Is your 1 y/o talking? - Mine isn't

Simplebeliever wrote: I'm curious as to where your toddler is at as far as speech development goes.

Abby is almost 18 months. She is on track as far as her cognition and understanding goes. If I ask her where something is, she will point to it or bring it to me. If I give her an order (to go sit in her seat or to bring me her sippy cup) she complies with complete understanding.

She walks and toddles around happily. She's curious about everything. My one issue w/ her development is this: She doesn't talk. She says "hi" and calls every one "dadda" and that's it. I try to be very vocal with her and encourage her to talk, but she remains silent and does not attempt to make words. I constantly point to things and tell her what they are called. As we go about our day, I announce every action we make. I try to get words from her at every available oppertunity.

I know every child learns and preforms at their own pace and some day Abby will talk, but it's worrisome. Am I the only mom going through this?

coasterqueen replied: Hey! Glad to see someone else's toddler is calling everyone dadda! Megan refuses to call me mommy. She calls me daddy and pretty much anyone else. She does have her sister's name and nickname "Sissy" down pat though. I want her to say MOMMY!!!! She's said it a few times but not much.

She's just now at almost 20 months starting to say more words. Up until a month ago she only have maybe a handful of words she would repeat but not say on her own. Now she's repeating things and her babble is making a bit more sense.

I was told if at age 24 months they aren't saying a lot of words they should see a speech therapist. We are going to get Megan into one here real quick anyways because she has "forward tongue thrust movement" which is and will cause speech issues in the sense of sounding clear.

1lilpeanut2love replied: I am sorry. I have NO advice. Each child like you said develops at his/ her own pace. My lil girl who is 18 months talks alot and even talks in sentences. I practice talking and getting her to say words ALL of the time. She even calls me Mommie. Good Luck. I am sure she IS fine.

My lil girl has a tongue issue too. She has to get it clipped soon. She pronounces book "gook." I have the same issue with my tongue though!

boyohboyohboy replied: you are so not the only mom going thru this.....
i am currently having my son tested for "mile stones" and i was told that at one yr they only expect a child to be able to say three words...such as ma ma or da da
my son says
ma ma and da da
and all done. but i think the family might be the only ones who know thats what he is saying..
and he says hi, but its so drawn out with sylables, but i am not sure thats what he means but thats what it sounds like.

and if children point for things, they said we should try not to get it , but make them ask for it...
and you said you point to things constantly for her, she might just be copying you.
it sounds like she is doing fine..

moped replied: I remember exactly when Jack started actually saying anything you could understand andhe was 21 months.....now people are amazed at how he talks and understands and replies correctly. He is now 2.5 yo

mckayleesmom replied: Russell will be 2 in January and he is just now starting to add alot of words to his vocabulary...Like you, I was worried. Now Im thinking that he is just quiet. Also, sometimes it sounds like he is babbling and then I will realize what he said inside the babble.....I think he talks to fast sometimes and it sounds like babble. Russell can say.


Hi
Bye
Thank You ....Tank koo
Welcome....Allcomb
Sissy
Kaylee.....Kaygee
You can't catch me.....you tant tat me
Dance
Momma
Daddy
Kiss....Tiss
Juice
1-2-3
Dog
Puppy
Baby
Candy.....thanks to holloween
Drink
Bite
More
Mean....directed at Mckaylee
Mine


and some others....and half of those are pretty recent. Mckaylee was talking scenteces by 10 months.

I think they are all just different and go at their own pace. If she hasn't started talking by 2, then I would ask my doctor.

lisar replied: Mine is 16 months old and she has a great vocabulary. I would say about 30 words or so that I can understand. Dont worry about it all kids develop at thier own rate.

Simplebeliever replied: Thank you all for the responses. It's refreshing to hear that there are other late talkers.

Too be honest, Abby hardly even babbles. Maybe she's just a really quiet kid. IDK. I'm glad to hear some of your kids started being more vocal and talkative closer to their second birthday. Hopefully, that will be the case w/ my daughter.

It just gets hard when we're around other kids her age and the other mommies get to brag at how much their kids are talking and the rate that they are picking up new words.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: The little boy I watch (2 1/2 almost) barely ever talks...to me. He'll babble on and on to Emilie, my almost 3 year old... and he speaks pretty clearly. But he barely say boo if he thinks i'm listening.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Stacy brought up a good point...when she points to something don't immediately get it, tell her what it is and encourage her to say the words. Too many people are quick to jump and get what they want without trying to foster the language.

1 year olds are so hard to monitor when it comes to language. It's the stage where they are all so incredibly different when it comes to language. My son was speaking almost full sentences by the time he was 18 months, but I have also had many children who only speak a few clear words at that time who now never stop talking.

I think the best thing to do is just foster her language as best as you can. You can also teach her simple sign language..."more", "please", "thank you", general manner words are great starters. Just be careful you don't run into an issue where she ONLY wants to sign though and not talk. Some kids will do that, then you have to cut the signing out and only foster in the talking. Usually sign language is taught with kids who are having problems expressing words correctly. If you notice she is not feeling frustrated with communicating, you may just want to foster the language and not do any signing at this point.

Read to her a lot. Get picture flash cards and try to encourage her to say what is on the cards. Anything she points to just tell her what it is. Get down to her level and have her watch you lips move. When kids are learning to talk they like to watch and mimic the movement of other people's lips and mouths. Talk slowly and break up the syllables of the words so she can hear the sounds more clearly.

Those are some ways you can help her to move along a bit, but at this point, I wouldn't worry. And remember, even when she tries to say something, that counts as a word in her vocabulary.

Simplebeliever replied: Jennie

Thank you so much for the extra tips! The advice is much appriciated. I do try to get her to say the name of the things she wants (like her sippy or a snack), but she gets fusterated very quickly and it usually leads to her having a melt down.

I think she'd like to sign. Maybe if she can express herself (and her immediate desires), she'll be less apt to get fusterated so quick and might try a bit harder at getting a few words out. She's really coordinated so I think this idea will be a success.

The flash cards & reading to her are wonderful ideas too. Even if it doesn't help her learn how to talk faster, it'll be a good mommy / daughter activity.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
They have wonderful Touch and Feel flashcards for her age. I believe Scholastic makes them. I got mine at Walmart. They make all kinds of different sets!

My2Beauties replied: I was going to say this is probably very normal. My DD could speak in sentences by 14 months old, she said many many words before she was even 1 year old, BUT...I've known tons of my friend's children to not talk until they were nearly 2..and then out of the blue they just all of the sudden become quite the chatterbox and are at Hanna's level - so your child will catch up, it's just she is going at her own pace. If her doc isn't concerned, I wouldn't be too concerned.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Madison is 18 months and can say maybe 15 words that I understand and 5 that everyone else can understand. Our biggest problem is Brooke talking for her - Madison really doesn't need to talk because Brooke does it all.

KingMom replied: My son is currently in speech therapy once a week. They come to the house and he has had a number of evaluations and only his speech shows a delay. We had his hearing and all tested and it was fine, as I had suspected. Though since his speech evaluation put him at a 10 mon old level when he was 21 months, he qualified for services.

The come weekly and do encourage signing with him, though once he nailed the "more" sign, he thinks he can sign that for anything! Crazy kid

I can say though that since they have started coming he is actually trying to say more and has a larger vocabulary then before we started. He might still only be around 15 words now, but better than 5! He's not very proactive at saying things but now if we prompt him like, " Colin do you need help?" he will reply "Help!" or "do you want more", he will reply "more" or sign more.

They are returning tonight for an hour and I'm going to tell her I've noticed his progress BUT when we he start to be more proactive?

Just want you to not feel bad, I agree that they all do it on thier own time but if you feel like you should start an evaluation, go for it. It's only going to speed things up!

BTW - Colin just turned 2, two weeks ago.

Our Lil' Family replied: I've been concerned with this as well but am trying not to get too worried until he turns 2. He can say words but usually only if I ask him what it is or ask him to repeat. He doesn't do it on his own. And they are usually only one syllable words. I've heard that those that are faster with motor skills are slower with verbal...not sure how much of that is true.

Just know you are not alone! I'm trying to remind myself that he will talk, it will just have to be when he is ready!