Still no words...

I'm starting to get worried b/c I see so many posts about babies younger than mine saying words already. Both are walking(practically running sometimes) and have been for a couple months now.

I'm not as worried about Eli b/c in the past week he has suddenly started to try and say lots of words and I think he actually knows the meaning of them.
BaBa for Bottle
MaMa for me of course
Doh- for dog- he points at him constantly
Bye- when waving bye
PaPa- for his papa
He will wave bye bye and point at everything!
Can't play peek a boo with a blanket but will with his brother.


Cooper is the one worrying me a little bit. He has always done things first(roll, crawl, walk(10mos), talk)
Said DaDa with meaning the first time around 9-10months but the past month or so he no longer says it
He does babble some
He was waving byebye but only will do it occasionally now
Plays peek a boo all the time with blanket, stuffed animal, his brother and loves it.
He really knows the meaning of words more than his brother. When saying, No No, he will stop for a minute, smile at you and do it again. LOVES to test you!
He is very smart about manipulating things- will turn things over, push them somewhere to climb and get what he wants.
Can imitate almost any sound you make almost instantly- blowing bubbles, clicking with your tongue, fake coughs, teeth chomping, some crazy sound in his throat that only he and dh can do. He gets a huge grin when he imitates it b/c he knows how much we like it and praise him for it.
He actually is the more articulate one but it worries me that he want try to really talk?

Both had their hearing tested in the NICU and did fine. Am I just reading too much into it?

 

The speech therapist said 18 mos. So I had Liam evaluated at 18 mos (he didn't qual..but only barely) they are supposed have 10 (give or take) words at 18 mos! HTH

 

Wait till 18 months to be concerned. Your kids sound perfectly fine. I was concerned as mine seemed "stuck" at 3-5 words for the longest time. Once they hit 18 months, there was a big word explosion. I counted their words about a month ago, and Bea had 94 and Ainsley 58, and they had only really been talking for a maybe a month!

 

Definitely don't even think twice about it until at least 18 months. Mine literally had no words -- well, no, they each had one, "kittycat" -- until 18 months, and then they exploded almost overnight. I stopped counting after they reached 200 words -- which was only at 20-21 months!

 

I was also worried at about 13 months because it seemed like so many people's babies were saying things. Mine both said "dah" for daddy and "more" and "all done," and that was it, until about 15 months.

Right at 15 months (right when people said the language explosion often happens), it happened for Amy. Now at almost 18 months she has probably 30 words and is popping out with a new one every day. Her pronunciation is still pretty terrible but it is improving, so I feel OK with it.

I am probably going to get Sarah evaluated if she doesn't have more words by their 18-month checkup. She says maybe 5 words, and they all sound like "bah," "dah," or "dee." I'm not really worried worried, but it seems like if speech therapy would help, might as well do it.

Incidentally, both of mine just started saying "mama" this week, so you're ahead of the game on that one!

 

Stephanie,

I wouldn't worry. First off, I think boys talk later than girls (at least that is what I have heard, we have all girls on my side of the family so I've only experienced girls). But my nieces have some boy cousins who were much slower to talk.

And, I think your boys were doing physical development first, and I've found that if they are working on one thing, the other moves slower. Grace is definitely my better talker, but I think that is because Lily was busy figuring out rolling, crawling, cruising, walking, climbing while Grace was working on her words.

They've recently had an explosion of words and I'm guessing your guys are going to get to that point soon. They repeat so many words that we say we really, really have to watch what we say lately!

 

One of my girls runs, climbs and is into everything. And she doesnt' talk. Mama is the only thing she says and only when she's mad. Mostly she just grunts. She can sign a few things, too.

The other still isn't walking at almost 17 mo. (Shes in EI for gross motor delay). But she talks a fair amount. My pedi said it's actually quite common that children who are very physically adept are slower to talk, and kids who are slower in their gross motor development are often big talkers (as long as there's not some other underlying cause for their delay, of course). Sounds like your boys fall into the first camp and like PPs said, I wouldn't worry about it for a few more months!

 

My boys are 22 months. Jackson is my talker and signs quite a bit. Knows most of his body parts, sings, has little conversations, and mimics our words back to us all the time. He can do the physcial stuff too but he started a lot later than Ethan. Ethan isn't talking much at all but he understands and follows my commands, knows some signs, and points to things that I ask him about in books, etc. He also started walking at 11 months and is very physical.

My pedi said not to worry until around 2 years. He thinks he's just focusing on the physical stuff so much. I'll have him evaluated in a few months if I don't see any improvement.

HTH!
Mendy

 

I would say to wait to worry- if anything bothers you, do mention it to their pedi- but I doubt it's an issue until 18 months or so. It was just about 18 months that my kids finally started really trying to say words. As long as he's communicating, that's what I would look for.

 

ECI wasn't concerned about my boys until 18 mo. They wanted to see 10 words (signs counted too!) by 18 mo. Anthony had only a couple words, but plenty of signs!

 

Thanks Ladies!!! I didn't know that about the ones who are physical earlier sometimes talk later! That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it and think of other babies I know. It really does seem to be true.

Eli actually added a new word yesterday- NaNa- that is what they call the sitter b/c she is an older lady. He was yelling NaNa NaNa NaNa this morning when I was leaving for work b/c she wasn't getting his pancake to him fast enough

 

Question on the 18mos. would you adjust for preemies or go with 18mos actual, just wondering if anyones heard. Thx.

 

Hi Stephanie,
I feel your pain. My 27 weekers aren't talking really either. However, there is a huge range of what is "normal" for speech. I was 3 before I really started talking and now I never shut up. Seriously though, if you are worried you can have them evaluated by an early intervention speech therapist. My kids have been in early intervention since they came home. They now only see the speech therapist once a week to help them with their language. But even she is not worried. My kids are sharp as tacks and like your sons, know exactly what words mean. They know all the parts of the body and will point to them when you say it, follow directions, can repeat sounds, etc. In other words, the professionals aren't worried because their receptive language is advanced for their age. We're just waiting on their expressive language, which will come with time. The receptive language is the important one to worry about.

I do know exactly how you feel though. I want my kids to talk so badly. Another thing to remember is that as twins, they often have their own language and twins are later to talk anyway. My kids chatter on to each other relentlessly, so I know they at least understand each other.

Best wishes to you. Again, if you are worried, have them checked out. They sound like they are just late bloomers in the speech department. My kids were very active early one (and still are) with walking, crawling, so I'm confident they'll catch up speech-wise soon.

Lisa

 

All kids are different. Some babble there way to 18 months, then you might be shocked one day to hear more then one new word. Ask their doc if your concerned he/she might be able to offer you some guidelines.

Just keep encouraging. All you can do at this age.

 

my younger twin son started talking right after his 18 month apt..

his sister is a chatter box..

show them picture books.. lots of them.. with just single picutres in squares..
im sure you know the ones.. hes 20 months and now reads the pictures to me..

i was worried about him too..

 

I didn't read all the posts but I will say that mine weren't saying much at 12 months and then all of a sudden- BAM! It's like a light switch turned on! Then they went for a while with no new words and then Bam again- a bunch of new words!! I think as long as you are watching them- just keep an eye on their vocab, etc., they are fine. For just a little over a year- sounds normal to me.

 

Mine are full term and they just didn't say anything (though they clearly understood my instructions) until 25 and 27 months, at which point they burst into speech which rapidly became sentences in about 2 months. My second son was also late to talk, 22 months. (DS1 was very early, 8 mos.) My mother's brother and my father were 2.5 and 2 when they finally started, so I knew speaking late ran in my family. If they are understanding you, I really wouldn't worry. Mine had NO words until they started to talk, and then they suddenly had everything. But before that, nothing, not even "ma ma." Now Olivia is actually 2 yrs ahead of where she should be in speaking. Lu's pronunciation is average for her age, but her sentence structure is advanced. This was also my uncle's pattern. Some kids just want to wait.