10 months not babbling. Experience anyone? I need support.

[EJ2010]

Okay so here it is. My son will be 10 months in a few days and he doesn't babble yet. No baba, dada, mama, gaga. Nothing with doubles like I read so much about. I can't wait for him to start doing the chains of dadada and I keep saying it to him in hope that he will start doing it.

He's a happy baby who smiles and laughs and blows raspberries alot. He squeals, shrieks, yells, grunts and does vocal play with vowels like "Eee" in different ways. He can also say "Ba", "Bo", "Pa", "Ga". He says something that sounds like Hey and Ney and does it alot and he says that to people he sees, so to us it has become him saying Hi. Even though it could be him saying "Eee" really with a Y at the end.

He has also started saying the letter "F" like "Fffff" especially after we say some word starting with an F. If we say "Fly" he will sometimes say "Fffff... Ffff". The same thing with "B". If we say Ball he will say "Bbb..b...bo..b-b-b-b...bbbb". He can sometimes repeat the B over and over again like B-b-b-b but it's not ba-ba-ba.

If I ask what the cow says and show him a cow he will say "Mmmm". That's also another thing he can say "Mmmm".

But not the typical babbling.

He has ONCE said "mama" according to a family member (I haven't heard it myself) and twice "tata". 

He doesn't crawl but loves to walk holding our hands, his footwork is excellent. He can stand quite well with support holding onto something and he can pull up to standing if he wants. He knows where daddy, mommy, ball, bird and lamp is when we ask because he looks at the right person/object. He enjoys playing peek-a-boo.

SO, are there any experience on this? Anyone with a late babbler? Please I'm in need of support.

[APToddlerMama]

I wouldn't be too hung up on him not stringing a lot of sounds together.  He is still pretty little.  That said, as a mom of a late babbler (and very late talker), and having worked with kids with special needs, if you are really worried, you could call your local Early Intervention Program (run by the county in which you live) and have them evaluate him (for free).  Personally, I'd probably wait another couple of months before I even bothered but it may give you some peace of mind, or some help if there actually is an issue.  Generally for Early Intervention, the rule of thumb is 1 word by 12 months, and 10 words by 18 month or the child typically qualifies for assistance.  Is he starting to point at stuff?  How is his eye contact?  If those things are on track I'd feel very confident in waiting a few months and seeing what happens.  Best of luck!

[BabyFireFly]

Same with my daughter - she will be 17 months at the end of January and still doesn't say "dada" or "baba" or anything like that. At 10 months she was just grunting and making "Shhh's" and other simple sounds. Just now she is starting to say "Hi" in a very high pitched, drawn out way. I became worried about the whole "milestone reaching" since my husband's son is autistic and started to read up on it more...especially when family members would comment on her not crawling. I worried about that fact, even though she could support her weight if you assisted her and could move around by "inch worming" or just dragging herself....and then one day she went from the inch worm to a full out RUN. She just got up one day, leaned forward and took off! So much for that milestone! Anyway, I'm less worried now that I see with my own child that the milestones are not actually "set in stone." So I would not worry about your son - as long as he continues to show progression in some form. I thought my DD might have a hearing issue since she has a hard time with the whole teething process and was always at her ears (making me think she may have ear infections preventing her from hearing and getting familiar with making sounds) but that's not the case. She's just going through her life at her own pace, and I'm fine with that!

[EJ2010]

He isn't pointing yet but then I haven't been pointing either until recently. So I don't know how he would learn. He does reach out for things he wants and he will reach out for me to pick him up.

His eye contact is good I believe, he seeks eye contact and we get great eye contact while talking and when I sing and goof around with him. He doesn't always want eye contact but who does? I can't be interesting 24/7 I guess.

He looks at things I point at and he loons at the lamp when I ask where the lamp is.

He responds to his name most of the time and usually reacts to no.

He tries to imitate certain words I say for example ball and voff. That should be a great thing?

[BabyFireFly]

I think your son is just fine mama! My daughter is the same way with the eye contact - she makes eye contact with us most of the time, but if there is something far more interesting than mommy and daddy going on at that moment, forget it. She comes to us when we call her, except if she has stolen something that she knows she isn't supposed to have, in which case she takes off in a fit of laughter, mocking us. I was talking to my MW about this, and knowing my daughter, she suggested that I not be worried first of all and that my practice of meeting her needs in a rapid fashion does not create a need for her to vocalize things as much at this point. If you have mommy and daddy, food and drink and a clean diaper at the most minimal demand, why go to the next step? I guess that's true...if DH notices that something in the house needs tending to, and takes care of it before I am aware, then there is no reason for me to ask him to do it....same theory. We have started "announcing" things more to her like when our cat (who she loves) walks into the room we say "cat" and if I'm feeding her I will say "yogurt...carrot...cracker, etc".

[APToddlerMama]

Originally Posted by EJ2010 

He isn't pointing yet but then I haven't been pointing either until recently. So I don't know how he would learn. He does reach out for things he wants and he will reach out for me to pick him up.

His eye contact is good I believe, he seeks eye contact and we get great eye contact while talking and when I sing and goof around with him. He doesn't always want eye contact but who does? I can't be interesting 24/7 I guess.

He looks at things I point at and he loons at the lamp when I ask where the lamp is.

He responds to his name most of the time and usually reacts to no.

He tries to imitate certain words I say for example ball and voff. That should be a great thing?

Yes!  I wouldn't worry at all if I were you.  Just keep an eye on him (like you would with any kid) but I think he sounds like he is right on track.