Does your June baby talk yet?

Question

I’m getting worried because Elyse hasn’t said any “real” words yet. She just makes sounds. Like “shark” is “sha”. “Kitty” is “T”. Her dr was concerned at her 18 month appt but I explained that We are teaching her two languages. her doctor said sometimes bilingual babies take longer to talk since they’re learning so many words. But still... Like “Shark” in Russian is  pronounced “ah-koo-la” & she says “ah-koo” so she’s close but I’m still worried. Every article says they should be saying full sentences by 2 & I just don’t see that happening.

Answer

I once heard that a baby needs to hear a word 500 times before they can say it. Well  with 2 languages, they need to hear it in both languages 500 times but since you only have one mouth, you need to say the word 1000 times. Lol. And not to mention the confusion that comes with why you suddenly call the same shark sth else... 
I say take it easy. Muvh as your baby might show slower pace at talking, once they start, they will be twice as more advance as kids who learnt one language. They will have an advantage to learn even more languages faster, their tongues and brains wont forget as many sounds as kids who are limited to one language. (Not trying to shame moms who are onky reaching one language, just trying yo make this mama proud of what she is teaching her baby) and honestly you are challenging your baby even more. See am an engineer so i will use this example.  When you are building a house that goes so high, you spend ages digging deep to get the right foundation. While others who build one floor will have their house done within a short time, have sth to show for it while your house looks like a hip of soil, once it is all done, your house will be higher and more magnificent.  Your baby might not talk now but when they do, they will have more vocabulary,  more sounds, more understanding of more people,  better communication skills, and even have better chances of adjusting to different societies alone from the diversity they are getting exposed to. But likw germans say, "too much talk, less sense" if you feel like you want your vhild to have at least a few words up her sleeve, there is a trick.  Pick 3 words. Say them over and over again. 20-50 times a day. Once baby can say those, up to 10. Within no time, you will have word count. My son,  learning 3 languages, only heard me have normal conversations with him for his first year. We had no words. But then i started introducing him to lots of music. Repeated one song until i was drunk from it. (Not in my doing but he loved it so much) before i could even blink, he had picked up the letter  s,t,u,8 from the song. It wasnt even 2 weeks. That is now i knew repetition is my friend. Kids learning many languages dont get to hear a word as often. But after a while, they too will hesr the words enough and the plus is they will have 2+ language to show for it. I still talk to my son normal conversations but i also repeat sentences for him. When he is looking at my lips, i stress the sounds and the movement so he can copy it. And now, he surprises me with words. Hang in there and dont worry. Yiu are doing a great job.

Answer

Victor doesn’t say a ton of words. He just learned ball last week. His pediatrician wasn’t worried at all at 18 months and said since he’s good at signing, pointing, making sounds, and has inflections￼ when he’s speaking which is a sign he’s developing his speech. Some kids just take longer than others.

Answer

Jesse doesn’t say a ton. He will say the usual things like: dog, mama, dada, sh, oh no, don’t touch, night night.. but he’s just always been much more interested in noises and mimicking those. So car sounds, animal sounds, just every day noises 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Answer

We’re having the same issue but his pediatrician wasn’t worried. We were told it’s normal for bilingual babies to be behind on speech because 2+ languages can be extremely confusing. They will check back on us at 24m.

Answer

Lilly doesn't say much either really, but it has been improving lately so I'm not worried. She still mainly likes to yell 🙃 but does use signs. I doubt we'll even be at the 2 word sentences by the time she's 2

Answer

Ellie is in speech therapy. At this age they should be gaining/learning one new work per week. She can say 18 words and that apparently is at a 16-18 month developmental level. 
Repetition and consistency is key. I make up so many scenarios a day so we purposefully have opportunities to say the words we are working on! 
When in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask for a speech evaluation! Even if your pediatrician brushes it off- you’re mom and you decide. Not someone who sees them for 15 minutes, 3 times a year!

Answer

My girl is the same way. If she doesn’t speed up, at her 2 year appointment we will get a referral for a speech evaluation. 
She is learning English, Arabic, and ASL though. She says “sheesh” for “shoes”, “craaaa” for “cracker”, “ch ch ch” for “cheese”... not close to sentences at all.

Answer

Okay so Wyatt says like probably 100 words and speaks in sentences....Dally on the other hand only says mama, dada, wow, oh. Lol but I know he understands everything so im not super worried. We were supposed to see a speech therapist but that got messed up because of Covid. If he doesn't start talking soon I will probably call them and push a little harder for it.

Answer

Westley has about 30-40 words (I have a list somewhere) of words he is currently using (not all every day, but they are words that he uses occasionally ie. “Green” he just doesn’t say it regularly). He’s getting better but it’s something we work on a lot. We actually have an appointment next week because I just feel that he is behind. When I made the appointment he had less words and it does make me feel a bit better that he is starting to pick up more, but I would still like to bring it up to someone because I just feel we are still a little behind.

Answer

My son doesn’t say a lot yet. I’m not overly concerned at this point as there is such a wide range of speech development at this age. My 4 year old wasn’t a big talker and took until closer to 2.5 and verbally exploded into 2-3 word sentences. My6 year old has been in speech therapy for her entire life as she has DS and autism and is globally delayed. We use a lot of the tools we have learned from speech therapy with our son. He has a really good understanding of receptive language so hopefully more words will come soon!

Does your June baby talk yet?

Let's Glow!

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