18-Month-Old Not Talking

Your son is just fine. I also had a daughter the first time out and my son was the second one. My daughter did a lot of things very early and this left me totally confused when my son was laid back and did nothing the same. My daughter was talking pretty well by the time she was 1 and my son never talked until he was 3. He waited until he was 3, but he started out with sentences. To this day it is hard for me not to notice so many differenced in the two kids. It is not good to compare but sometimes I can't help but notice the facts. Boys tend to be a lot more physical than mental. Everything will be fine.

When my now 4 year old was almost 2 I was also concerned. SHe was in childcare setting with a child development specialist on hand. She told me not to worry that before she turned 2 she would probably start quickly after that. She did and has not shut up since. HEr 2 year old sister spoke sentences alot sooner. I give credit to big sister. SO I wouldn't worry too much. Continue to read read read. Try sign language too. That helps their vocabulary more than you'll ever know. Good luck

I was worried about my daughter at the same age. She is says two word combos now at 22 months. What you should do is look at his other development. Is he walking is he interacting with you and others. Does he understand what you are saying and follow simple directions. does he give you eye contact. If he does all these other things he is developmentally on track and don't be worried.

My son will be 3 in 2 weeks and isn't talking I know of kids that were 4 before they started. Dont worry he will start when he's ready.
Have patience.

I really think it depends on if he is developing in other ways. For example, I have an 18 mo. old son, and he is not yet walking (I'm not too worried, yet, his sister was a late walker too). He also does not have many words (about 4) he uses yet. But, I can tell he is learning other things. He understands me when I ask him to do something, and can go do it. He answers questions with a head nod yes or no. He was been feeding himself with a spoon for the last three months.

I am a firm believer that they have so much to learn, that sometimes they just have to focus on one or two things at a time, and that it takes a little while to get around to the other stuff. Of course, if you are worried, I wouldn't hesitate to get him tested--it can only help.

Good luck!

I wouldn't worry at all. I had one kid talking at 12 months, one talking just before, and one talking at about 18 months. My neighbor's son was the same as yours. He really didn't say anything and I found myself being a little concerned for him, thinking back to my own kids. He just turned two and suddenly is talking up a storm. It was just nuts to see him go from only a few words that didn't even sound like words to complete sentences. Now you can have a conversation with him which wasn't possible a few months ago. So I really wouldn't worry...I would just keep doing what you're doing and one day it will just happen!

Every child develops language skills at his or her own pace. Having said that, why don't you speak with your pediatrician to see if there might be some other issues at work? Have you had his hearing tested? At birth they do a screening but it's always a good idea to get their ears checked. ChildFind is an excellent organization that will evaluate your son's language development and test his hearing. Good luck!

Has he had a lot of problems with ear infections my now 6 year old was about 18 months when they finally tested his hearing after multiple ear infections and found his hearing was muffled due to the fluid. As soon as he had ear tubes inserted he started speaking much more clearly.

I would also check with your early child development center and have him tested. They will test them for free and if there are speech delay's many of the services are free or prorated based on your income.

They can test for speech and hearing problems.

The other route is make sure the pediatrician has ruled out any other medical problems.

Your child may just be a slow talker but if you are concerned I would at least rule some things out.

Good Luck

Hi S.,
My 18 month old wasn't really saying any words either, and my pediatrician had some concerns. Not too much, but we should be aware of anything. Now, at 20 months, OUT OF THE BLUE, he said, "All done that," to me a few days ago! (He didn't want anymore sweet potatoes.) My husband told me the next day that he said, "There you go!", when helping unload the dishwasher. He's also got the first few lines of "Twinkle, Twinkle" down now too! All new developments! So.... I would certainly give him a bit more time. He could just go from speaking nothing (like my son), to 3 word sentances in a couple of months! :)

18-month-olds don't generally have a lot of words. And they usually don't pronounce them correctly. So it may be that, in his babbling, he's saying some words that you don't recognize yet as words.

You may want to consider having his hearing checked, escpecially if he doesn't seem to understand what you tell him (kids generally understand a whole lot more than they say). Bring it up at your next pediatrician appointment (he should be having one at 18 months), your doctor can let you know if its something to worry about.

When my oldest was 18 months, I was worried about his speech, and mentioned it at his doc appt. The doc's advice was to play a little "game" with my son. When I handed him something, like juice, I would hold it just out of reach and say, "Juice. Juice. Can you say juice?" If he tries to say it, I'd give him the juice. If he didn't, I 'd keep saying, "Juice," watching carefully that I never got him very frustrated about getting his juice.
The main thing the doctor wanted to see was that he was hearing and at least trying to repeat words.
He also said that animal sounds count as words. So my son was roaring and barking and meowing and mooing, and they all counted.

Do you do sign language with him? Sometimes that can keep kids from speaking as early, but it's MORE than okay because they are and have been practicing a very important concept--that a specific symbol has a specific meaning. Signs are symbol for a meaning, and words are a symbol for a meaning. They also learn to put two or three signs together, which is the beginning of sentence structure. So people might think it holds their kids back, but really it is a jump start on language in general.

Has he had lots of ear infections? My BIL had a ton when he was little, and he didn't say his first "word" until he was three, because he basically grew up deaf. His first "word" was "uh" for truck. Keep in mind that he was THREE.

Another thing to keep in mind is that girls generally talk earlier than boys.

I didn't worry about my second son so much, but he really didn't seem like he was ever going to talk! He hardly said any words at 19 months. But now just try and stop him! He's 2 1/2, and he uses quite complex language. Just the other day, he said, "I love you past the moon, and on to all the planets!" What 2 year old talks like that? Everyone thinks he's older than he is.
My nephew was almost 2 before he said any words, but when he started, he spoke in complete sentences.

Kids take their own pace, and there's really nothing we can do to change that. Be patient and play that "game" with him. If you don't do any sign language with him, that will help, too.

S., My now 3year old girl was a late talker, and my now 17month old only says "ball" and "duck", which are not very clear and he just started saying them the past couple of weeks.

I had my daughter do a speech therapy eval at a little over 2.5years old. They did recommend speech therapy, but due to no insurance coverage and traveling over the holidays, we put it off then decided not to do it. (I was torn from the beginning on pushing too hard or just letting her take her time.) She has just taken off the past few months - she now has a huge vocabulary! Talks in very intelligent secntences, and paragraphs! She can say the letters to spell her name and her little brother's name. She has blossemed on her own - no formal therapy, just lots of reading books and us talking to her.

So the second time around now with my son, I'm not too worried at all! I am encouraged that the past couple of months he is pointing more at everything he possibly sees, so I make sure that I am telling him about the things that he is pointing at and intereseted in, so he can learn the words for them.

If there are multiple developmental or social delays, then I think there might be more reason for further evaluation - but if the late talking is the only concern, and everything else is on track, then my experience has taught me to let them go at their own pace, and they will get it when it's right for them!

I liked one of the other comments you got about the pedicatrician encouraging the mom the label objects, and try to make him try to say them before giving them to him - without getting him too frusterated.

Good luck!
S.

My niece just turned 20 months yesterday and she doesn't say anything either. When she tries, its the same sound/word for everything. My little brother was late talking as well because whenever he would want something, he would point to it and all of us older kids would tell my mom what he wanted. All kids will "talk" when they have something to say. I was concerned about my niece but her parents don't seem to be so I guess we just wait and see what happens. When I watch my niece (which is once a month over night) me and my 8 yr old daughter will pick up random things (shoe, sock, or point to a picture...cat, dog, etc) to get her introduced to more words. Also, something that I try and do, is not to talk "baby talk" to her. I think its best if you just talk to them sort of like you would anyone else. I would just be patient but if you really are concerned, I would talk to his ped.

I went through exactly the same thing. In fact, I also have a daughter who is 20 months older than my son. I became worried about him at about 18 months also. My daughter was a late talker, but not this late, so I was concerned. We actually found out about that time, that our son was tongue tied. It basically means that the piece of skin that attaches their tongue to the bottom of his mouth was attached too far to the front and he cannot stick out his tongue which can also complicate speech. It can be hereditary and my husband had it but never had it fixed and learned to compensate. We had his tongue snipped when he was 2, which is a very minor procedure. That combined with time (when he turned 2 1/2), realizing that our daughter was talking constantly so how could he talk and me realizing that I needed to stop talking for him because I understood all of his grunts...now he talks NONSTOP!!! It will come. Good luck.

I am having the same problem with my 21 month old son. The advice I was given was to give him time. By the time they turn two they really take off. Just in the past couple of weeks he has been getting better. He has a couple words and is having more of the desire to use words. I am just doing what I can like sign language and flashcards and reading. He will do it when he is ready. How many 5 year olds do you know who don't talk? They have their own timeline and we don't need to press them if they are not ready.soon we'll wish for the quiet times.

If he really doesn't have any words, I would get some help. Early intervention is a federal program that covers everywhere, and it's free. So I would get them to come do an evaluation and they can see if he needs some speech therapy or if there's something else. They'll know what to do. I think it's through the Health and Human Services department of each state, but I'm not positive.

Just another Mom telling you that I too have an 18 month old (2 of them in fact) and neither of them talks. They babble and point to things but mostly grunt. My other 2 kids talked a lot and really early...I guess they all talk at their own pace. Have patience and I will do the same.

I have 2 kids to but, I don't have that problem, My 2 year old has been learning from his big sister.just because he ain't talking yet,don't worry give him some more time to learn and he'll pick up when he is ready. I would not worry
keep incouraging him to talk and that will help also.
start out with small words and just keep saying them to him and in no time he will be saying them .

Good for you to be reading to your boy! Keep up the good work! There may not be anything at all wrong, and time will take care of the situation, but you would do well to talk to your doctor about it. My youngest behaved that way, and it puzzled us because we knew he was bright. Turned out he needed ear tubes, even though he did not have a history of infections. I don't know what current thinking about ear tubes is these days, but they were exactly what was needed in this case. Six hours after surgery my son was a different kid! He'd been communicating well based on what he heard, but he hadn't been hearing well. Today he's an Army captain. He's also an avid reader.

I would get him evaluated. Our son loves speech therapy. He started around 18 months. It is amazing what they can do for them. It so helps with lowering frustrations. Trust me, you don't want a two year old who can't talk! I'm sure you're finding out that frustration already. At that age, we did a lot of ba-ba-ba-ba, da-da-da-da, etc. GL! If I were closer to you, I'd recommend people to call.

my daughter said maybe 10 words when she was 18 mos old... but I could tell she understood a lot more (as I suspect is the case with your son). every month the number of words she learned to say would double, and now at 26 mos, she talks all the time. still a little stilted in her sentence structure, but she's still talking. I think she has really started enjoying letting her wants and needs be known.. I am predicting in another 3 months or so we won't be able to stop her.

anyway, I'm just saying, relax... keep reading and talking to your son.. he'll pick it up. also, you might try sign language.. it helped us communicate better with my daughter during the 18 mo to 2yr window, especially the basic stuff like "eat" "milk" "ball" "please" "book" "sleepy", etc.

good luck!

Hi S.,

I agree to a point with the other moms who say to give it a little bit more time, however, being the mom of not one but two hearing impaired kids, my advice would be to have his hearing tested! Can't hurt! Good luck!

Repitition is a good sign.
My son was not a big talker at all, maybe had five words until after he turned two, then about 27 mos he was talking away. I think my son said "gog (for dog), mimi (for his sisters name), mamma, up, "no" or ball for the longest time. That was it.
Boys take longer, do not allow him to point and grunt, encourage him to use his words for what he wants. Talk to him throughout the day like if you are getting him a snack, say SNACK, MILK? If you tell him to go get something does he respond like he understands?
When it clicks in their brains it clicks. If you are truly concerned take those concerns to your Pediatrician for evaluation as nobody can really say 100% if it is a problem or not.
Does he say at least one or two words without repitition?
If not it could be hearing issues or just speech delay.
Either way, don't worry until you know for sure.
My daughter I swear came out talking, then my son took his sweet time. Then by the time he was 2 1/2 he was talking up full blown sentences.

I'd give DDI Vantage a call. They are the state/fed funded program for speech/language delays. If he qualifies (usually that means he would have to be 4 months delayed or more), then you would get free/cheap speech therapy services (depends on your income).

We used them for a few months with my youngest, and they were great because they offered suggestions, and milestones to work on. He eventually caught up, and is far ahead of his peers now. Perhaps he would have done it on his own - perhaps not...

You can always call them now (since the process can take months), and cancel later if you don't need them. They do testing that is informative too - cognitive, language, receptive, expressive. Good stuff!