Still concerned about lack of boys speech, but maybe a little hope... and weird grunting?

Their Dr. said it would be a problem if the boys don’t have words by 15 months. They are 14 months, 1 week.



They are I THINK appropriately saying mama now. Occasionally to me, or calling me, or sometimes when upset (is this appropriate)? Their grandma says baby A does not call for me when upset/crying when I’m not around anymore… Maybe once a day or every couple days.



Dada- sometimes (but rarely) baby B pointed at a man on TV that looked a little like his dad and said ‘dada’ a week ago. Not really concerned about this because I’ve read sometimes associations can first be for all men, etc…



Here is what gives me hope…



Baby A

I was worried because baby A had said ‘caaa’ a while, and ‘baaal’ for everything, was saying 'ooook' when pointing, but stopped all this for a few weeks (he was only doing this for a week or two). Last night he pointed at the cat and said ‘giddy’, and then a few seconds later, pointed again and said ‘caaa’. (we call the cat kitty and cat).



Baby B

Has been repeating sounds lately, but a few days ago pointed at the cat and said ‘gat’.

This morning, (wasn’t there for it) he pointed at his brother and said ‘buhder’



Can anyone tell me if they are using mamma appropriately?



How much/often do they need to say a word for it to be considered a word?




Also, should I be concerned that baby A the last few days is grunting a LOT. He is still babbling, but not as much as he was. He grunts when he points to things, and when his arms are up and he wants to be picked up?

 

My two are 22 months and still only have a couple words... I know some singletons that didn't talk until 2. I wouldn't worry quite yet.

 

Yes, it sounds like they are using Mama correctly. One way to see if the "know" the word is to have you stand somewhere where they can see you or show them some pictures and ask "Where's Mama?" or "who's that". If they point to you or say Mama, then they got it. The approximations of the words that the are saying "giddy, caaaa" are all considered words. If they use them for those particular things and use them pretty consistently, then they are words. They aren't going to sound like the adult version of the word for some time. I wouldn't be too worried about it at 14/15 months yet. There's a lot of time still and it sounds like they are doing ok.

 

My boys are 14 months as of the 4th and they really don't have any words and rarely say mama or dada. They will say dada more than mama and usually only when provoked. One occassionally says "baa" for ball and I think they both will say "kee" for kitty but other than that they still very much have their own language. I'm not too worried about it yet. My pedi said that multiples can but not always have speech delay because they have their own language and just keep with that. I haven't done any research on that so I'm not sure to the truth of that. I just keep working with them and reading to them, as I'm sure you do, and am hoping they just start picking up on it. My boys also squeal (in place of your grunt I would guess) when pointing to things or if they are wanting a snack and also do that when they want to be picked up. I'm comfortable with the way my boys are interacting with me/dad and each other but I will definitly talk to my pedi about their speech and see what he says.

 

Personally I wouldn't worry too much... though I did worry... and I know its hard not to.

anyway, ours actually say a few words now at 20 months. and NOTHING sounds perfect! ball is "baaa", cracker is "cacka", shoe is "shzzz", sock is "ca"... you get the idea.. these words are so neat though, they seem like they've started getting so many words past 18 months. but truly ours didn't have but maybe 3 or 5 words at 15 months. and I remember that at 15 mo. ours didn't say mama or dada appropriately.

haha, we get the "dada" for any man in pictures too! its kinda cute... but sad that you think they know your name, and then say "dada" to the model in the picture frame!

and I count a word the first time I hear it! for me, I didn't feel like I had to have them repeat it to count it! I am always so excited to hear new ones! I love the "brother" version your twin has!

 

It is very exciting to hear all the new words they come up with and can produce. Really, a huge language explosion happens between 18 and 24 months so that is when you'll most likely see so many more words being added. I just wanted to comment that the reason I indicated they are considered words if they use them pretty consistently for things is because this is the way the Speech Pathology profession looks at it. Being a Speech-Language Pathologist, if a parent reported to me that their child said "caaaa" once and that it meant "cat" I wouldn't be inclined to call that word unless they did it repeatedly so the parent and others knew what that word means. That 2nd year is just so fun to see all the languge skills develop and to go from crying or laughing to express so many things to being able to use words for many of their needs. BTW, I love the "brother" version too. Very cute!

I also wanted to add that while they are still young, keep encouraging them to use words instead of just doing what they want b/c of a grunt. Try to talk about what you're doing or ask them "Do you want up?". If you can try to get them to imitate "up" when they raise their arms, that's awesome. If not, when you pick them up, just say "up, you want to be picked up". We had the issue in our house (and still do sometimes) where my oldest DD talks/answers for them.

 

I agree with MLH. It does sound like they are using "mama" in the right context and keep on talking to them. My kids still don't think I shut up and now they are a little older (24 months) instead of gesturing or whining, I tell them to use the words they have. I was stunned over how many words my DD and DS picked up between 18-24 months and they are still picking up a ton of stuff. My DS is still a little behind DD but he is learning something new daily.

 

if he's still doing that at 21 months (as my son was) then I'd be concerned...at 21 months Ian only said "cookie" and "daddy" - for everything...Abby started talking at a year and hasn't stopped...Ian caught up by the time he was 26 months and now they both have their own language as well as being quite the conversationalists!

 

I think it's completely normal that your two aren't saying many words. Mine are 13 months and Kelsey only says "dada". Ryley says "Mama, Dada, bubba, nana and has once said red" for the most part they are still only saying "googoo gagaga" LOL...ya know babytalk. I wouldn't worry unless they are close to two years old.

 

ds was pretty behind dd - she started talking early, is now 20 mos and is starting to talk in short sentences. I was concerned so I got him into therapy. The first thing she did was teach him "more" and "help" in sign language and that REALLY gave us a breakthrough!! I think ds's issue was more the frustration than just not talking though. Oh, and he also called everything with wheels a "guck" (truck), and every animal say "rroooooooaar" (like a tiger). He has gotten out of that, and now knows the difference between car, truck, cat, dog, duck, etc. He also goes through phases where he'll make up a word to call everything. The last few weeks he would call everything a 'gutch' - what the heck that came from I have no idea. Now he knows some new words...

I wouldnt be too concerned. Neither of my 2 call me mama or ask for me, but if you say where's mama, they point to me, and they know me in pictures (maybe because I'm with them all the time and they dont have to call me...) My pedi also told us that animal sounds count as part of those 10 words, so dont just go on words alone.

 

Good to know. How often do they need to do this so that speech pathologists consider something a word? Is it a how many times or how often?

I want to know for myself... For instance, one boy said 'caa' a few times a few weeks ago. they have said some of the words before, but as far as we know not every day, etc..

It's also hard for us to tell because we both have to work and can't be home with our kids, so we have at most an hour with them MON-Fri, and Saturdays and Sundays. But their daycare doesn't have a cat, so I doubt they say cat there. We can't afford a nanny and the large home daycare is the best we can afford, at 8-10 kids, most under 4r, for a provider and her assistant... so.... knowing how busy it is with just 2, I doubt they would always notice/catch it if they did say any words. for example, one girl started biting, the provider said it was out of the blue.... i found out from the mom it's after she gets mad, and she ALWAYS says 'ouchie' first. We don't expect the provider to notice everything, but just an example with a lot of kids how things can get missed.

They also clap and wave bye-bye.... sometimes. Not consistently, not every day. I've heard differing opinions on this, too. But they are both pointing up a storm.

 

I can't remember everything back from when they first started talking, but I do remember that they would use certain words a lot for a week or two, then completely stop using them and move on to a new group. We thought it was weird. One of my DD's was in EI for PT/OT, but she would not talk when she was there (she'd talk all day long, just never at EI). I mentioned this using the words then stopping to the ST, and they said it was normal.

The DD who would never talk at EI now never...stops...talking...EVER! Honestly, she would talk 24/7 if she didn't get tired and need a little sleep. She has my MIL in her. :hush:

 

There's no clear cut # or for how long they've been saying a word for it to "count". In general, at least a few times so that it's somewhat preditable that that is their word for that specifc thing/person. It doesn't have to be everyday. At this age, their comprehension is much better than their expressive language.