[MrsMaryland]

hey ladies.

little sean's doctor is a little worried about baby sean. he is 18 months and is not really talking yet.

he babbles dada, mamamama (sometimes, not often), and he says car when ever he points to something (i think he is trying to say look).

i have to take him in for some hearing tests, but i don't think he has any problems hearing. or understanding he is just not expressing himself.

he is definitely a smart boy. he understands almost everything i say. i can tell him to put his diapers in the trash and come back (and he'll do it), i can say give me the blue train. he can point to mommy's, daddy's and his own features and body parts (arms, feet etc.) when asked. its just that when we say, "say train, say baba" he won't do it.

the doctor suggested that it may be that he is a little spoiled. she said that because he's on such a strict schedule that he kind of knows when it's time to eat, nap, bathe or sleep, so he never has to say baba etc.

any suggestions?

we have story time often, and some family members have volunteered to watch him in hopes that maybe he will express himself around other people.

what haven't i thought of?

[QueenAngie]

My first thought was about his hearing - but apparently his hearing is just fine.
He can follow through directions.
He has good understanding.

Can you read books and put out items as you are reading.

Examples:

In the book, point to the red ball and ask him, "What is that?"

In the book, point to the dog and ask him, "What is that?"

What noise does a dog make?

The interaction of asking questions and getting an answer is part of reading.

********
If it gives you any comfort, I had 4 older siblings growing up and I did not talk until I was almost age 4. Never had to as they knew exactly what I wanted. Then, my mother states that I talked in paragraphs.

(I have since made up for lost time!)

********

Am certain that other friends will also help too.

[MissyChrissy]

With my girls at least one of them was like this and the best advice I got was to repeat an object 3-4 times before giving it to her. If she wanted her cup, for instance, we'd say, "Cup" 3-4 times. Eventually, she did start imitating us.

I think Conner is going to be the same way. It's only because they don't have to speak. Gestures and grunting is getting them what they want, so why bother learning language? lol.

I'm glad you posted this, because Conner isn't too far behind your son chronologically, and he isn't saying a lot of words either. I need to start working more with him too.

[MrsMaryland]

Originally Posted by QueenAngie

My first thought was about his hearing - but apparently his hearing is just fine.
He can follow through directions.
He has good understanding.

Can you read books and put out items as you are reading.

Examples:

In the book, point to the red ball and ask him, "What is that?"

In the book, point to the dog and ask him, "What is that?"

What noise does a dog make?

The interaction of asking questions and getting an answer is part of reading.

********
If it gives you any comfort, I had 4 older siblings growing up and I did not talk until I was almost age 4. Never had to as they knew exactly what I wanted. Then, my mother states that I talked in paragraphs.

(I have since made up for lost time!)

********

Am certain that other friends will also help too.

never though about getting him to interact while i'm reading him stories. it's pretty silly that i haven't.

i'm usually the one pointing at the pictures and saying, "that's a dog, a dog goes ruff ruff. that's a cat, meow meow"... while he sits there and smiles.

that's a great idea. thank you so much.


also,

i've heard that alot. my nephew didn't talk until he was about three. and friends have told me that they or they're children didn't talk for a while and then all of a sudden they spoke in sentences. i wonder why that is?

thanks again angie!

[MrsMaryland]

Originally Posted by MissyChrissy

With my girls at least one of them was like this and the best advice I got was to repeat an object 3-4 times before giving it to her. If she wanted her cup, for instance, we'd say, "Cup" 3-4 times. Eventually, she did start imitating us.

I think Conner is going to be the same way. It's only because they don't have to speak. Gestures and grunting is getting them what they want, so why bother learning language? lol.

I'm glad you posted this, because Conner isn't too far behind your son chronologically, and he isn't saying a lot of words either. I need to start working more with him too.

hey chrissy,

you know, i didn't even think about it until i took him to the doctor. he is doing his baby talk so i thought that things were fine.

she said i have to bring him back in 3 months. so i have until then to work on it.

i do repeat the names of objects all the time. i think that's why he understands as much as he does.

one day i told him, "put your diaper in the trash, go get your milk out of the kitchen and bring it to mommy." *laughing* i didn't think he was going to do it, but a few moments later he was coming around the corner with his milk.

(scary)

but i'm going to continue to repeat the names of objects and try harder to get him to repeat what i say.

(oh boy, i hope that doesn't backfire. it's probably a good thing that he hasn't started repeating us yet. we are still working on our language)

[MissyChrissy]

Originally Posted by MrsMaryland

(oh boy, i hope that doesn't backfire. it's probably a good thing that he hasn't started repeating us yet. we are still working on our language)

Yeah, they're the words that he's most likely to pick up and repeat! lol

Some people say to not give the child the item until he/she says the word, but I could never bring myself to do that.

I want to say Bobbie was really close to 2, if not 2, when she started to really pick up a lot of words. Before then, she only said maybe a half a dozen. Kids take their own time with this stuff...I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm sure if you get anxious, it will somehow just stall his progress anyway. That's what I'm afraid of with Conner, so I try not to worry too much about it.

[slygirrl]

Keep an eye on the language development. My now 3 year old wasn't talking (and is still kind of hard to understand because he's still not up to par with his age group at all) and we ended up going through Child and Family Connections in Illinois. My son has apraxia which the short version of explaining it is this, it's a nueorological condition where the message you relay to him goes in clearly but he loses his own reply somwhere between his brain and his mouth. He also has a bit of dysarthria which is a weakness of the muscles in the mouth. He's had rigorous speech therapy for the last 4 months and has improved greatly, but is still no where near where he needs to be for his age. I'm not saying it's as serious as what my son has, but watch it. It could be nothing more than a developmental delay, but people told me too that their kids were behind and all of a sudden just started talking..... Turns out that wasn't Dominic's problem at all....

[Alejandros Mommy]

Yes keep an eye out...my oldest has a speech delay and I didn't catch it soon enough. Ask your doc to give you a speech sheet...it tells your the rough ages your child should be hitting speech mile stones.

[twinzplus3]

At 18 mos I wouldn't even blink an eye at a child who understands you but is not talking. It is important that if there is an issue to address it early. . .but there's a whole picture and understanding is pretty key. Most children with a real language issue neither speak nor fully understand. The assertion that the child is spoiled and doesn't talk to me sounds ridiculous. To be honest, I have found in five individual cases that how they were as an infant was a real reflection of their personalities later and all those little 'quirks' weren't things that needed to be fixed but rather who they are as a person.

With that said, my son was the same way. He didn't speak at 18mos. . .or at 24mos. . .or at 36 mos. We did have his hearing evaluated and then we went to EI. Lo and behold the kid is gifted and at 6 is a few grade levels ahead in math, plays chess (and actually wins on occassion), and is a buddig engineer. Surprise, surprise, he just doesn't talk a lot in general. . .unless it has to do with something he's extremely interested in.

So while I wouldn't say that you shouldn't pursue evaluations if you really think it's necessary, I will say that him not talking at 18 mos. if he's understanding is just not that concerning. You're doing right by him in reading to him, and I'm sure you interact with him more than you realize. That's the best thing for him. . .and I bet in another year you'll be posting on here telling us how you can't get him to stop talking!!!

On a side note. . .in general kids who tend to speak later also tend to begin speaking in more advanced and complex language.

[wanna be a young mother]

My little sister is like this. She was 2 1/2 and still didn't talk. My mom took her in to see all the "special" Dr.'s and everyone said she was fine. No one could understand why she didn't want to talk. Finally about 4 months ago when I had Nevy she came up to me and just started going on and on about the baby(Nevy). She kept saying "pretty Nenny baby". " 'Ose and Nenny baby". "Me Ontie Madison". "Can I gibe Baby baba"? We all sat there in shock. This kid would never say more then two words and out of nowhere was saying full sentences! She had been so used to the attention and getting whatever she wanted that she never had to ask for things. So when the baby came and took her attention she had to start asking for things. Now we cant get her to shut up . She is 3 and doing great. She loves her "Miece Neby" ! I really believe kids will talk in there own time. Madison is very stubborn and I think thats why she waited so long to talk. I am VERY chatty.....I started to talk at 10 months old my mom said! I am sure he is fine but you should have him checked to be one the safe side. You can also try bringing him around another child and see if that makes him want to talk.