Speech

My 17month LB is the same, still hasn’t said any words and it’s stressing me out, he just has 0 interest in speaking, his dad didn’t speak till he was about 5, so I’m stressed but hopefully he’ll pick it up

Does he babbles and make noises and ask for things with pointing. Does he understand commands and certain things by following a point.

Mine is the same and doesn't point wave or do any gestures other than pick me up. I'm going to wait a couple more months and then contact HV.

Nope he doesn’t point and understand us when we speak to him etc, he rarely babbles and make noises, he doesn’t seem interested when we try to interact with him etc

Have you spoken to your GP or HV? I talked to my HV around 12 months due to concerns about her speech (she only had mama/dada then and didn’t attempt to mimic me ever), her advice was to keep trying and come back to her if there was little/no progress by 18 months. It’s really hard not to be concerned when you’re around similar aged children who are flying through milestones. Children do progress at different rates so it may be he just needs a bit more time, but it’s worth getting the ball rolling for extra support if you haven’t already x

Yeah I’m going to speak to the HV about it as you say it’s hard not to compare but you do with others his age xx

Mine is 19 months and she is the same. I’ve spent the last god knows how many months stressing about it. I had lots of great advice from some lovely people on here who reassured me. The main thing I took was just to enjoy spending time with her, keep playing, reading, keep chatting and singing and have fun. The more I worried the less fun playtime became. Now I’m so much more relaxed and she’s starting to babble and try to say more words. If we get to the next HV check up and she needs some sessions to help her with her speech, so be it. I can’t force her to do anything now but will accept all the help in the future if she needs it. But enjoy your time with your baby. He is only little once 💙 Sending big supportive hugs!

Oh bless him! My little boy is 18M+, able to sing along to song/rhymes and picks up on words we say to him and we ask him to repeat. He watches Ms Rachel and a few others(controlled screen time). He has been saying ‘Dada’ since he started to babble after he turned 6 months old but now saying mama after he turned a year+. To be honest, I am not really sure what exactly helped with his communication skills. We always talk to him about everything we do for him(food, nappy change sessions, bath times and co), sing and sometimes read to him. We attend the Baby group activities and visits family/friends. Also travel as much as possible and he sees people almost everyday. My advise; just continue talking/singing, and involve him in other activities, you will be surprised at how much progress he will make within a short time. However if he doesn’t improve over time, you can report your concerns to the HVs or GP.

Have you tried imaginative play with him? Eg playing with a stuffy and pretending to care for it and verbalizing what you are doing? This might be helpful especially if he doesn’t have someone to play with

Try nursery rhymes, my 2 year old won’t talk regularly and barely mimics but if you put twinkle twinkle little star on he will try his very best to sing it with the words, he’s learned a lot through songs x