Talking?!

My son, Evan is now 2 1/2 years. His first real (i know what i'm saying) word was "no" at 14 months. i was concerned too, but he eventually got it. he really started talking at 18-20 months and now i can't shut him up!
try not to worry, keep talking to him and reading to him.

My oldest was talking here and there with a good vocabulary at 10 months old. and when we had her sister I worried about the same thing you do. She was not like her sister. A lot of babbling. some words here and there but i just held out on talking about my concerns because even though she seemed delayed in speach i could see in her eyes that she was just absorbing everything around her. she was and still is a people watcher. At about 15 and a half month she shocked us all with how much she really knew. she never had short phrases before that just a random word here and there and at 15 and a half months she just finally decided to talk and it came out in full sentences. She is of the three the most intelligent on with her vocab. and her creativity. She is defiantely made to be in theatre..she is such a clown..and she loves to act things out. I think part of her delay though was because she and her sister were only 13 months apart..they seemed to develop their own language so when my younger daughter wanted things she would talk with her sister in their weird code. My third child was an even in between of his sisters. If you see his mind moving..and you can tell he understands.. then i wouldn't worry just yet

K.
First of all, not to worry, kids do things in there own time. I have a daughter who is 16 months old. She said Mama, Dada, Choo Choo (we live near railroad tracks) and I think she says Dog. That is all. I was worried as well. I talked to her Ped. and she said that some babies don't talk until 18 months or even 2 years and when they do they blurt whole sentences and you wonder "how on earth does this child know all this?" That are like sponges until then soaking up everything they hear. Give him time. I am told to enjoy the time you have when they are not talking because you can never go back to that. But still I would like her to comunicate her needs, 'hungry', 'sleepy', etc. S.

My 18 month old isn't talking much either. He also walked at 10 months and now climbs everything! We do baby signs, which he is quite good at. I would encourage you to get Signing Time DVDs from the library. We started with Volume 3 which are the foods. Also the book Baby Signs is helpful. I think Gymboree has a class, but we didn't do it. I also heard that active kids talk less, and boys talk less, and kids in daycare talk less. I know lots of kids this age who don't say anything.

K.,

My daughter also crawled at 6 months and walked at 10 months. She is now 18 months and she has a very good vocabulary. She can say basically anything and repeats everything you say. My cousin is 16 months old and he didn't start walking until he was 14 months and he only says 1 or 2 words right now. My girlfriend has a son who is 18 months also and he started walking at 9 months and he doesn't hardly say anything either. It just depends on the child when they are ready to start talking. My husband's cousin didn't start talking until he was 3 years old and it never affected him later in life.

I have an excellent point of reference for you. My hubby's cuz wife (whew!) and I were due 2 days apart, both with boys. Their boy, Sebastian, was born 6 weeks early and healthy. My little Evan was born right on time. Sebastian is TRI-LINGUAL and has been since he was almost 1.5 years old. Evan has always talked baby gibberish because his 5y/o sister does all of the talking for him (...and me...and my hubby...you get the idea). Sebastian has no older siblings, but has parents that are both fluent in English, Spanish and German. Both boys will be 3 in the summer and Evan is just starting to make some sense in English; he loves naming things. At a family picnic last summer I was nearly embarrassed of myself for not having 'taught' my son better. However, as I had time to reflect all kids learn at their own pace. Same goes for potty training. I'm kind of dreading the fam picnic this year because I wonder how everyone else will be comparing the boys. I should note that Sebastians parents are not ordinary, their college thesis consisted of trapping light. Yes, trapping light. Yeah, got me too!
DON'T FRET! He'll get there.
~RachaelB

My cousins are 2 and 5 and the 5 yr old is a girl and the 2 yr old is aboy. When the girl turned one 1/2 she started talking and she would talk in full sentences by the age of two. On the other hand her son who just turned two says a few words and phrases but nothing how the girl was. The pediatrician said it is normal. Girls are faster learners. I would just wait it out and i'm sure his speech will get better. All kids are not the same some develop more rapidly than others!!!!

My daughter is 21 months old and just started really saying words in the past two months. She has a good vocabulary, now, though, and picks up one or two words a day. I think that with early walkers, etc., they're too busy mastering other skills to worry about talking. Also, we never MADE her talk- when she wanted something, she pointed at it and we gave it to her- so she had little motivation. It is a relief to hear words coming out of her mouth, though!

I actually just went over this in my child development class! Take the average and add 6 months and that is the real average time frame. But my daughter was just like that! She crawled at 5 months walked at 10 months. She was about 18 months when she started to really pick up words! Now, everyday it seems like she know 10 more! Just be patient, the time will come soon enough, then you'll get to listen in amazement!

Hello Kristin! Honey, the only thing that I can tell you is, is that every child develops at his/her own pace. Maybe he isnt ready to talk yet. If he is developing well otherwise, which he sounds like he is, then I wouldn't worry to much. Maybe he's not going to be a talker. Just keep talking to him, reading, etc, and eventually he'll be jibbering your ear off. :-)

Good Luck,
M. F

It sounds like he is right on track. It is true that babies and toddler's brains generally focus on either the physical or the verbal skills- one at a time. Try to get a response out of Aidan by asking him questions, repeat words a lot, keep reading books with large pictures of objects, and teach him a few common sign langage words to help decrease frustration. My daughter (now 17 months) was walking well by her first birthday, and is an avid runner, climber, etc. (monkey, really), but she doesn't have the vocabulary I would have thought yet either. I know she understands things, and she does say certain words all the time (Mama, Daddy, Dad, all done, gone), and she babbles a lot, but a lot of the time she will say a new word once or twice and then she won't say it anymore. She said "milk" clear as day 2 times about 3 months ago, and hasn't said it since. The same thing happened with "grandma", "grandpa", "teeth", "more please", and plenty more I can't think of right now. One other thing I noticed with myself is that I sometimes didn't pick up on a word that she was saying until someone else heard it. Sometimes a little creativity is needed! =) Don't worry- he will catch up. The important thing is that he understands what you are saying and is babbling. If he doesn't start saying more words by the time he is 18 months, you may want to check in with the doctor. Happy talking!

K.,

Please keep in mind that girls frequently learn to communicate faster than boys, so do not compare your son to his female cousin. My boys both walked at 9 months, and are complete little chatterboxes now (ages 5 and 3). Encourage the babblings, and keep reading to him as much as possible. He is going through huge changes between now and 24 months. If you are hugely concerned, ask your pediatrician. Otherwise, just let him develop at his own rate. Teach him some American Sign Language gestures, and say them each time you sign them. A friend taught my son when he was 7 months old, and he still knows useful things like "cookie," "more," and "book."

Best wishes and enjoy your silence while you still have some! :)

K.

Hello K.,

I'm not sure if this will help or not but I remember reading an article in a baby magazine (I subscribe to about 5 of them so I apologize I can't remember which magazine it was) that if a child develops early physically that they might be a little bit behind when it comes to the mental development and vise versa that if they develop early in the mental they may be slow in the physical. Its NOT to say that there is developmental wise anything wrong with your beautiful Aiden it just means that his talking skills might take a little longer to development. But my son is only 17 months and can say about 10 words and the doctors say that's perfectly normal so please don't be discouraged. Aiden is doing just fine.

God Bless!
Katrina

When my youngest daughter was 20 months old, she could say "poon" (spoon). That was it. By the time she turned 2 (only 4 months later) she was speaking in full sentences, and her words were crystal clear.

It's human nature to compare the developmental progress of our children with others. We all do it. We shouldn't, but we do. However, I think it's safe to say that there is nothing abnormal about a 15-month-old who isn't speaking much. I also think speech is an area that boys tend to develop a tad slower than girls, so don't worry if your son isn't on par with his female cousin.

For now, enjoy the babble!! :)

I had the same worry with my oldest son. He has always been very active and always stayed a month or so ahead of the norm with all things physical. His vocabulary and speech, however, was a different story. We have some friends with a boy almost exactly two months younger than our son. He was talking very early and talking in completes sentences before our son was stringing very many words together. I got very concerned until I noticed the other little boy was slower with all the physical things. When our boy was climbing on the couch, the other boy could barely get up to the couch. I know, and I have read so many things about this as well, each baby is so different and do things at differnet rates. The other boy happened to be slower with the physical things and our boy excelled in that. Both boys are now 3-1/2 and they are fine with both things, but where our boy is running and throwing balls and a little slower at learning his letters and that stuff, the other boy knows how to write his name and can count to 25, but he can't throw a ball very far and he is scared to climb down stairs. It just depends on the child. Even siblings can be so different as I am finding out with my second boy. Give Aidan a chance to develop at his own rate. (By the way, Aidan is an awesome name. That is our second son's name.)

Just wanted to say that our idea of what's average is often not the case. Our pediatrician said the average child takes their first steps at 13-14 months, so your statement that she walked "very late" was just your impression. I think it's the same with talking, if he doesnt say any word clearly by 16 months then I think you should talk to your doc. My son walked at 13 months(he was a month premature) and says some words now at 15 months but not that clearly or regularly.

I have a perfect example for you. I personally think boys and girls develop at different stages. My sister and I delivered exactly 6 weeks apart. Her with a girl and myself with a boy. We lived separately but kept the kids close. My son walked at 8 months her daughter walked at 15.5 months. My niece had a very broad vocabulary on the other hand and my son didn't say mom (his first word) until about 3 weeks after his 1st birthday. we noticed at about 5 they seemed to be on the same level with everything. Now my sister and I are in the opposite position. I have a daughter and she has a son who are both 2. My daughter talks up a storm while her son points to everything he wants and grunts. All children develop at different stages but I do tend to think girls do talk first. We are known for our ability to talk someones ear off. I would love to know how you cut back on the pacifier. Good luck with you issue and hopefully all the wonderful answers you get will ease your mind.

The average range for first words is usually 10-15 months, averaging around 13 months, however there is room for considerable deviation. After this point, kids usually hit a "vocabulary spurt" sometime between 15 to 25 months during which they begin to rapidly increase their vocabulary. Some kids (possibly his cousin) hit this stage sooner. If your son is responding to your commands and communicating through babbling, I wouldn't be concerned. Every kid is very different and it sounds like your son is within a normal range. It may be helpful to name items he wants (would you like your JUICE? etc.)throughout the day and reinforce the words that he does use, (yes, that is a kitty). we did the pacifier thing too - I think that's really helpful!

I am the mom of 6 and I just have to say it sounds like you are doing everything right. I have a 17 month old son and he talks like crazy but he also has 5 older bros and sis to learn from and compete with. I have a 5 year old son who didn't talk until he was almost 2 and a half.....so I think your son is right where he should be....just give him time before you know it you won't be able to hush him...lol