13 Month Old Speech

[ladybird30]

Has anyone else had speech delays or difficulties with their young toddler?

My DS is 13 months now and still isn't really using words. We had 2 weeks of 'Mama' then he just stopped saying it and hasn't since and he's not using any other words. He's babbling a lot with 'gaga' and 'baba' but that's it. I'm also worried he doesn't really response to his name very well. He can be playing and I'll call him a few times and nothing.

Our HV at his 12 month assessment said she wasn't overly concerned but I'm worried he's behind compared to other babies so any similar stories or advice you used to help would be welcomed

Dd didn't talk much before 2 then, suddenly, it was if someone had pushed a button and she didn't stop. 13 months seems really early to me.

I know quite a few children who started a bit later with talking. My younger daughter is easily the cleverer one out of the two but she walked and spoke months and months later than her older sister. At this stage, as long as everything else seems on point and the health visitor isn't concerned then you really don't need to worry.

There is SUCH a big range for "normal" at this age. It's not time to worry yet.

@SharpLily @UnravellingTheWorld @newtb
Thank you for your replies. Perhaps I need to just sit and wait for a few months see how he progresses. Feels like there's so much pressure for them to be doing everything at, what seems like, a really early stage/age

13 months is very young for talking. Try not to worry OP.

Don't literally 'sit and wait' but don't panic.

I'd do a lot of singing every day for a few months and see if your DC starts to respond. Songs like The Wheels on the Bus that are very repetitive are good for engaging little ones.

Id also see if you can find picture books with photos / art featuring farm animals, and make the actual sound of each animal (mooooo, oink, quack, heehaww, cockadoodledoo, etc) as you look at each page. Repetition is key. The aim would be to see if your toddler starts to make the sounds too.

Also, if your child uses a dummy, take it out of their mouth and only offer it for sleep.

Has his hearing been checked?

Did the HV use the Ages & Stages? This one will give you an idea of what's expected at 13 months

Mine's 15 months and not talking yet, I think it's still really early yet!

DS is 13.5 months, until last week he said nothing apart from ‘dada’ and even then I wasn’t convinced he was using it in the correct context. He also babbled mama then seemed to go off it for a while. Then out of the blue he pointed to a car picture in a book and said ‘car’, and it’s like he now realises he can say words - in the last few days he’s also come out with clock, cat and a couple of animal sounds.

I don’t know if it helped but we bought him a couple of books with real life photos of animals and objects and read them to him a lot labelling the photos (not for any reason other than he enjoyed it!). Perhaps try that?

DS wasn't really babbling much by that age. Now he doesn't stop talking (he's 4 now)!

It is early. As long as there is plenty of interactions with him, limited screens, good food that is not too soft, read with him,.. speech will come.

They're 13 months old. Stop worrying. It's way to young to be worrying about things like this, my eldest didn't talk till he was nearly six!

My five boys - none of them could say words at 13 months. Two are very intelligent the other three are average. You’re worrying before there is a problem!

My ds is 13 months and can’t say anything, I think it’s normal. I mean he babbles a lot at times. He accidentally says words like mama, dada, and for some strange reason no. He doesn’t mean any of them yet though, it’s like he’s babbling but accidentally making a sound that we associate. Although today at dinner I was rolling up his sleeves and putting his bib on and he kept saying ‘n.. n.. n..’ I think he wants to say ‘no’ but doesn’t quite know it in the moment. He doesn’t like his bib being put on, but once it’s on he’s fine.

13 months is not delayed, it's early. My DD didn't really start until just before 2 and then it just clicked for her. It's really nothing to worry about for a long time yet

How much do you speak to him and point things out?

Do you read daily, pointing to pictures and telling him what they are?

Lots of mummy's giving you the spoon, look at this lovely apple, etc.

When out and about, look at the blue car, look at the leaves on the trees?

Lots of music and songs?

I don’t get it, he’s so young! Most kids don’t properly talk until 2.

My dc was a late speaker (after 2 years) However I'm a single parent and lockdown started when they were 17 months so may have started speaking sooner if they had mixed more. They went from saying nothing to speaking in short sentences in a few weeks. They had an incredibly large range of vocabulary from the first word. Their first word was pterodactyl but didn't say mummy for another couple of months. The nursery encouraged blowing bubbles through one of those little wands to strengthen mouth muscles.

That's still really early. My 18 month old can say mama, dada, barr (bath) and a few other attempts at words. We started teaching him all the animal noises around a year old though - it's much more fun for them to get them involved, he loves roaring and saying sssss like a snake. It's helpful getting them used to using their voice!
I have 2 older boys who also didn't speak much until around 2 years old. Also baby sign language is helpful, I didn't do it with my others but I'm doing it with this baby and he can tell me 'more' 'milk' and 'finished' using sign language, there's lots on YouTube about it, I wish I had done it with my others!

This simply isn’t true. It doesn’t mean that there’s an issue if they’re not talking at 2, but it most definitely isn’t the norm. The average age of first words is 12-15 months.

I just looked up mines first word and it was 16 months, then had 20 words by 18 months (which I'd seen was a milestone so worried about a bit)

Now three and absolutely never stops talking.

Do you feel the babble is progressing? I felt we were getting more and more sounds, and knew I did everything right like talking and reading so wasn't concerned.

How are his gestures and eye contact? There is so much more to communication then just the words they use. My oldest DC is autistic, he didn't have any words but also didn't make much eye contact, no pointing, clapping, waving etc. Look at how he is communicating with you rather than words. I have since had a NT child so I now realise how much DC1 wasn't doing.

18 month old says

Yes
No
Daddy
Meow
Circle

But very much babbles and converses in her own way. She understands most of what we say to her.

I'm not worried as she can do all the relevant sounds. She is just figuring it all out in her head.

Don't worry!

Is he at nursery and maybe talks more there?
Ours didn't talk a lot to us. Wanted to do full sentences.