Not talking?

Question

Anyone else’s baby not really talking yet? My 18-month old son babbles, but he doesn’t say any distinguishable words other than “mama” and “Gaga” (that’s his word for daddy). Our pediatrician recommended speech therapy if he’s not saying more by the end of May, but my sister doesn’t think he needs it. She has 4 kids and she took her first one to speech therapy, as recommended by her pediatrician, but she said it was stressful and didn’t really help so she decided not to do it with any of her other kids, even though it was recommended for all of them. None of them started talking until they were between 2-3 years, but they’re all on the honor roll at a private school now (except her youngest who is 2.5 and just started talking 3 months ago) and her oldest just got accepted to Stanford University. 
Speech therapy sounds stressful, but obviously we’ll do it if it’s the best thing for my son. Just looking for other opinions and experience here. Has anyone else taken their babies to speech therapy? Did it help?

Answer

Disclosure: as an SLP, I’m biased. However, it should not be a stressful experience at this age. Depending on where you live, they might even come to your home and use routines and toys you already have to show you how to expand language. Any history of ear infections? Getting hearing checked is also crucial at this age. At 15 months my guy only had 2 to 3 words and I told my husband I was giving him one week before I called the service coordinator. In that week he added another word or two. Since then he’s had a pretty steady stream of words added and he’s got more than he needs.
Early intervention really does make a difference. So while people may tell you not to worry, if your gut is telling you differently I would urge you to act.

Answer

My daughter was recommended for speech therapy at her 15 month appt, when she was almost 17 months she got sick and I went back and met with a different doctor who I liked better and she also said it wouldn’t hurt to sign her up. When we started she was saying dada and up, and since then she’s started saying 10+ words!! The process was very long with the evaluations and meetings but she’s been in it about a month now. It’s basically play time for them, and the therapist shows you ways to encourage them to talk. I didn’t think it was too difficult and we’ve been enjoying our weekly sessions!

Answer

My son sounds exactly at the same verbal ability as yours. My pediatrician really doesn’t push for therapy until there 2 year visit but was willing to reevaluate (ie hearing test and such) at 21 months if I didn’t see any or much change from his 18 month check up. But here we are at 20 months and his verbal ability has only SLIGHTLY improved at best. Soooo I’m holding on till 21 months before making anymore choices...I am definitely curious to hear how things pan out with your son once he is evaluated!! Best of luck!

Answer

Mines not really talking and he's the same age (he says mama, dada, something's that sound like toes, nose 🤷) I'm not concerned and neither is our pediatrician. There's such a huge range of when a child is ready to talk. 
My LO very clearly understands what we are saying and he does sign like 4 things (food, more, all done). He doesn't have an issue communicating his needs so I don't think he's stressed about it. 
What's your child's communication like? (Non verbally)

Answer

My son is 20 months and still isn't saying any words. Just babbling. He is pointing now tho. We're having speech and occupational therapy coming to help and it's been helping, he wasn't pointing before they started coming. I've never been much for rushing my son but ready for him to say at least a couple of words.

Answer

I’m an educator and fully believe in early intervention. Do it and if it doesn’t work, at least you’ll know you tried. As for babies talking, my 18 month old can and usually tries to repeat most of our words. He’s also able to string to words together now like “Where’s Pappy?” “My binky” etc. All kids develop differently but if there’s a chance your child needs a little help and can receive it, I say go for it.

Answer

My daughter is 19mos and my niece is 16mos. They couldn’t be more different. DD is a talker and has been since 9 months. She makes sentences and has just picked up articles (“there’s a ball” instead of just “there ball”). I haven’t really had to teach her any of it. She’s a tall, strong, adventurous and independent child, absolutely fearless and convinced she can do everything by herself. She has a big, bright personality and has been a mover and shaker since day 1. 
My niece is not walking yet. She’s a tiny and snuggly little cutie, like in the 4th percentile on the growth charts. She says “dada” and “mama” and “dog” and “bye.” Like maybe once a day. Otherwise she communicates through pointing and whining. She’s been to PT specialists and neurologists who have confirmed that she’s healthy, just a tiny girl who’s taking her time on her milestones. She’s a quiet, calm, observant child who does everything calmly and deliberately, when she’s ready and sure she can do it. She’d rather have other people do things for her than learn to do them herself. 
My niece really was the easiest baby, where my darling daughter was an absolute screaming handful as an infant. 😂 They’re night and day, those two.  
Personalities can make a huge difference in when children achieve milestones. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Speech therapy can be a great thing if you need it— my best friend and her daughter had a really positive experience. But all kids go at their own pace. It’s up to you and what you and your doctor feel is best for your child. ❤️

Answer

We do a lot of books and direct approach to having our LO communicate with us. We ignore if she whines (when she’s being a toddler) and if she wants something to communicate with us. 
We used a lot of sign language at the beginning when she couldn’t talk and I think that helped bridge the gap between talking a ton now compared to other 2 YO we know that hardly have sentences/words in their vocabulary. I feel proud of my daughter, but try to watch and see what might be going on otherwise. 
Everyone is different. It may seems stressful to you. But maybe not to your LO. 
You have to remember kids feed off their parents emotions. They know when something is off. That can make them shut down. So if you’re calm and open minded about this, then your LO will approach the situation differently than say if you were in denial and going stress mode 100x. You know what I mean? 
Not saying you don’t have a right to be stressed. But when you make the situation positive. The outcomes show for themselves. 💕💕💕💕 
Good luck mama! It’s hard but I’m sure your LO is perfectly fine and only shy about vocabulary ☺️❤️

Not talking?

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey