11 Mo Hasn't Babbled

I would not worry just yet. Wait until she hits the 12 month mark and talk to the ped about it again.

Since the one twin is babbling, maybe her sister is content sitting back and listening to her sister? She may end up being the more reserved, quiet one.

My oldest son was slow on everything! You couldn't understand a word he said until after his 3rd birthday. He was my first so I didn't worry, but later found out my friends were worried. LOL! He caught up with no problem. Graduated with honors. I wouldn't worry. Call the nurse and ask for guidelines so that you can stop worrying.

The recommendations out there are for "most" children. There are a good 25% or more who don't do the things by the time the experts say they should. I wouldn't worry right away, but you could keep an eye on her. Mention your concerns to your pediatrician and ask him/her when you ought to be concerned. It may be nothing. My first (boy) was a late talker. We happened to be involved in a language study at the time, and he was in the 0% at 10 months with no words. By the time he was 3, he was in the 95%. He progressed in his own time with no trouble. My 3rd (son) was also late, but I promised myself I wouldn't worry until he was 2 years old (he didn't babble or use consonants at all). When he was 2, he still wasn't babbling or using consonants. He needed speech therapy, and now at 8 is doing very well, except for the 'r' sound. (He quit speech therapy at 4 years having met all his goals except the 'r' which they said came later).

Every child is different. Enjoy them, encourage them, and follow your doctor's advice about when to worry.

Are they identical twins? Most people are able to compare kids around them, and to their previous kids, but here, you have two right there that you can't help to compare. Remember, all kids are different. I would talk to you ped, and see if he is concerned with the babbling. A girl 2 days younger than my son was saying cow and applesauce at 11 months! I never seemed to know what true "babbling" was, so never really knew when my son started.

Your ped can tell check out hearing, or other things that can delay speech, or also determine if it is a twin thing...one talks for both. I wouldn't be concerned on the milestones unless your ped is concerned. Also, I would start with the ped, and if he doesn't give satisfactory answers, there are hearing specialists, or PT's that can help. Good luck.

Eventually, if the problem persists, you might need a speech therapist and a hearing evaluation.

That said, I have always been something of a perfectionist. For example, even as a very small child I went from vowel sounds to relative silence until one day I started speaking in paragraphs with odd pauses to regain state on where I was going with the sentence I was trying to spit out.

One of my mother's favorite stories about it was that my grandparents hadn't really heard me say anything because I never babbled. And then our of the blue I pointed to the bug splatter on the windshield of my grandfather's camper and declared "Stinkin' birds...pottied...on grand daddy's... window!"

Most children my age were speaking in two word declaratives if constructing sentences at all. They were blown away.

As a child I saw no need for baby talk and cared deeply about getting it all out there as clear expression.

Your child could well be just an odd duck like I was, or a little slower to start.

If you are really concerned, the first stop should be a hearing test. She can't reproduce sounds if she can't hear them (she may be able to hear, but in a muffled sort of way if you have not noticed any lack of response to your speech. Many a 2-3 y/o who are not speaking much have fluid in the ears...if it is caught early enough, she won't have to have Speech Therapy because she will just catch up on her own. I would give it a few more months, though before you worried too much.

S.

I would get her ears/hearing checked, just in case... if you haven't already done so.
Most probably everything is fine, as the other moms here say. She is just taking her time.

If you are truly worried about it you could look for an Early Childhood Intervention Specialist to have her evaluated. My son started to babble at 8 months and then stopped speaking until around 14 months. I knew he could do it because I heard him he just didn't want/need to. By 14 months he was speaking in full sentences. As he has grown I've watched him observe to learn new things and when given the chance to sit back and watch quietly he learns things much faster. He knew at that young of an age that was how he would learn best. Maybe your daughter is the same way? She is only 11 months old so maybe she really is just taking her time. Good luck!

just be a little bit more patient. my son (though you have a daughter) took awhile to walk and talk. sometimes they just take their time. my son didn't talk till after one and didn't walk till just before he was one. he wasn't slow or had no learning disabllity he just did things in HIS OWN TIME! now if your situation continues then you may want to seek medical help. but if she responds to her name knows how to do just about every thing else she should be doing just wait. cause once she does start to talk your going to be like " HMMM... sure wish you would be quite". lol good luck

I wouldn't be too concerned about the babbling. When I took my daughter in for her 9 month checkup at age (almost) 11 months, the Dr. asked if she had said anything yet. She had not even said Mama or Dada. He seemed a little surprised, but not concerned. Something else to think about is that if your daughter is working on some of her motor skills, the verbal may be taking a back seat. My kids all walked by 10 months, so the verbal came after. Also, with the girls being twins, I know from friends with multiples, many times they are even just slightly delayed. This mean nothing in that they catch up and no one can even tell once the kids are school age.

I think the peds neurologist would be your first call if you decided you wanted a work up, to ease your mind. They can assess the head along with development. If they can't, they can put you in touch with the specialist who can.

I wouldn't worry yet, but there are things you can do at home to encourage baby a's development - read to them and point out pictures rather than flying through the pages; talk to them and ask them questions and wait for a response (any noise or gesture) to help them understand that conversation is 2-way communication. There are videos like Baby Babble and Teach Me to Talk, plenty of books and web sites with information we found useful. When our son was about 18 months, we had him evaluated because he only had a couple words. He eventually qualified for speech therapy and now at 2 years and 10 months, he's finally taking off. Even if there is a delay they usually catch up, but it helps for you to be involved and encourage them.

Since you are concerned you should look into an Infants and Toddlers Program in your county. Just Google it (your county plus "Infants and Toddlers Program") and you should find more information. It's a free evaluation for children from birth to 5 yrs. My friend did this for her son and she said it was a tremendous help. He was just a slow talker but a therapist came to her home once a week to help him. Since he was under 3, it was free.

(a) Most of the milestones out there should be looked at as "ballpark" age ranges. Like others have mentioned, all children are different in their abilities, interests, and developmental focus. And like you said, she is still working on crawling/pullingup/walking, so that (motor skills) is her focus right now. One milestone that I would keep in mind though is to make sure that she is saying at least one word by one year old (but hopefully a couple words in addition to mommy and daddy by one year old). If she is looking at you, trying to imitate you, trying to make noises, and otherwise interactive with you, she will probably be just fine but might need a little encouragement to learn to say words and to learn that saying words will help her get what she wants. Praise her for all of the sounds that she makes (even raspberries, etc), talk to her constantly about everything you are doing, and imitate back to her everything that she says so she learns what imitation is all about. The more she starts imitating you, the more she will practice language, and the more she will start to say on her own. The twin phenomenon can delay speech development for various reasons. Most children who develop language at a slower rate than the norm end up just fine in the end, but it is absolutely beneficial to get a speech therapist in there to work with you and your child as young as possible! IF she needs it. The quicker she can catch up, the quicker she can move on in all areas of development. AND, the less frustration you will all experience as she moves into the "terrible twos".
(b) I am an early intervention speech language pathologist, which is the type of specialist that your child would likely see if she needed the service. I would definitely recommend getting a hearing evaluation through your pediatrician, and then ask your pediatrician about or contact your local Infant and Toddler or Birth to 3 program (they will probably recommend a hearing eval anyway). The therapist would come to your home, evaluate her, and then if she qualifies for services, would work closely with you, the parents, in order to educate you and give you loads of ideas about what you can do with her at home during your normal routines. A common misconception is that early intervention services are free... they can be if you qualify for free services (like if you have Medicaid or have a low income) but payment is usually based on a sliding scale of your household income.

Good luck and enjoy this fun time in their lives!