Lack of talking, pointing,...

I HATE comparing the twins, but I can't help it.

My DD seems to be on track (points, babbles...sometimes sounds like she's saying some words or trying to say some words like kitty, ball, etc., claps hands, etc.)

My DS...seems behind...he kinda babbles (his lips don't move, but he's making sounds...more time martian talk), he just points his finger at one thing..he doesn't move his finger around to different things...it's like he's pointing at nothing), he doesn't clap his hands. He hasn't said Mama or Dada yet...or any other disernable sound.

What is "normal" for development at this age? Shouldn't he be starting to talk more and pointing showing interest in things around him? He's a very laid back kid (with a temper when upset), he loves to watch TV and I'm ashamed to admit that I turn it on often so I can get a break sometimes. My DD watches to, but won't stare at it like he does. She watches, dances to the songs and then goes and plays. With him, I have to turn off the TV to get him to get engaged.

BTW, the were both full term so no age adjusting needed.

Wondering what other 14/15 month old are doing? I hate thinking something is wrong, but I can't help it.

 

Sounds normal and on track to me. You're going to hear a lot of babbling for awhile until they start to figure out words.

 

I know at 14-15 months, my two were not saying a lot of words. But, I always say, if you have concerns it can hurt to address them with your pedi at your next appointment and possibly have EI come out for an evaluation on his speech. It can never hurt.

 

At that age mine were not doing much...they were not pointing and had zero words. they would imitate clapping and banging on their chest to be a gorilla..that is all I remember.. Your boys seems fine.

 

Even now, Rylee's talking/communication skills are far ahead of Liam's. It's very common for girls to have more words sooner, and be able to communicate sooner, than boys. Boys are generally ahead in small motor skills and coordination.

This has been true for my twosome. Rylee has probably 50-75 words, is starting to string 2 words together (come here, look that, good girl), where as Liam barely has 20 words he can say. But Liam has been ahead in everything physical. First to crawl, first to walk, first to run, to stack blocks, to climb...etc. Rylee is catching up, because she copies him, but he's still not where she is with his vocabulary.

I'm personally not concerned. They are both following the "norms" of what typical boy/girl development is like. Sean was a late talker as well, he didn't say much until he was 2 yrs old. I do encourage Liam to say words, and he makes the sounds and syllable's, it's just not understandable.

 

It sounds pretty normal to me but I would always check your concerns with your pedi.

Is your DS enganged with a non-speeach related milestone or skill at the moment? Some toddlers focus so much on a new ability like walking or a new fine motor skill that they only want to practise that skill and will pause their development in other areas, or even seem to regress. For example, my DD was about 3 months behind DS in speech development because she was so busy learning to walk and so fascinated with anything to do with walking, running and climbing that she "forgot" to babble, look at books, point, act out songs with clapping and movements etc. After she felt secure in her movements she began making huge leaps in her speech development.

 

The lack of real words isn't concerning to me at all at this point. He's still pretty young for actually using words. The lack of pointing could be worrisome. Does he engage in any kind of social back-and-forth interactions with you? Like if you point to something, does he look at what you're pointing at? Does he wave bye bye?

As FYI only, below are some developmental milestones for 12-15 months from www.firstsigns.org


At 12 Months:

Use a few gestures, one after another, to get needs met, like giving, showing, reaching, waving, and pointing?
Play peek-a-boo, patty cake, or other social games?
Make sounds, like “ma,” “ba,” “na,” “da,” and “ga?”
Turn to the person speaking when his/her name is called?

At 15 Months:

Exchange with you many back-and-forth smiles, sounds, and gestures in a row?
Use pointing or other “showing” gestures to draw attention to something of interest?
Use different sounds to get needs met and draw attention to something of interest?
Use and understand at least three words, such as “mama,” “dada,” “bottle,” or bye-bye?

 

Mine are just now at 17mos starting to catch up to normal on this stuff. They've had developmental therapy for the past few months and I think this has been helpful, even if only a placebo effect for me and my anxieties.