Can't talk yet

[13 months]

HI,

My baby is almost 13 months old, but until now he doesn't even call me 'mama' or the father 'dada'. He 'talks' a lot, but everytime I sort of teach him to say something, he will say whatever language he wants to say. And I know my maid is not the quiet type. She also 'talks' to the baby quite a lot.

I wasn't quite worried until now, because I just heard one of my causin's baby was turned out to be autism.

However, I have checked with the symptoms of autism, and apart from 'not talking our language', I don't think my son is autism, because he definitely interact with other people, even strangers.

Should I worriy, should I not?

How to encaurage him to really talk?

Thanks.

[heavenhelpus]

PLEEEEASE your son is 13months old!!!!!  As long as he is making noises and interacting with you/maid then stop worrying.  Obviously your first (this is not a put down).  Let me give you some advice.  DO NOT COMPARE your child to any other.  They all develop differently and yours will be ahead at times and way behind at others, do not worry about this - just enjoy him and have fun.  And do not post when the little honey is not reading at 20 months!

If you seriously suspect autism see your doctor do not get advice from an expat board.

[mum also]

Hi there
It is correct not to get to bogged down with comparison with other kids however there are milestones kids should achieve and if they don't these are red flags which you should bring up with your doc.
But generally between one and two babies start to imitate the words and sounds of adults. Your baby is still quite young but if you are at all concerned I would speak to your doctor.
As a mum of a child who is on the autistic spectrum I am acutely aware that catching these kids early on is the key.
The poster before is somewhat unfair to you people here may  see a board like this as a useful resource for a large variety of people with different experiences.
My main advice to you would be if your gut is telling you that you are concerned check it out noone knows you child better than you so if you have worries see a doctor.
Good Luck

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 25-02-2005).]

[kalire]

how many languages your child is exposed to???
the more languages the longer it may take for a child to start talking and boys seem slower than girls... also depending on how the languages are taught: one person one language/ minority- majority language,...

Also make sure your child can hear properly... have u had his hearing checked?...

good luck!

[heron]

13 months is too young to start worrying about the little fellow talking, I think. Just give him plenty of  time, talk to him in simple, short sentences and repeat words often - eg if he seems to want a drink, say "Do you want juice? Here's your juice. Nice juice. You're drinking juice." Or whatever the subject of his focus is.  He probably isn't saying words yet just because he's too little. But other contributory factors might be people talking to him using too many words so he can't pick out the key words to use himself. Or too much background noise - it is recommended not to have the TV or radio on all the time as babies are not so good at filtering out the background noise.
But in the absence of any other information, it sounds like it will just be a matter of time before you hear your first "no", and life will never be the same!

[cariad]

Don't worry. All kids are different. I have two - my first walked at 9 months and had loads of words by 13 months (girl) second child (boy) walked at 13 months and at 15 months has nowhere near the vocabulary she had. It does not matter one bit, I would bet a lot of money that in a years time I will be hard put to stop either of them talking!!
I wonder if you have considered how much your child understands? My son is not saying many words but he understands an awful lot of words! He follows commands and answers yes and no (with a mmm for yes and just recently a NOOO accompanied by a nodding or shaking head!). The talking will come. If you are really keen to hear a few words you can try to lessen your anticipation of his needs. If he looks at his toy car and you fetch it happily talking away "do you want the car" etc - he doesn't really need to talk does he?? When he's a little bigger you can offer him choices - do you want some water or some juice? etc so he'll need to verbalise which he wants.

[globetrotter]

My 14 month old doesn't talk much yet, either. He's been saying dadda for a few months, which my DH is thrilled about, and on the rare occassions he says mamma, I go over the moon, to try and encourage him to say it more. He's picked up a couple of other words in the last few weeks, and uses them a lot (wawa for water is one). I taught him a bit of baby sign language, so it reduces the frustration of not being able to communicate. I know he's on schedule for most developmental markers, and ahead on a couple, so I'm not worried - although I do get a bit down when someone blithely says 'Oh yes, my baby's been chattering away for ages'!
If you are worried about autism, I read a good article, must have been in the current Newsweek - and of course, see your doctor.
Just keep talking to him, because he's absorbing everything, even if he's not saying much. My DS sometimes tries to repeat back what we say to him, and usually gets the first syllable right. It's a good start.

[Talk Talk]

one of mine was nearly 18 months before talking - about 16 months saying mum and dad etc.  I wouldn't consider it a problem for another 6-12 months yet.  do some baby websearches and find out what others say about it if you are worried.

[AllDifferent]

My first son had quite a large vocabulary at 13 months, my second one did not. He waited several  more months and then spoke using more complicated language ie using words together. The second son is considered brighter academically now (15 years later).

[A OK]

Speech therapists say that if you child is not talking (ie in short sentences ) by 2 years of age then you definitely should get him checked out.The sooner you deal with a speech problem the better it is.

Around (the emphasis is on around) 1 year of age they get their first word ie dadda,mumma etc
Wait a bit and if you are still worried in a month or so see a speech therapist just to allay your fears and to give you some activities to speed things along a bit.
There is a whole hierarchy of skills a child needs to develop before they can speak eg imitation of gestures and sounds,reciprocity etc etc that the speech therapist can assess and intervene on if she feels it necessary.
Its no great hassle to get an assessment,in fact one major speech and drama school for littlys in the forum (cant name it here )has free speech initial assessments.It would put your mind at rest and give you some info so it  would be worth it problem or no problem.

[AAsa]

hi!

My son is 16 months and he has a vocubulary of three words mamma, vovovo = doggy, and titta = look in Swedish, and that's it since before Christmas! My neighbours daugther can repeat everything like a parrrot and is three weeks younger!!

BUT, this is what my excellent German baby book tells about talking (It's called Babyjahre - R.H. Largo):

Most kids starts to talk between 12-18 months, earliest between 8-12 months. Some parents have to be very long patient, the children does not start before 20-30 months of age. One children starts to walk there often is a break in the language development... ..for several children the language development goes in steps and is not an even development.

..two words sentences starts earliest with 15-18 months, latest with 3-3 half year...

so no panic yet!

[13 months]

Thanks a lot for the inputs!

My son still talking his own language, but he started to say 'ma' but not 'mama'.

I guess I just have to be patient...

[something wrong]

if the child can't hold a decent conversation with you by 13 months, there must be something drastically wrong.

oh yeah, it's called being normal / average

[globetrotter]

There is light at the end of the tunnel - just be patient! My DS started saying 'pa-ta' yesterday. More thrilling than that, he finished his bowl of pasta and ASKED FOR SECONDS! And had more to eat later on, and kept it all down.
Sorry to hijack the thread, but when there's good news, you have to share it (bubs, you may gather, is a finicky eater)