9 m-o not babbling?

[mamandedeux]

I went to my DS2's well-baby check-up yesterday and the doc seemed surprised that he wasn't yet babbling. I was the one to bring it up since DS1 was already ''saying'' a handful of syllables at that age. DS2 is very quiet, but he does scream and squeal to get my attention, responds to sounds and his name, and is also right on track and even ahead for all gross and fine motor skills. Anyone else have a quiet baby?

[DivineMrsM]

i do! he's almost 10mths and rarely makes a peep. only making ONE discernible which is MAMA! doesn't say anything else just yet. He will babble a LITTLE bit, but not too much. he's just quiet!

[mamandedeux]

Thanks Divine. Anyone else? I'm a tad worried even though I know this is likely in the range of normal. Please?

[ErinYay]

V's a bit younger- not quite 8 months, but is also way ahead with fine and gross motor skills, and lagging a tiny bit with babbling. I posted about it a while back, and got a lot of good responses- babies often focus on certain areas of development while letting other things slide. She's got a lot more consonants now- he favorite thing to say is "dada die die," which we pretend is German for "dad the the," and not a threat.

Baby skills seem to ebb and flow, and especially in light of advanced physical development, I wouldn't worry (though I do a bit anyhow, because that's how I'm wired!)

[confustication]

On the less reassuring side- my now 2 yo wasn't babbling at that age, and still doesn't speak. He has *just* started cv babbling within the past couple days, and I videotaped it to share with his speech-language therapist.

I wouldn't really worry yet, but I would work with her a bit- does she do vowel sounds at all?


c= consonant
v= vowel

the goal is to get to cvc sounds- then you begin to hear language.

[BtotheG]

DD will be ten months next week, and she's another one who is ahead on gross and fine motor skills, and a little behind on the babbling.

I brought this up as a concern at dd's six month wbv. She was making noises, bit not much, and no consonant sounds. The ped wasn't concerned at that point, and said she would revisit the issue at the nine month appt. Sure enough, dd was babbling well at her visit last month.

I really do believe the idea that some kids put all their energy into developing one skill (such as motor skills) while neglecting others. DD has displayed a definite pattern consistent with that notion. She was really quiet around six months, but she was learning to crawl at that time. Once she mastered crawling, she had a verbal explosion, starting to say actual words. She quieted back down after her nine month visit, including ceasing to say words she had said previously, but she just started walking in the last few weeks. Now that she has walking down pretty well she's started the babbling back up.

That said, I'm also a believer in addressing concerns and intervening early if an issue is found. Did your ped suggest a next course of action?

[mamandedeux]

Thanks! My dr really wasn't concerned but did suggest I come back in 2months if DS2 still doesn't have any discernible sounds. I noticed last night that he does say ''ah'' and ''oh'' but still no real consonants. His hearing seems fine according to the dr. He just turned 9 m-o 3 days ago, so I guess we still have some time before we should start worrying. Thanks for your advice and stories, mamas.

[tzs]

Originally Posted by ErinYay

he favorite thing to say is "dada die die," which we pretend is German for "dad the the," and not a threat.

"die die" is yiddish for like "quiet quiet" and is like a shushing calming thing for babies. i work at a jewish preschool and one of the english teachers was shocked to see a jewish teacher carrying a baby down the hall and saying "die die..." ha ha