consonant sounds?

[JordanKX]

My mother read an article somewhere saying by 6months babies should be making repeated consonant sounds...gagaga, bababa, etc. My DS doesn't, hence her concern. Apparently this was an article on cues for autism. Blah blah. I'm not overly concerned with that. My DS is a talker.. he's rarely quiet. But it's still just ah's and oh's, ah-goos, etc.

But it does make me wonder, are your babies making repeated consonant sounds? At what age did they start?

[Grace and Granola]

No worries mama! It is way to soon to be worrying about consonant sounds. My ds1 was babbling at 4 months while my ds2 didn't utter a sound at all until almost a year. At ages 3 and 4, both talk way too much for my comfort level

Articles like that are interesting, but I wouldn't go jumping to any conclusions unless you have other things pointing in that direction.

[bajamergrrl]

My 8 month old only just started making consonant sounds last month. Before it was mostly "ah" and "uh" and still is. He's fine.

[Alisse]

My son started mamama at about 4-5months.

He just started bababa and ah-ba at around 5.5months. But he still mostly is mouthing like a fish out of water, opening and closing, with the occasional baba.

If your son is 6months there's still nothing to worry about for a long while though! As well, if he's making sounds at all you definitely shouldn't be worried!

[Llyra]

DD2 did it at 4 months.

DS did it at around 7.

DD1 was almost 10 months before she ever babbled with consonants.

All of them speak just fine now. And actually, DS turned out to be the slowest in his other speech milestones for awhile, but it's DD2 who's the hardest to understand now. So I don't think it means much.

I would worry about the hearing of a child who was unusually silent at this age, but I wouldn't start to specifically worry about WHAT sounds the child was making. It'll come. Does baby make eye contact and try to get your attention sometimes? Does he seem pleased when people talk to him or respond to his noises, and smile for people? Then he's likely doing just fine.

[Mamabeakley]

I was just thinking about this too, having retrieved my baby development book and noticed that DD doesn't do this (8 months on Monday).

But she is VERY vocal & interactive - just not with consonants! And honestly, I don't remember a big "babbling" phase in either of my other two, both of whom have no verbal expression issues so far as I know (now 6 and 3).

[femalephish]

Originally Posted by bajamergrrl

My 8 month old only just started making consonant sounds last month. Before it was mostly "ah" and "uh" and still is. He's fine.

Ditto! And my dd is such a chatterbox!

[nwatt]

My 7 1/2 mo DD just started making babababa sounds consistently. She had been making "mama" sounds, but only when crying so I don't count them.

[askew]

My 8 month old only says ahba and ahma. No repeating couplets- but she is very vocal and talks back and forth- not worried at all.

[odoole]

yes, my 7.5 mo DS has mixed consonants and vowels starting around 3.5 months but has never done the repeating couplets. do babies ever just skip that pattern? it seems like he's got plenty in his verbal bag without that patterning.

[2boyzmama]

Just keep an eye on it. There's a wide range of normal.

That said, there are some things that could cause that, including tongue issues, palate issues, and hearing loss. All three of those can be hard to diagnose. Are there any other concerns? Feeding issues? Weight gain? Developing normally otherwise?

It's probably nothing, but if in a few months the consonants don't appear, it might be worth mentioning to the ped. Connor didn't babble, turns out he has hearing loss and a cleft palate no one noticed. He had signs of problems, though, not just lack of babbling.