wonder if they need help” and some of them really will have problems that would benefit from early intervention.

I think most of us understand that Outside, but OP just needed some reassurance.

Yes OutsideContextProblem, most of us realise that. However OP’s child is 15 months old. It may be an issue that would require intervention, however a 15 month old who understands what is being said to her, can follow instructions etc but only say one word is within the realms of normal.

If your instinct says they're just taking their time and will get there then go with it. My ds was 18 months and I'd had no proper words from him (although we had some baby signs for food drink more etc which were a life saver). Fortunately we had a local drop in clinic for Speech & Language (SALT) so I went in there. Took several visits but after a hearing test was clear we started therapy when he was about 2.5 (they don't like starting before them) My long winded point is my instinct told me something was wrong (he had excellent comprehension) I was right, he had a speech delay and a speech sound disorder. Go with your gut.