Bilingual environment confuses babies?

Question

At the age of 16 months how many words should a child be saying? Or how many words did your child say at that age? Mine just says hi, hello, thankyou, baby, and he kinda says bubble guppies but it’s not clear yet. He can understand clearly tho like when we tell him to do or get certain things he’ll actually do it but our pediatrician says he’s behind. He says my son has a language problem because he’s in a bilingual environment and that’s confusing him and causing the delay. My side of the family speaks mostly Spanish but my boyfriends side only speaks English, he’s around everyone about the same amount of time that’s why the doctor is saying he’s confused. He suggested that we stick to one language(impossible to do) until after the age of 2.5. I’ve never heard of this being a problem before but I am a FTM so I’m open to more opinions and advice 😊

Answer

I found this on the pbs website http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/one/language.html

He may be behind a little, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing as long as he is talking some. I’m not a doctor though obviously. I took a college course in child development and I’ve always been under the impression that a child hearing multiple languages was excellent for their brain development 🤷🏻‍♀️ that’s weird to me that he’d say that

Answer

I am a child development specialist for a company called early childhood intervention and I work with children with speech delays all the time. I wouldn't listen to the doctor generally bilingual environments dont hurt a childs development. also at that age I wouldn't be too worried about word count. as long as he is talking and you can understand the words somewhat that's ok. when we do evaluations for children we also count word approximations so like if he says wawa for water for nana for banana that counts too. if in a few months he is still saying the same amount of words and you are concerned try and find an early childhood intervention (ECI) in your state. you can get speech therapy for low cost or free depending on your insurance. if you dont live in the United states then try and find private speech therapy companies. hope that helps 😊

Answer

Bilingual environments actually help babies. Don’t you stop! I’m a literacy specialist for early childhood and although he may be slightly behind right now, if he’s understanding everything then I think you’re fine. Sometimes kids just need to listen for a longer time before they start to speak. In my experience it’s often the kids who listen longer than average who end up having the largest vocabulary. Just keep speaking to him, don’t avoid using hard words, keep using both languages, and he’ll catch up. I’d bet money that one day he’s just going to suddenly surprise you with a huge vocabulary in both languages because he was so set on listening as a little one. ❤️

Answer

my kids early dev therapists said something similar because my boys wernt saying much so i asked when would they talk more and she said they were fine that it  just takes alittle linger when they are learning 2 languages at once.

Answer

Yes it can be confusing for small children and they can show some delayed speech when they are in a bilingual home.

Answer

Bull crap! I don’t believe that. I think that amount of language at that age is great. Better than my son. Some, like my son, is slower at talking. By 18 months he knew 20 words, and he will be 2 in July and is doing well!! He’s not like some kids his age but I’m not concerned. If your lo is understanding I think they are fine.

Answer

Your child will be just fine.

Answer

My daughter is 14 month old and only says hi, mama, papa and gucci (good job). I feel like she may be behind in speech, but she definitely can communicate (grunting, pointing) and understands a lot when people are talking to her. She’s really advanced physically, so I’m not sure if I should be concerned just yet. She’s raised trilingual though, German from my side, Spanish from my husband, and English when we speak to each other/outside world. I think the concern about multiple languages is valid, but in the long run they will benefit from it. I’m gonna stick to it a little longer and see how it goes. Sorry I’m no help, but I wouldn’t quit just yet, I think he’ll get there!

Bilingual environment confuses babies?

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