16 month old - not even close to talking

[Mybobowler]

Just after a bit of reassurance really, or some advice! My 16 month old doesn't speak a single word - no Mama or Dada, absolutely nothing. She's just started doing a few animal noises with hand gestures, she'll babble a bit (repetitive sounds), but she doesn't try to imitate actual words and I can't imagine her ever talking. Should I be worried?

She loves books and we read to her all the time, I sing and talk to her constantly, I say the words for things she's looking or pointing at. Is there more I should do?

She's also not walking, although she seems a bit closer to that and I think she's just not quite brave enough to let go!

She seems a bright little thing - always observing and paying attention. She gets really absorbed in certain activities, especially going through repetitive actions (can't figure out what she's doing!). I'm just wondering if all of this points to a possible problem or if this is all pretty normal?

Ds2 didn't start talking till he was 2. I was so worried at about 20m (ds1 was an early talker) that I asked the health visitor to do a hearing check, but that was all fine and she didn't seem concerned. He's now doing a Masters, so no long-term implications. I think he just couldn't be bothered - he's still v laid back now! Obviously you'll keep an eye on things - I remember now how anxious I was - but the chances are your dd will be fine

I think if she can understand you and make her demands clear with the pointy fingers (!) then you shouldn't be too worried. Is she more advanced in other skills? My friend's DD didn't walk until she was well over 2 but she had amazing speech. Mine spoke and walked early but fine motor skills took ages and I'd say they're still behind on those at age 7 and 5.

Some very helpful replies - thank you! Feeling reassured that it's nothing to be too worried about but also that I'm not being completely neurotic to follow up with HV or GP. Thanks everyone!

She does seem pretty advanced in other areas - her fine motor skills are brilliant and she seems really good at problem solving. I'm sure there's a lot going on in there, can't imagine how frustrating it must be for her!

I have 3 dc. Eldest didn’t talk at 16 months and had only a few words at 2 and quite a bad speech delay. Middle didn’t talk at 16 months but had full sentences by 2. Smallest is 13 months and has a couple of words although they’re still baby talk rather than proper words (mama, dada, book). My speech delayed dc is now 6 and never stops talking although it’s not quite as clear as most 6yo.

Mine is nearly 19 months and doesn't have anything I would call vocabulary yet - I hadn't even realised this was late! She understands pretty much everything I say but communicates with nodding and shaking her head, pointing and saying 'eh eh' and at times physically dragging me to wherever it is she wants me to be

She has quite a range of animal noises, just doesn't seem to fancy using words yet. Although she's being spoken to in several languages (one by each parent plus the language of the country we live in, which she usually has at nursery in non-lockdown times) and I think I heard that multilingual kids take a bit longer. Might bring it up at her next check-up on the back of this thread...

Get her hearing checked.

My friend was partially deaf with glue ear and does not speak properly because of it. That said 16 months is young

Sorry I should have added to my earlier post - definitely get hearing checked to rule out any hearing difficulties and I’d have speech and language therapy involved earlier, they were a bit useless because we didn’t send him to nursery and normally they’d work with kids in local nurseries. We moved areas when he was 4 and they couldn’t have been more helpful, he’s come a long way partly due to SALT input and partly just natural progress.

@Madratlady thanks, that's really helpful. I'm going to call the HV on Monday and see what they say - will press to get her hearing checked, although I've no idea if or when it'll be done in the current circumstances!

She was leafing through an illustrated book earlier and pointing to the pictures for me to name. She was watching my lips move but not attempting to imitate me - makes me wonder if her hearing is the culprit. It hadn't even occured to me before now.

Just wanted to mention @Mybobowler that my ds is 16 months too and exactly the same. No animal noises ( used to do 'quack quack' at 12 months, but that's stopped). Can only say mama and dada and uses 'den' for everything. He loves books too, is always bringing me them to read. It's really hard not to compare to other toddlers isn't it? How is your little one getting on?

My son is 21mths and probably has less than 10 words he will use, and most of them have only started in the last 2 months. He understands a huge amount of what I say. I’m not too concerned as he’s been a bit late to do everything.

I think that now that he has some words, the rate that which he learns new words will speed up.

I’ve seen children much younger than him in crèche with more words, but I try not to compare!

@shanmoore it's so hard not to compare! My DD just seems so far behind, it's really helpful to hear that other toddlers the same age aren't talking yet either!

She's not made much progress in the last month or so - she possibly says dog now ("dah"!) but it's likely to be wishful thinking! I called my HV after starting this thread and she was very encouraging and reassuring, but said she'd do a referral for a hearing test. No appointment through yet. The thing is, she clearly understands so much, I'd be surprised if there was anything wrong with her hearing. Her comprehension gets better every day, and she's just started nodding her head "yes", so there's a bit of two-way communication happening now! Slow progress is still progress.

Dc1 didn’t talk until after his second birthday. Dc3 could read some words on her second birthday. (I wouldn’t have believed this either based on my experience of the first two but we captured it on video!) By about age 5 it had all evened out, possibly earlier than that. 16mo is very little. Honestly, I think all dc1 did at that age was growl!

@avocadoze wow, what a difference! It just goes to show how much variation there is.

I never used to worry about milestones (she has been behind in literally every single one so I quickly gave up following them!) but the lack of speech has been bothering me. Thank you for the reassurance!

My son is 23 months and only says a few words! "Shoes" "trees" "what's that"
He doesn't say mum or dad.
I contacted the HV ages ago who told me to have a hearing check but unfortunately it was booked when the virus was first spoke of, so they cancelled it and I have no idea when it will be rebooked. Haven't heard anything from the health visitor either. So all a waiting game. I personally think his hearing is absolutely fine as he hears everything.
I have lost sleep over this, so I know how worrying it is. Everyone keeps telling me it's normal and all children learn when they are ready, but I understand when it's your child it feels a lot different xx

Back again, fishing for reassurance. 17.5 months now and still no words - no Mama or Dada - nothing. She seems to understand almost everything we say, which is great on the one hand but intensely frustrating on the other.

She's also not making much progress with her walking. She can walk, she just needs to be told or physically helped to her feet before she'll do it. She also walks right on the inside of her feet (one side worse than the other). I bought some properly fitted pre-walking shoes in the hope that the structured sole would help her to stand flat on her feet, but it only makes the problem more pronounced.

No appointment from audiology, and I'm just trying not to imagine what the problem could be. Is it usual for children to be so late with both walking and talking??

DS is going to be 2 next week. He still has under 10 words he uses and prefers to squeak, point and grunt most the time.

With the walking, if she can actually walk you probably need proper soled shoes, not the pre walkers as that will help her stand properly. At least that's what the lady in Clarks said when I went to buy DS first shoes.

If you're worried, I would definitely give HV another call

I remember feeling the same panic with mine. She is now 22 months and the speech has really taken off in the last 3 months. I found it stressful because my first was speaking in sentences by 15 months, I'm now realising that was unusual.

Even now the vocab isn't that much but it is slowly increasing. I think small improvements are what to look for at this stage to help you decide what to do next. It sounds like you're doing everything you can and really looking out for her.

We were a bit worried and spoke to our health visitor when DS was about 18 months. They tested his hearing but it was fine.

He’s another one who just said nothing then could suddenly just speak in sentences when he was about 2 and 3 months. It was almost spooky. He went from pointing, grunting and signing to really quite fluent speech pretty much overnight.

Walking......eldest DD never crawled just got up and walked at 9 months. Youngest DD walked at 12 months. Eldest Dgd walked at 11 months eldest dgs Walked at 2 and a half years old.
Talking.....eldest DD never uttered a word till she was over 3 years old and took her to specialist. She would not talk at appointment but as we came out she said ' I'm bored can I go home!' first words and full sentence😮. Turns out she had IQ if 136! All other dgc and DD usually spoke between 10 months to 2 years.
Point is they all develop at their own speed and if you are sure she can hear you she will talk and walk when ready. If not get her checked.My Dgs had delayed development but caught up by the time he was 3-4. If really concerned ask to see a specialist. I'm sure all will be fine xx

My 2 eldest walked at 18 mths and my third at 16/17 mths. None were early talkers either, thus dispelling that myth!

My eldest couldn’t/didn’t talk as a toddler and I was worried so I raised it at his 2 year check; the HV told me they wouldn’t do anything yet as it was too soon for S&L etc but I wanted him ‘in the system’ as these things have notoriously long waiting lists, After checks on his hearing he had an operation at 3 to fit grommets and it was honestly like flicking a switch; like your DD we could tell he was quite bright from the way he did puzzles and knew so much about the engines in Thomas the Tank, but his babbling until then was incoherent to anyone outside of the family that didn’t know what the code was. He’s 13 now and never f’ing shuts up!

I don’t normally buy ‘mother’s instiinct’, especially versus professionals who know their job, but in this I was dismissed and told he’d grow out of it but I just knew it wasn’t right, and that there was no harm exploring options (a doctor told me she wouldn’t let her child be operated on until she was at least 7; I weighed it up and, whilst it wasn’t pleasant, the operation wasn’t the worst thing in the world)

If you have concerns I’d get her in the system, then you can always cancel appointments if she’s just a late talker and there isn’t a medical reason.

Oh meant to add he was also like that with walking. Didn’t bother until about 18 months but then was really steady right away.

Ah just read about feet! Needs to see specialist can be claw foot or talepes. One can be corrected with possible surgery other by physio or it could be other complaint. Specialist will sort it out. Yes you definately need to see doctor to get referred.

My son turned 2 in April. He was saying barely Saying anything (really) until we went into lockdown and literally one day he just started saying a few 2-3 word sentences and now he says everything.

I was exactly the same as you in regards to worrying but he truly just woke up talking one day.

Walking I don’t have much advice on other than to echo the advice to get proper first shoes as opposed to the walkers.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to call the HV later and ask for another development review - I feel like I'm being neurotic, but I'm sure there's something going on. I'm now more worried about the walking than I was - she basically stands on the inside edge of her foot (over-pronation?) but it's very severe. I've just watched videos from when she was learning to toddle and she's been walking that way the whole time. Wondering if she might be hypermobile, as she also spends a lot of time sitting in the W position. Gah. Need to get off Google and on the phone to a professional!

Thanks again for the responses. I find your stories of toddlers suddenly talking in full sentences very reassuring! Fingers crossed.

Honestly, your child sounds just like mine. He is 20 months old and I WAS very worried at 16/17 months but then he hit some sort of language explosion randomly and now he learns multiple new words every day! At 16 months we weren't even convinced he could understand us as he didn't follow instructions but suddenly something seemed to click and now he seems to understand everything and has a massive vocabulary! That all happened literally since 17 months - 20 months. So I now realise there was nothing to worry about. He was also a late walker and didn't start walking until 16 and a half months then suddenly got it.

I was pretty worried, especially after people posted stories about ASD etc, but actually I then Researched it pretty thoroughly and found that these are totally normal timeframes. If a child isnt walking by 18 months they should be seen by a physio and if a child isn't saying words by 2 they should be referred ... but otherwise it's a waiting game. If there is an issue with understanding they do recommend a hearing test earlier though, for glue ear etc. We started the process to request that at almost 17 months but then he started understanding everything anyway so there was no point. It's if they seem to have no understanding on top of no talking that they seem to get concerned.

Hope that is reassuring. I also have friends with babies slightly older than my own who aren't talking yet. One has no words, the other has one word, and they are around 21 or 22 months. It's more common than so realised but I didn't realise until th4 past week because we haven't seen anyone for months because of lockdown so I assumed everyone else's kids were jabbering away... some are but plenty aren't! Just keep reading to your toddler and pointing things out in books and asking him to point things out for you 'where's the duck?'

Oh just saw your bit about hypermobility. My son is hypermobile too and also walks on edge of foot woth foot slanting in! He wears extra sturdy and high backed shoes and has been seeing a physio for that as it was picked up on before he was one (ironically because he had torticollis so was seeing a physio anyway!). Anyway, happy to chat further about hypermobility if you like. It does often lead to delayed walking. My husband and his mum were also hypermobile and didn't walk until 18 months.