Mamas of Late Talkers...Tribe?

[AFWife]

So, I kept thinking that DS would be an early talker (he did everything else early) but that doesn't seem to be the case. He's 18mo and babbles a lot and has a few words that he says but he's not really verbal yet. His comprehension is HUGE. (We can tell him "It's bedtime" and he knows to go sit on the bed or "Where's your tiger?" and he will go get his stuffed tiger)

He's advanced physically. He sat up at 5mo (mastered by 5.5mo) and walked WELL on his first birthday. (Like, barely any wobbles)

He mimicks using a phone. (He has his own old/dead phone that he "uses" and will flip ours open like a pro) He loves to dance (apparently that's "advanced"?)

Needless to say, we're not worried about it...but it's nice to have commiseration!

[confustication]

How many words does he have at this point?

My son was quite similar at that age, but he had *no* words. He is now 26 months, and is slowly gaining expressive language skills, but they are nowhere near developmentally appropriate. We are involved with EI, speech, physical and occupational therapy.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by confustication

How many words does he have at this point?

My son was quite similar at that age, but he had *no* words. He is now 26 months, and is slowly gaining expressive language skills, but they are nowhere near developmentally appropriate. We are involved with EI, speech, physical and occupational therapy.

Well, "mama" and "daddy" (when he feels like saying them, anyway. He'll greet DH in the middle of the night with "Hey Daddy" and then babble a bit )

He was saying a bit more but the past few weeks everything is "dat."
He also says "book." He loves that one.
"Muh" = milk


He also signs. He does the "eat" sign for "want" (I remember reading that a lot of times the first sign ends up being a general one) and just started signing "more" last month. He tries to sign "milk" but doesn't quite have that one.


Crap, I KNOW there's more words but they escape me.

[YayJennie]

Wyatt was definitely a late talker, but has finally started talking! At 17 months, he said "kitty" "mama" and "daddy", and had a few signs. A month later, and he has over two dozen words as well as about 15 signs he uses regularly, and learns new words and signs everyday. It seriously happened overnight.

I was never worried, for the same reasons as you stated Kas...Wyatt has great comprehension and is very physical (can run and jump and climb and go up and down stairs and mastered all of that pretty early), but I will admit, we're really excited he's finally talking! His little voice is the cutest thing ever, and now that he's able to communicate more it's much easier to deal with him when he's tired/cranky, when before, we had no idea what he'd want and then he'd have a meltdown.

I'm betting the same thing happens with Frankie. One day you'll wake up and suddenly he'll be talking and you won't even believe it. It's surprising how quick they learn once they decide they're ready!

[Everrgreen]

My son is late with talking as well. He is 20 months (almost 21). He does a lot of babbling.

Here's a bit of a breakdown
The words he says that even a stranger would recognize:
'doggie'
'mama'
'cat'
'yep' (yes)
'eye'
'duck'

Words he says that I need to explain:
'owww' (cow)
a sort of 'papa' like sound (grandpa)
a different sort of 'mama' (grandma)
'eee' (cheese)
and there have been a few more that he's used once or twice in a specific situation where I know he's trying to say that word, but outside of that I doubt I would even recognize it again

He does know some signs although he doesn't always use them when he could.

And his receptive language is very good, he understands most of the things I say, can follow simple directions, etc.

I do really wish he would start talking though, he gets so frustrated some times and I have no clue what he wants so I have to go through a guessing game until I get it right.

The other thing that concerns me is that he doesn't mimic sounds/words properly. It often seems like he thinks he's copying what I'm saying, but it isn't even the right sound. I am debating taking the next step towards speech therapy. I saw my doctor when ds was 19 months old and he suggested I try and encourage him to talk by witholding what he wants until he says the word yeah, like that's going to work! He didn't seem overly concerned, but did suggest that in a couple months we could try speech therapy.

Anyway, ds's speech is my big worry right now so I like seeing how everyone else's 'late talkers' are doing.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Sounds like my DD. She was sitting at 3 months, crawling at 5 months, standing unassisted at 7 months, and walking at 9 months. But talking...not until a lot later. I've heard it's pretty normal for babes who develop physically early to develop verbally later. Now at 24 months old she's finally putting strings of words together and "catching up" to her peers in talking.

[Peony]

Julian still doesn't talk either. My girls were later talkers as well, both were evaluated at various points for speech DD1 was 4 and DD2 was 1.5 and were found to be delayed but not enough for speech therapy. Here it has to be so much of a deficient before EI will kick in but both experienced massive language growth right after the evals. DS is even farther behind where they were. Now with DD1 I could say she was physically advanced, she was just slower on verbal skills, and she did lag behind for many years in that area, today she is fine. DD2 wasn't that physical and was delayed due to poor muscle mass because of her health issues until age 1, then rapidly caught up and was fine. Speech is still something that isn't great with her and she will be 4 next week. She speaks clear, but you can certainly tell she has a limited vocab. We know two other little girls who have birthday the same week she does and they could speak circles around her, she is still considered normal. I can't remember anymore but I think DD1 was talking a little better at this age then DD2 is. DD2 works hard to come up with the correct words and really focuses on pronounciation.

Now I did ask my neighbor last week about DS, she is a speech pathologist. She wasn't worried about him yet. I am keeping my eye on him and giving him about one more month, reason for that is that he doesn't understand many directions either. "Go to daddy" is about all that he understands. His hearing is fine. So hoping that he has a massive language growth here shortly, I hate EI in our area and paying for yet another private therapy would DH a heart attack.

Disclaimer* ignore spelling mistakes.

[Peppermint Poppies]

Darcy is a late talker too. She's 17mo now, and only says "dada" and "ta". She'll sign "milk" and "more". I must admit I'm a bit worried, mostly because she was a late walker too (16months). We're having a LOT of tantrums lately because of frustration when I don't understand what she's trying to tell me, so I think I might try teaching her a few more signs.

[AFWife]

DH reminded me last night that Frankie also says "Aw, Man" in the right context (complete with the disappointed facial) and "Pew" (like something is stinky)

Jennie: I do think it will be overnight...that's what happened when he started walking. A couple of weeks before his first bday he took a handful of steps (seriously no more than 5) and refused to even try again...and then on his first birthday he walked across the room and was toddling around the house a few days later.

[indigosky]

DD was hardly talking at all until 23 months, when she was "mama" and "dada." It took off slowly from there, then faster and faster, like a stone gathering speed as it rolls. Now at 34 months, not only does she speak in sentences and paragraphs, it's like a never-ending monologue -- sometimes we stick a digital recorder in her room at night to capture the hour-long conversation she has out loud in her room, all by herself. It's a riot!

When she was 1 1/2 and 2, she was using hundreds of signs, and clearly had excellent receptive language. So she generally wasn't frustrated since she could communicate with us pretty well. It's definitely fun to hear her chattering away now, though!

[AFWife]

On signs: He's picked up a few (like I said) but only seems to use them as a last resort (Like, "UGH! You frustrate me! Okay, HERE'S THE SIGN FOR WHAT I WANT!!! How did you not understand that before?" )

[candycat]

My younger DD started talking before my older DS. He also wasn't making eye contact, babbling, pointing, or otherwise communicating. He would just scream, scream, scream, all day and night, getting about four hours of sleep every 24 hours. Miserable, much? We enrolled him in Early Intervention, he got some therapy and started signing. He was about two before he said mama.

He's now 3.5 and a nonstop talker, very expressive. He still has trouble with certain sounds (like dropping the s before n, so snake will be nake, snack will be nack, etc). But otherwise he talks in sentences. DD is def more advanced than him verbally (she was saying complex sentences at 18 months), but he is miles beyond in physical terms. He was rolling over at two weeks (yes, really, and he was born at 37 weeks so he was pretty much 39 weeks gestation and rolling over, omg). Crawling at 4 months. (Didn't sit up until about nine months though.) He is currently at an average level of development but pretty asynchronous - very advanced socially, right on par physically, a little bit behind "academically" (i.e. he doesn't have interest in letters or numbers yet, but no biggie, and just scribbles with crayons instead of drawing figures), mostly potty trained, knows TONS of nursery rhymes and songs, etc. So he's pretty "normal" now. But it was really scary while he wasn't talking.

For the record, I wouldn't really consider an 18 month old who has a few words a late talker. Maybe a 24 month old. Or an 18 month old who has no words. And signs count as words from everything I've heard. So if they're signing... they're not "not talking".

[mommy_to_2angels]

DD was an early talker. She started with words at about 10 months and 2-4 word sentences by 13 months. BUT...she spent a lot of time with her grandmother who couldn't walk, so they watched TV, talked on the phone and talked to each other. That woman, although I hated her guts, did a lot for my daughter's mental developement.

Now DS, he was sitting up at 5 months-ish, crawling by 7 months and walking by 9 months. But he only babbled a lot up till recently. Even now, he doesn't say much.

Breakdown:
Cracker (caaca)
Nana - grandma
Papa - grandpa
Dada
Jesse - My boyfriend (dedddeee)
Mama/Ma - uses interchangably
Sister/Sissy - likewise lol
Jade -the dog
Nan - Great Grandma
Nani - Great Great Grandma
Pop - Great Grandpa
bottle (bab)
what?
Hey!
Hi!

He tried to say fish this morning too. Lol So I guess, really, he's not doing too badly.
His comprehension is pretty incredible too. I say supper time, he goes to his high chair. I say bedtime, he runs to his room and gets out something to wear (not always jammies lmao). Tubby time - he goes to the bathroom. Wanna go outside? - He runs to the porch door. And time to bring sissy to school, he goes to the front door and when she opens it he walks outside and goes to his car door.

Alright...now I feel like I am bragging. But he's not talking half as well as his sister did. She was fully understandable in everything she said at his age. It was very rare that I had to have her repeat anything.

[northwoods1995]

I have a 20 month old who isn't talking. She does say mama and daddy and her sister's name and ball when I ask her to say them. She will not try to mimic or repeat any other words I say. She doesn't spontaneously say anything.

She was walking well at 10.5 mos and her motor skills seem ok to me.

She has great receptive language and follows instructions. She points and knows a couple signs.

She pretend plays with her baby and play food and otherwise seems typical to other kids her age--except for not talking.

Her Dr. suggested waiting until her 2yr appt to re-evaluate. Neither one of my other kids were this delayed with speech. My son (firstborn) was early in fact and my older daughter was pretty average.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by candycat

For the record, I wouldn't really consider an 18 month old who has a few words a late talker. Maybe a 24 month old. Or an 18 month old who has no words. And signs count as words from everything I've heard. So if they're signing... they're not "not talking".

DH and I were both early talkers. AND one of the developmental charts I found says an 18mo should say 15-20 words?

[Peppermint Poppies]

Originally Posted by candycat

And signs count as words from everything I've heard. So if they're signing... they're not "not talking".

I've heard this too, mostly here on MDC, but from my rudimentary understanding of speech pathology (I'm an occupational therapist) signs would count as 'expressive language' but not as 'speech' per se.

I'm actually going to ring a speechie friend of mine this afternoon to ask for some ideas to encourage DD's talking. It's all done through fun and play, so there's no harm in it as far as I can see.

[happysmileylady]

My almost 2 year old is also a late talker. She had basically no words at a year, and perhaps 5 at 18 months. Even now, she will be two on 11/7, and her consistant vocaulary consists of maybe 20ish words. She understands a LOT though. Always has. And like previous posters, she developed early physically.

I will say though, I suspect she actually KNOWS more words than she will say. We were out with my 4 year old nephew, who she just worships, and she was using a TON of words with him that I hadn't ever heard before. Car, football, touchdown, fries, Oso (from Playhouse Disney-Special Agent Oso) and several others. She hasn't used them since, and I know that hadn't used them before, and I am pretty sure she didn't magically learn 5 to 10 words in the two hours we were with him. So I think she knows more than she lets on.

My oldest was a late talker also (she's 14 now.) She did have more words by 2 than my toddler does, but not by much. My only concern is that my oldest ended up in speech in school, I wouldn't be surprised if the toddler did too.

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by Peppermint Poppies

I've heard this too, mostly here on MDC, but from my rudimentary understanding of speech pathology (I'm an occupational therapist) signs would count as 'expressive language' but not as 'speech' per se.

I'm actually going to ring a speechie friend of mine this afternoon to ask for some ideas to encourage DD's talking. It's all done through fun and play, so there's no harm in it as far as I can see.

I am not a speech person at all, but one thing I have started doing, that seems to be helping, is trying to make my questions more open ended and less of the yes or no variety. So, instead of saying " Do you like your dinner?" is "What do you think of your dinner?" Instead of "do you see the firetruck?" its "what do you see on that firetruck?" I know know if it's really helping, or if the growth in her speech that I have started to see recently is just because she's getting older. But, it at least gets her to vocalize more than "yeah" or "no."

[babygirlie]

almost 18 months here and zero words

[Skippy918]

My son only had about 5 words at 18 months. His speech started increasing around 21 months. Now he's almost 26 months and says a lot of words (loves to repeat what we say) and is stringing 2-3 words together. He understands everything and his physical skills are really strong. He figured out that he can drag the kitchen chair around the house to turn the lights on and off and to get things off the counter. He's also started recognizing letters by the way they sound and look from his little laptop toy.