17 Moth Old Not Talking

I have a 17 month old girl. She knows how to say mami and dada, but that's about it. My older one (now 4) didn't start to talk until really late..about 2 yrs old). She started walking late too (about 15 months of age). I didn't stress over it. She ended up talking, walking and socializing w/ friends just fine. So, if it was me, I wouldn't rush into speech therapy, etc...just give it a few more months.

Good luck!

When she is 3 years old and not saying mama or dada then you can start to worry.
Best of luck!
Jen M.
Mom to 3 boys ages 5 1/2, 3, and 1 1/2

Everything sounds completely normal to me!!! Give her a couple more months, and see what the doctor says in September.

I understand your frustrations and desire not to over react. I want to first start by saying that every child is different and you will probably read many mom's responses after it is all said and done! You questioned whether or not her slowness to reach milestones (walking, crawling, etc.) was just part of her speach delay. My oldest son (now 6) was very slow to reach milestones - walking when he was about 15 1/2 months old; however, he started talking well beyond his means extremely early! My youngest (no 3 1/2) was walking by 9 months, but he has delayed speech.

I know you said that she hears fine, but if you have never had her hearing checked by a true audiologist, you should!!!! Just because she responds exactly how she should when you tell her to come here or put something down, that doesn't mean what she heard was exactly like you said it. She could have conditioned herself to know what she heard you say meant what you said (if that makes sense). Dr. Spirakis ###-###-####) at All Children's Hospital on Bruce B Downs is GREAT with kids and parents!!! She is very detailed and explainatory!!! If not her, find a true audiologist and have her hearing tested.

Also, there is a program with the state of Florida that will evaluate your child for speech problems and even provide necessary therapy for free. The only qualification is that she does have a speech problem as diagnosed by certified speech pathologists. The program is sponsored by USF and the number I have for them is ###-###-####. This could be Agnes's direct number - she is who helped me get registered in the system and get the paperwork rolling. I would definately do this! You don't want to wait too long to find out that there is a problem and then you have to over come it later.

Good luck!
Sam

Hi A.,
Honestly I would not be worried about it. She is babbling and saying ma ma so you know she is working on her speech.
She is recognizing words and developing, some kids just take a little longer. If she was born premature, that will also play a part. Development is usually based on time from when they should have been born.

My son started talking at @12 months, my daughter at 15 months still doesn't talk! My pediatrician said not to be concerned until after 2 years old!

Many of my friends children barely spoke until close to 2 years old!

She seams perfectly fine. rest easy :)

Hi A., My 14 year old didn't start talking until he was 2 1/2 years that is due to him being sick alot and ear infections. Then we had tubes put in his ears and the first word out of his mouth was "potty". But the speech was slow, and we had to start him on speech therapy. When he started school and we he went into the second grade, he was tested. Found out he has an IQ of 139, and was labeled gifted. To this day he is still taking speech but at school only and is doing Occupational Therapy once a week. 4 years ago he was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and has anger management problems. My 10 year old had a 10 word vocab until the age of 2. Then he got his MMR shot and right after we moved from Minneapolis to Tampa. After we moved, his vocab went from 10 to zero. Alot of grunting, pointing and screaming. I took him to have his hearing tested twice in one year. Thought maybe he was like his brother, but i knew he was hardly ever sick. He is developmentally delayed in speech and in other areas-gross and fine motor skills. When he was 3, he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS and about 4 years ago, he was diagnosed with Autism.
Listen to your pediatrician. He or she will be able to help you in getting the therapies need for your child, if it comes to that. It is not a bad thing. You and her father need to do what is best for her and work together. Alot of times when parents can't handle if there is something "wrong" with there children. Just hang in and it will all work out. You will get all the support if you need it.

Hi!
Keep in mind that every child is different, i would check with the doctors to be sure that she is OK but maybe she only needs a little more time; my son started speaking with weird pronunciation and little vocabulary as a baby and toddler but he improved after a while without problem and now he graduated from high school with 7.03 GPA so if your daughter is healthy she maybe needs a little time.
All the best for you and your family,
M.

If you live in Florida, contact Early Steps, which is the state's early intervention program. They can help you sort out whether this should be a concern right now. http://www.cms-kids.com/earlysteps/

It sounds like your child probably should be evaluated for speech delays. My son has been in speech since he was about a year and half and is about to start Kindergarten. He has improved MONUMENTS. If your pediatrician is already aware of the delay, they most likely will refer you to a speech pathologist to further diagnose a problem. Its good that you recognize your child might need a little more help, b/c most parents have a hard time admitting that their children need it, b/c lets face it, who wants to say their child is anything less than perfact. So kudos to you. I wish you all the best!!

alicia sounds like her developement is about right on track. some children never crawl. the go from rolling to walking. my oldest was a slow crawler and started about 10 months old she rolled everywhere then at about 9 months gave walking a shot. well to say she fell in the living room floor and bonked her head scared her. not a hard fall but it scared her. and she didn't start walking again until she was 13 months old. she was however talking very clearly at 9 months old. at 2 she was counting and knew her colors and such. my second child i knew was different she was always slow in developing her milestones. she couldn't tolorate the texture of food until she was 8 months old when she quit gagging when food was put into her mouth, she didn't crawl or walk she scooted everywhere on her little tush... her nickname to this day is scooter.. lol at 18 months old she started walking. we waited until she was 3 to have her tested big mistake. we had her hearing tested younger but deveolopement waited and noone would see her. gainsville only sees under 3 and psychiatrists normally only see them at 4 or over. we finally got her seen by a dr at 3 1/2 and found she had full blown kranners autism. she had other signs besides the not talking. she would (stem) by touching everything and just repeatedly quickly run her fingers over surfaces repeatedly. then number 3 developed like a lazy baby but still normally. she just wasn't in a big hurry.. lol she crawled at 8 months, she walked at just over a year but would only chatter to us at home in front of the ped. she would either stay very quiet or jabber. he had me freaking because children born after an autistic child have a 10% higher chance of autism. but since her other develeopement was normal and she would talk at home i didn't worry. i would say give her until 2 then start worrying. they develop at their own pace. she may be developing in another area and thus for her talking isn't important. just offer her words and make it a game. if she wants something to drink give her the word and praise her for saying it. do tickle monster or something fun if she says the word. make her learning fun :) if she isn't talking at 2 then have her seen by a speech therapist. alot of times they don't talk because they have no need to. we know what they want or need and respond before they even ask. gotta love being a mommy :) the hardest thing in the world for me was making my middle child at least show me what she wanted and try to say it. it does work, my only real advice is don't wait too long to have her tested. it is hard finding dr's for young children and there is a period it is next to impossible and it is of course in that crucial time period. the sooner they find something wrong the easier to start services. it sounds like her second b-day is coming in sept. which is when i would suggest waiting for. but don't postpone longer than that. it could be her being a lazy baby could be hearing issues or worse. not meaning to scare you. i have a child with ADD who on her meds makes A's and B's and passes science with a 100 on her report card. she wants to be a vet. i have a child with autism who stayed on the straight A A-B honor roll last year and a child who is getting ready for kindergarten this year who learns at a normal pace but who loves mommy to read to her and is attracted to non fiction books about the ocean... another scientist maybe :p i figure it like this i am truly blessed with my kids the way god gave em to me. my autistic daughter is a cuddler :) go with the ped on the speech only reason i didn't with number 3 was she had speech at home just not in front of him. and she developed normally and by 2 was really chattering up a storm. if she hadn't started talking more by 2 i would have had her checked but i was already watching her development like a hawk and knew what she could do.

I think right now, it's still a "wait and see" kinda thing.
My 19month old says the staples: mama, dada , go, and bye bye very clearly and his verison of dog, meow, juice, night night, bath, and please....but that's really about it.
When my 8 yr old was his age, his speech was very clear and his vocab was a lot larger.
At the next pedi visit, see how things go. In the meantime, make an earnest effort to practice. Do you have a "See n Say?" There are flashcards and songs and all kinds of stuff out there.

My son was 2 1/2 before he was talking and it was frustrating. He also babbled and I knew he could hear. We discussed it with the pediatritian and he was monitoring it on each appointment. If he had turned 3 and still wasn't speaking, my son was supposed to go to a speech specialist but luckily, he was chatting away by then. One issue was my son had three adults sharing his care and two of them wouldn't let him want for anything. So he really didn't have much need to talk. I wouldn't cave and he'd have tantrums but that's really what he needed. If you hand him everything he points at instead of making him "use your words" he would never be motivated to speak. If her crawling and walking has been slow, she's just at her own pace and I wouldn't worry about it. I read to him all the time and picture books reinforced speech. Music is great too and we were big on reciting nursery rhymes. Relax and she'll be fine.

My first born did the same as yours with the babbling-- it was adorable-- he would have these whole martian conversations with his toys, with intonations as if he was asking questions, responding, even arguing! My second child was born when the firstborn was almost 17 months old and we have video of him having those babbling martian conversations with her (or I guess it was AT her-haha!) We also have video of our second child at her first birthday where she was speaking 3-5 word sentences! Every child is different. Yes, I would worry if my pediatrician was concerned... but I would not worry on just what you have told us. Maybe he knows your child better than us and is concerned about ALL of her late milestones and looking at the big picture. But a 17 month old not speaking is not THAT big of a deal, I don't think.

Hi A.,
I have worked in the past as a Speech Therapist and am also a mommy. Some things to consider... Boys are a little slower in the speech area than girls, the fact that she can hear you AND follow your directions is great, that she has been a little delayed in other areas is also something to take into consideration, lastly, the fact that she is babbling is good. At 17 months she should have a couple of words by now. You can start with singing a familiar song with just a syllable such as Twinkle twinkle little star sung in tune with ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba ba and see if she can imitate. If she is able to sit with you for small amounts of time, I would find a couple of books that have pictures of familiar items that have easy words such as ball, bird, baby, dog... pictures of family members momma, dada, papa... you point and say the words and encourage her to do the same. I would only give it another month or two at the most to see if she does pick up any words. Keep in mind that the little ones don't have to say the word perfectly for it to count as a word. For instatnce, my little one says gog for dog and I count that as a word he knows. A speech delay is different from speech sound errors. If she is not saying anything that is recognizable, it would be a delay and as I said, I would not wait more than a month or two before I get this checked into (All Children's), and if she is actually saying words that may just have some sound errors, I would give her a little longer to see if she becomes more clear with time. I would say severe speech sound errors should be addressed by 2 1/2. I hope this helps!

She's an Indigo baby, god bless her! Google that term. It's what most of our children are...highly intelligent and gifted. Just keep talking very clearly and ask to to say words when she points, or you point to an object. Absolutely praise her for speaking clearly. She may even know a different language by DNA and just will take time for english to take hold. Please do not worry, as it is so easy for me to say. But I've been there; and it all unravels and becomes so much better....
Blessings, S.

Don't let people worry you! She doesn't need to be evaluated! My son finally said "juice" when he was about to turn 18 months. I have many friends whes kids didn't say any true words until after their second birthday. The key things you are looking for it what you already mentioned. She hears you and she understands you. Every doctor is different, but most wouldn't worry until after 2, so please don't let her freak you out. One day she will say 3 words instead of just one and you will laugh that you were worried. Video tape her reading to herself, that sounds adorable!

I wouldn't sweat it.
My son was 2 years old and never said anything other than situation appropriate giggles. Then one day around his 2nd birthday he started speaking in complete sentences (not childlike ones; near grammar perfect ones). Turns out he is gifted and he just graduated H.S. All is fine. :)

it's FREE to get her checked out and I most certainly would, even if it's to learn that there's nothing wrong.
It is 'only' free until she's three (3) yrs old, so she is entitled now!

Florida Early Steps
For more comprehensive information or referral, please contact Florida's Central Directory on the toll free number: 800-654-4440 or by
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Lou Ann Long,Director of Central Directory

A.,
Don't worry - my daughter is 22 months and is daying about 4 real worlds (all in the past month). She goes to daycare and I see a huge difference in kid around the age of 2 - some talk away, others haven't started saying any real words yet. As long as she babbles, she will get there!

My brother and my nephew both refused to say a word until they were almost 3. Both woke up one day speaking in full sentences like they had been practicing in their rooms all that time. Every child is different though. Follow your instincts.

Some children don't talk until they are 2 to 2 1/2 years old. I honestly think you are worrying over nothing. But I do want to make you aware of something. My daughter responded to everything just like you say yours does and seemed very smart, but she didn't talk much at a young age. Come to find out she had fluid in her ears and had to have tubes put in them. Right after she got the tubes she started talking and never stopped.
I would for sure get her ears checked. If they are ok leave her be and let her learn at her own pace. Way to many people push their children to learn early and not let them be kids.

I let both of my girls learn at their own pace and they turned out great. The oldest graduated with a double major in May and the younger one graduates this coming May with a double major. A lot of kids their age were talking before they did and are no where near as smart. Some kids just naturally take longer, it doesn't mean there is something wrong or that they are slow...

Hi A.,

When I read your request I found it interesting.... as if you were describing my son to a T.
I have been going back and forth as to whether or not I should take him to speech therapy or at the very least have an evaluation. I am very aware that I am a "nervous nelly" and am constantly putting myself in check. About a week ago, I decided to just wait and see what happens in Sept at his 18 month appt. This is very out of character because as I mentioned before, not only am I a nervous mom but also consider myself very pro-active with my son. Definitly not a wait and see type of mom.

Then something happened and I decided to take it as a sign. I was at the Childrens library conversing with two other moms. One of the little boys mother, who was the same age as my son, starting asking me questions about his speech. We both were a little concerned but since our Pediatricians had dismissed us, we were not sure what to do. Turns out, the other mom talking with us was a speech therapist. She asked us some questions and gave us some tools that she gives her students. She also expressed her frustrations with Pediatricians who wait too long for therapy. She felt that the earlier you started, the better. All in all, what I decided was to at the very least, have an evaluation. Fortunatly for me, my insurance covers it. If you are not insured, she suggested the early steps program which offers free therapy up to 3 years old. If you google it, you can find it
Good Luck.....I see no harm in being proactive.

Hi, A.. Well, the old wisdom teaches us that if a child walks early, she will talk late, and if she talks early, she will walk late. That's almost always the rule.

However, every baby develops at her own rate. It's clear that she isn't completely deaf or anything because she is aware of talking and is trying to talk, but she's just not getting out what we recognize as real words.

Toddlers at that age don't speak very clearly anyway, but your child might have some hearing loss...she's hearing people make sounds and words, but she night not be hearing them clearly, so she might be babbling the way she hears other people babble. Has she had a lot of ear infections? If so, she may have fluid buildup in her inner ears, and this keeps her from hearing clearly.

You don't need a speech therapist at this time; you need someone to try to figure out if she has a hearing problem. All kids learn to speak by hearing, and if they can't hear properly, they won't form real words.

It could be nothing at all, but your instincts could be quite right that something is wrong. Get a pediatrician to examine her ears, and get a referral if necessary to a pediatric specialist in hearing. It's hard to test a toddler's hearing, but they have ways to figure out if she's hearing properly or not.

I hope this is nothing, and that everything works out OK, but if she does have a problem, this is a good time to catch it and deal with it. The sooner, the better.

Peace,
Syl

I just took my daughter to her 15 month checkup. Her pediatrician asked me about her speech, which right now consists of one word [apple] and a few da-da's and mostly babbling. He said that by age 2, a child should have a 4-5 word vocabulary that they use all the time. But he wasn't concerned at all.

I started using flashcards from Baby Einstein with her every day or every other day. I also bought window clings from the Dollar Tree with words [pig, cow, bunny, etc] so she can start seeing words. Also start to name everything during your time together. It will all start coming together before you know it.

every child is different. Two of my 4 were speaking full sentences clearly at 18 months. The other two were a little later. My youngest turned 2 the end of January and only within the past 6-8 weeks began talking to where other people can understand what he's saying. He always babbled and "talked" a lot, but nothing coherent. He even called me daddy for a long time (still does sometimes). But when they start talking it continues to improve. I, personally, would not worry about her speaking until she's closer to 2 1/2 or 3. Just keep talking to her and if she understands you and can get her point across, it's not a problem for now. She's still super young to be talking clearly... don't worry about it.

Dunno about this stuff much,
but have to state
that my mom was 5 before she began to speak.
After than, grandparents said,
she was making up for lost time
and has always had PLENTY to say.

A., I see the pressure is on....When you say "Slow side" you aleady stressing yourself out. It's actually not slow, it's on her own terms. Smarter babies talk later, don't you remember Eintein??? LOL! Later walker and crawlers are much beneficial than earlier ones. There is a proven study, especially related to reading ability etc. It seems like you have a future CEO in training. Read to her as much as you can, you'll see instead of words she will be speaking sentences...Please keep me posted about Antonia's progress.

She is right where she needs to be. My daughter was only babbling when she was 17 months. I do have her in the Early Steps Program. They brought on board her Therapies a Speech Therapist at 22 Months old in the fact that she wasn't speaking at all in public, and saying only a couple words at home. When you recognize certain words she is saying, positively pronounce what she wanted that way she hears the difference and will quickly start to pick up what she is supposed to be saying. This will help her speech too. Point and prompt her on her words that you know that she knows when you read her favorite books to her. My daughter is 30 months and vocab out the roof. And be patient, it won't come naturally for her just yet. But it will when she hits the 20-24 month milestones.
Good Luck and hope this helps.

You've received lots of advice and words of wisdom and there's not much I can add other than what I'd do. :) The constant babbling and understanding of basic requests and demands indicate that the lack of words is probably just your daughter taking her time. Are there any words or sounds that she uses continuously for a certain object/thing? For example, until recently my toddler always referred to her bottles as a BaBa. Your daughter might have a few more words than you think!

If her Pediatrician is suggesting you have her speech assessed then I'd absolutely do that. Chances are that everything is just fine, chances are that she's just taking her time but having her see a speech therapist will give you tools to work with at home. Ways to help you guide her into communication as well as some peace of mind that there isn't something wrong or an action plan if there is a slight delay.

Most kids have a word explosion between 18-24months, and your daughter is likely among them but there is no harm in seeing an expert in the field in the event that some early intervention is needed.

Hi, My daughter just turned 2 in April and she still doesn't talk much.... but understands what I say and follows directions like your lil girl! Your Pediatriacian knows what he's doing as far as keeping tabs on the situation and its good that you brought it up to him. Kids all learn at diff rates and in diff ways! :)

My son is now 3.5 years old. Talks non-stop. But he didn't talk actual words (constant babbling) other than mama and dada/daddy until after he was two. I'm thinking he was 25-26 months old. My pediatrician was never worried about it and neither was I. Since then, I have actually discovered from others, that it isn't uncommon for babies to not talk before they are two.

Oh and walking at 14 months doesn't seem slow to me. Once again, there is a wide range of when the kidlets do things.

If your daughter is babbling, I personally wouldn't worry about it. To me, it seems it would be more to worry about if she wasn't babbling at all.

One day you'll be sitting in your car amazed that you are having a conversation with this little person. It always amazes me!

I don't know where you're from, but I woud try to find a Music with Mar. class in your area. If you can take her yourself once a week that would be great, however, since you're working, her caregiver can take her - or look for a weekend class. However, I would definately not worry about her lack of speech just yet. Every child develops at their own rate within a window of time. Her brain may be focused on other things right now. My son didn't really talk until after two, and he's an extremely bright and well-adjusted 12 year old. Another suggestion is for you to teach her (and learn yourself) some sign language (try "Signing for Kids" by Mickey Flodin.) Babies as young as 6 months can communicate this way. It relieves a lot of frustration for both of you, and studies show that babies using sign actually begin speech sooner than babies not using it. this worked very well for my daughter.

Hi A.,

I always remember my sons 2 year old check up where the Doc asked if he knew 50 words, he didn't even know a quarter of that. I was very concerned at the time and the Doc said they would see where he was at on his next visit. Within 3 months he was a real chatter box and knew well over any 50 words. All that worry for nothing:) I wouldn't be too concerned, seems like you are both doing fine, let her be and I'm sure she will be talking in no time.

J.

Hi there, I wouldn't worry too much at this point. As you mention, she may just be a little slow in reaching these milestones. My son is 19 months and I'd say probably just in this last month is he stating coherent words....'ball', 'mama', 'kitty', etc. The only sentence I can sort of understand is when he cries, "I want my mama", but mostly it still sounds very jumbled. Other kids in his daycare class are very quiet, too, with just a few who talk more. My older son was slow like this too, so I guess it just how some kids develop.