Should I be worried??

Cindy, My son is 21 months (almost!) and is not talking at all. I was getting pretty worried until his 18 mo check up. Our ped said he sees quite often kids who don't talk until they are two. He wouldn't think of sending us for an evaluation until then. Our son walked just before his first bday and did other things on a pretty average timeline. He has good motor skills, and I think he's just a little too busy working on those all the time to be bothered with talking. Here are some reasons I stopped worrying (but I'm sure if things don't change, I'll start right back again at the 2nd year mark!): He seems to hear just fine.He can follow multiple step directions, and understands many words.He is really conversational sounding in his jabbering.He will now repeat Mama if I ask him, although he doesnt' say it on his own.He makes all kinds of consonant sounds.He is very communicative. He is our first child, first grandbaby on the grandparents' side that see him daily, and we all have just been very attuned to his needs and understand what he wants, so he hasn't HAD to talk to be able to get what he wants (not that we don't encourage it). Our ped said to just read, read, read to him and continue to label words, talk to him all the time, and repeat words. Try not to worry too much yet! Especially since your little one may have some catching up to do from those first few months before she came home and started to learn this new language..... There should be a thread somewhere (can't remember if it's on the First Year or Toddler forums) where we discussed this not too long ago. I had some good support during my biggest worrying stage! After our 24 mo. check up, if things are improved, I'll probably get with First Steps for an evaluation, double check hearing again, and see if they recommend we do anything else.

Cindy, My son is 21 months (almost!) and is not talking at all. I was getting pretty worried until his 18 mo check up. Our ped said he sees quite often kids who don't talk until they are two. He wouldn't think of sending us for an evaluation until then. Our son walked just before his first bday and did other things on a pretty average timeline. He has good motor skills, and I think he's just a little too busy working on those all the time to be bothered with talking. Here are some reasons I stopped worrying (but I'm sure if things don't change, I'll start right back again at the 2nd year mark!): He seems to hear just fine.He can follow multiple step directions, and understands many words.He is really conversational sounding in his jabbering.He will now repeat Mama if I ask him, although he doesnt' say it on his own.He makes all kinds of consonant sounds.He is very communicative. He is our first child, first grandbaby on the grandparents' side that see him daily, and we all have just been very attuned to his needs and understand what he wants, so he hasn't HAD to talk to be able to get what he wants (not that we don't encourage it). Our ped said to just read, read, read to him and continue to label words, talk to him all the time, and repeat words. Try not to worry too much yet! Especially since your little one may have some catching up to do from those first few months before she came home and started to learn this new language..... There should be a thread somewhere (can't remember if it's on the First Year or Toddler forums) where we discussed this not too long ago. I had some good support during my biggest worrying stage! After our 24 mo. check up, if things are improved, I'll probably get with First Steps for an evaluation, double check hearing again, and see if they recommend we do anything else.

I was getting concerned about my daughter at around the same age. She had a very limited vocabulary and communicated mainly through pointing and a few signs. I had her evaluated through the infant and toddlers program and they said that she had hit all of the developmental milestones, was understanding what was communicated to her and was speaking a few words so they wanted to just watch her progress. The next week (no joke) her vocabulary increased 10 fold. It was like she just needed some time and patience. Now she is a singing, talking, sometimes screaming 2 year old. If you are concerned, I would talk to my pediatrician and/or schedule an evaluation but don't worry yourself to death.

Also, children this age only work in one area at a time. So if they are working on a gross motor skill (like walking), they aren't going to put their energy into speech at that same time. Children will work on one skill at a time, then start on another one. If your child can sign a few words (sign language is VERY helpful!) such as please, thankyou, drink, food, all done, more, up, down and a few nouns like 'mommy' and 'daddy', etc. this alleviates frustration for everyone until the child can talk verbally. If you sign and say the word at the same time kids pick it up fast and they will mimic the sounds when they are able. We have one child who didn't speak more than 20-30 words (verbal and sign combined) up until almost age 4. At age 4 he began to finally add vocabulary, and then eventually sentences. At age 6 he is still working on articulation, and grammer, etc. Additionally, reading to your child does help expand their skills, so try to read as much as possible, whenever possible. Our Ds with the speech delay did not really enjoy reading books together until he was 4 or so, but we pecked away at it. I can remember the first time he sat almost still for most of a book! :woohoo: Of interest is that he is emotionally, and in some areas cognitively behind his chronological age, but was always WAY up front with his gross motor skills. Balance, athletic ability, etc. I'm wondering if his speech was more in keeping with his emotional and cognitive age vs. his chronological age and his motor skills abilities. Just a thought.

Different kids, different wiring.... When my dd wasn't saying more than 10 understandable words at age 3, I called the local school district. They tested her and later told me in 20yrs, she had never seen such a low score. She enrolled her in free speech therapy twice a week. She was in there for one year and is now age appropriate for speech. Other people I've talked to, have enrolled the kids as young as 2 in the local school districts. Worth a phone call!

My DD is also from Guat. I was a little concerned about her verbal skills around 18-20 mo as the daycare indicated she should be using more words. But the Dr said she was fine and he would not be concerned until she was 2. Due to other reasons I switched her class and her verbal skills SKY ROCKETED over the next several months. But she does that. I will be concerned about something and b4 I know it she has progressed in that area by leaps and bounds. As other posters said... My DD is very ACTIVE and very ADVANCED w/ motor skills and physical activity. She started Gymnastics@ 18mo and they moved her up to the 3 y.o. class @ 2 y.o. ... she seems to be on the average side of all other skills though. I get worried and then she seems to master whatever I think she is getting behind in. Good luck!

dd was very physcially coordinated and could even write every letter in the alphabet, just could talk worth a darn... One thing I really like was the Leap Frog ABC learning factory on DVD or VHS. WalMart has it. Liked it so much, bought the cd for the car too. It breaks down each letter in a song. Her speech therapist adopted a sibling group of FIVE! so it was double 411 every session!

M wasn't saying too much at her 18 month appt....but then all of a sudden--BAM! Her vocab literally starting doubling and tripling from 10 words to 20 to 50 to "outta control" in a blink of an eye. Some sign language dvds might move the process along--they really isolate and repeat words over and over. M loves the baby Wordsworth one, and my friend who's an ASL interpreter recommends the Signing Time series.