19 Month Old Only Using a Few Words and Babbling at Times

K.,

There is NO need to worry. All the moms here are right!! He will likely pick it up in no time. Does he tend to be a perfectionist? Those types of children often don't speak till they are confident they can do so perfectly.

Something to do in the mean time is teach him bits of sign language!! I taught all 3 of my children from birth till they were proficient with speech and they all did extremely well with verbal skills later. The added benefits are amazing!! Children that learn sign are shown to have better hand-eye coordination, communication, and learn easier in school. They also pick up foreign languages later faster. No worries about not knowing sign, I didn't! I got a couple books and learned the basics. Milk, more, no, please, thank you, all done, bath... you get the idea, just the day to day stuff you do/say/see. Plus it's really fun!!!

Good luck!!!
H.

1 mom found this helpful

K.,
I completely understand, although at 18 months, my son had absolutely NO words at all, not even mama or dada. I had his hearing checked even though I knew he could hear, but wanted to make sure he was hearing CLEARLY. He was and so we contacted our local REGIONAL SERVICES. After a very easy evaluation he was approved for speech therapy. He only went once a week for one hour. In just 2 months I saw a HUGE improvement and he was so much happier because he realized he could get his point across if he used words - so his frustration that we weren't understanding him was gone. Speech therapy through regional services is FREE until your child's third birthday. It was a great experience for us and helped us all in so many ways. He has confidence now and quite honestly, probably talks TOO much :) . Best of luck to you. Don't wait - the earlier the better.

1 mom found this helpful

K.,
I have read most of the responses you recieved on this issue and have only one tiny thing to add. One of my cousins had a daughter who did not speak until she was 2 1/2 years old. She would only grunt and point at what she wanted. Point and grunt at the sink for a drink. Point and grunt at diaper for a change. Point and grunt and left it up to us to figure out what she wanted. Her doctor did nothing about this and at 2 1/2 years she just started talking a mile a minute with so many words we were all amazed. She knew them, she just did not want to talk yet.
Good luck to you and your son,
T.

Hi, K.. My son had a similar issue (with no hearing problems), and our doctor started him in speech therapy around 2. Definitely listen to his recommendation because it can only benefit your son. The other moms are right: therapy is like play and is so interesting and helpful. One thing we did do (for all my kids) is enunciate everything we said. It helped them develop good speech patterns and hear the sounds. My son is almost 9 now and still in therapy at his elementary school (1/2 hr twice a week). He still has a few sounds that he has difficulty with, but he can communicate and says things now that amaze me.
I know this may be way in the future for you, but one thing I did notice with my son, is that he really struggled with reading and spelling because he can't sound out the words (he had trouble with first and last sounds in words), so in addition to speech services, he also receives some educational assistance at his school. I monitor the programs and teachers closely and will not allow anyone to teach him who doesn't support him and encourage him.
Good luck with your son!!

Sometimes as parents we do too much. We give our children the words without waiting long enough for them to respond. Instead of pointing to everything and running a one-sided dialog, ask questions and then wait for your son to respond. Think about shows like Blue's Clues, the dude will ask a question into the TV and then waits a long time for a response. When you son is playing ask "what is that?" or when you are with friends "who is that?" Try counting to ten in your head before you give your son the words. Also, read, read, read. When I read to my young toddler daycare kids, I don't read story books. I read those ABC board books, or color board books. They gain a lot of language from those books and they keep their attention longer. If these strategies don't work, then please listen to your doctor and get a referral.

Good luck!
N.

as a therapist who works with children who have special needs this is of concern. However, first have an intensive hearing exam UCLA or John Tracy Clinic to rule out that he is hearing at every level. Then maybe the speach route. He should have at least 50 words.............so STOP pointing because that seems to be what he is picking up. More talking less pointing. If he wants something he must use words but try to keep his frustration level low. Don't panic as he will pick up on that. Try a lot of reading with him close or on your lap. Lots of play time together using high affect when you talk. But please try the hearing test first but make sure they do an extensive test. Hope all goes well.

when your son hits 22 months you're going to all of a sudden see a change..my son is just about 2.5 ..early walker..9 months..didn't talk much..then at 22 months he had a change..but you have to work on things with them..like get one of those doodle boards and start working on the alphabet..and counting to 20..sometimes i put my mouth on my son's head and i pronounce words ..he still says things i can't understand but our doc says it's normal. now that he's almost 2.5 i'm noticing another word spurt...yesterday especially...but i remember at 22 months there was a change..and i was worried just like you are at 19 months..so you'll see...just work with him..one good one is "all done" keep saying it and signing it after he eats..also "more" ..good luck*

HI K.-you're describing our exact situation we had with our son. At 21 months all of a sudden his vocab jumbed from 8-10 words to about 100 and I am not exaggerating. Our pediatrician had said he wasn't concerned at 19mos & that only if he reached 2 with still no words would we need to proceed with speech therapy. Sounds like your doc said pretty much the same thing. YOu are doing everything right, keep reading to him every day. Some kids just take a while and believe me he is absolutely getting all those words stored up in his brain, he's just waiting till he's ready to use them. You guys will be fine, hang in there.

not sure if baby signing time videos would help but my son loved those. we also had a lot of picture books around that are just about pointing to what things are.

My son had even less words at that age - I think it was about 4. By 2 he had caught up and by 3 (he turned 3 in May) his speech is amazing. Like others said, you can always get started with regional center now if you want!

K.,

First of all I wouldn't worry to much, alot of our kids have speech problems. At least your doctor is concerned about it. Every doctor I talked to about my son, simply brushed it under a rug (Boys are just slow he'll catch up). I finally ran into a mother who told me about the school district. They do hearing and eye sight tests, they also do rang of motion with the mouth. This helps them to see if it's just laziness or if they have other disabilities they that need to get past. For the little ones they have speech therapist's do one on one, the older ones go to a pre-school type group. I would call your school district, they will tell you if he is old enough to be tested or maybe have some classes for parents to help the kids at home. You will feel better that you are getting your son the help he needs before he has to start making friends. Good luck to you, he'll get it. (the younger the better). J.

Hi K.,
Each child is different, but if you are not teaching other languages (which it sounds like you may not be), you can try flash cards (with simple pictures on them), using lots of priase for his tries, but keep it to no more than 3 at a time until he seems to get it, even if just slightly more than he said the word before. Also, reading books with him A LOT may help and not just allowing him to point and get what he wants. Help him ask for it by keeping the "sentences" short and simple. Have him repeat each word after you speak it slow and clearly, until he gets it better (not necessarily perfect-maybe 2-3 tries on each word) and say the short sentence together again for him and try to get him to do it too. Then give him what he wants. This may take many attempts over time, but maybe this will help.
We had/have a similar situation with our 2 yr old and I was really worried she had an issue-though we are teaching her Spanish too.
These suggestions came from a friend who is an child speech therapist and are slowly working more and more. We started this about 4 monthes ago.
Oh and also when he attempts a word and it is almost understandable...say meh for milk, try affirming it by repeating something along the line of, "Want milk?" Ennunciating each word as clearly and slowly as you feel is right. That is also a good example of a starter mini-sentence like I mentioned above.
Hope that helps, and if not, speech therapy is nothing to be embarrassed about. Getting help now will make all the difference in the world as he grows and gets ready for pre-school and kindergarden. If after a couple of monthes of trying these techniques and any others you feel may be of help, you don't see any progress at all, get him in to see a speech therapist. That is their expertise and in the meantime, getting a hearing test, may be a good idea, that way no more time (and worry ) is wasted than necessary.
Good Luck,
U.

I have a 20-month-old. She isn't speaking in sentences yet either, or even putting two words together. But she does say some things, she tries to repeat you, she gets her point across, she completely understands EVERYTHING I or anyone else says to her. I am so not concerned about it. Every child progress differently, regarding everything! Keep talking about the objects you see, read him stories and point to the pictures, say the words, sing songs. Give it some time.
I wouldn't be putting him through extensive hearing tests now. He'll get there.

Children develop at different rates. I really think that a 19 month old who speaks 8-10 words is within normal limits. My oldest son had a 10 word vocabulary at 2 years...including cook-cook for cookie, track-track for tractor and a slurping sound for water. My second son never babbled or baby talked, then just after two started to speak in 2-3 word sentences.
I would get some baby word books and "read" (meaning look at them and point to the pictures and repeat the words to him.) When you offer a cookie, milk, water, apple hold it out and say "I have a cookie (or whatever you have.) What do you want? and try to get him to say the word for you. Five months can show a lot of change in speech.
My sister who works in special education had an article called
Early Warning signs and in the communication area it says:
that if the child does NOT

*By age 6 months rarely makes sounds like cooing and gurgling
*is unusually quiet
*Does not shake head no
*By age one, does not understand first words...milk, bottle, bye-bye.
*By age one does not say mama or dada
*By age two, rarely names family member or common objects
*By age two, does not speak in two-word phrases (my oldest son only had a 10 word vocabulary at 2 and there was not problems later...he also at three mispronounced many words "Wittle Walice, see the Get Fighter?" was Little Alice, see the Jet Fighter? and then progressed and had not speech problems by school age.)
*By age three, knows name, gender
*By age three, follow simple directions or speak in 3 or 4 word sentences.

It sounds like you do the correct things. When dressing name body parts, clothing, colors. When eating repeat the food and say yummy or good. When walking point to leaves, flowers, animals. And also start looking at a baby picture book and repeat the same book every day...even more than once a day saying the words. Point to a picture and ask what is that or what does the animal say. If he doesn't say anything make the animal sound and say can you pretend you are a cow, dog, cat, etc.?

Hope that helps. Don't fret too much, just talk to and enjoy your little boy. I think that too many people are being seen by speech therapists that are in normal developmental limits. As others have said, boys tend to speak (and draw) later than girls. I think you will be surprise in a year...probably won't be able to make him stop talking:)
H.

My daughter is now almost 20 1/2 months and is saying a lot more words and also still babbles. I would not worry about it, I bet he is going in the next month start saying a lot more, that's what she did. I remember her being at his stage at 19 months.

K.,
I am a special education teacher in a local school district. I work with students with moderate to severe disabilities. There is a strategy that I use with my students to get them to use their voices that might be helpful to you. I, and my colleagues pretend that we do not understand what they are saying. We say "use your words, I don't understand". It does not take long for them to realize if they want something they are going to have to do what we ask. I know it sounds silly but it does work and I've seen it work with students with no "disability" who are just shy and don't like to speak. Unfortunately this strategy has to be use consistently throughout the day by everyone or the child will know who to go to to get what he or she wants without having to use words. Also reward him for trying. Rewards can be a toy, time with a parent, food, or whatever he really likes to do.

Good luck!
M. P

I wouldn't wait until he's two. Our daughter was in the same situation at that age. After passing a hearing test we got her into a speech school three mornings a week. (Via the Regional Center.) After a few months of that we opted for the Speech Therapist to come to her twice a week for an hour. that was great too!
Plus, I taught us all some sign language, and used DVD's like BABY BABBLE, and BABY SEE N SIGN. If you put your son in a school, or go the home visit route, it's important to utilize the techniques that the teachers and therapist use to help his speech.
I'm happy to report that by age three my daughter had caught up, and is now a big time talker! I'm sure it had a lot to do with starting early, and not waiting until she was two, or older.
Contact your regional center asap, and good luck!

K.- My daughter had very few words at 19 mos. She was almost 2 and all her little friends seemed to be talking. I was concerned (like we mommies do). At 2 her vocabulary increased and shortly after she started speaking in sentences, which became paragraphs quickly! At 5 her vocab is amazing! She is well ahead of most of her peers on every level. Very bright. As long as he understands and responds to your requests he is probably fine. We are expecting notes from the teacher this yr in kdg. that perhaps she talks too much!LOL Best, H.

As a speech pathologist, I would recommend you call your regional center and have his speech and language assessed. Regional services are free until 3 years old and then you transfer into the school district. You could go to a private speech therapist, but it can be very expensive if your insurance doesn't cover it. Maybe they find something, maybe they don't- but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I run an intensive speech and language therapy program for prek aged children and I can't tell you what a huge difference early intervention will do. I also agree with the other speech therapist's recommendation to have his hearing assessed. Good luck.

Our speech therapist said to repeat any word or almost word our son says. If he points to the dog and says da then we say good word son dog dog dog. The theory is that they will realize they are almost there and it isn't a far leap to say the word. My son is 16 months with no real words. Like your son he hears and understands he just doesn't really speak. We are using Nevada Early Intervention services for speech therapy. My suggestion is not to wait on the speech therapy. For one thing the kids think they are just playing and you will get a lot of peace of mind to realize that you have a problem with a solution! Good luck.

My son is having a similar issue. The state of CA has a free Early Start program. You do not need a Dr.'s referral to start this program. My son has an evaluation for it in a few weeks. They are suppose to give me tools and ideas on how to get hime to talk. It might be worth a phone call. You can get the phone number for the Regional Center in your area on California Early Start web site. I will worn you since it is a government agency it does take a little time to get going in it. By the time my son has his first evaluation it will have been a month and a half since I started the process.

Don't be afraid of speech therapy - it is just playing for the kids and it is actually pretty interesting. You are doing a good job by teaching him signs, my daughter's speech therapist started by teaching my daughter some signs which were very useful for us. (I liked it so much, I started teaching my second child sign language right away and she had a signing vocabulary of about 150 signs and spoke very early also)

In the meantime, you can model for him by using very short sentences "Dog barks", "want cracker" think Dick and Jane. This will focus his speech and make it seem easier to talk than by hearing "Oh wow, do you hear that big ferocious dog barking loudly at us?" It takes some practice, but just describe the things that he does with "caveman speak" and he will connect the words easier with the things he does and sees. He's probably fine, sometimes it just takes an extra boost to get them talking (or doing other things for that matter!!)

Hi K.,

I just recently went through the same thing with my son who is now 2yrs old and 2months. I was the one very concerned and no one else around me. His Doctor's advice was least just wait and see because like your son he understood everything we said. A week before my son's 2nd birthday he just started talking. It was unclear but I knew what he was trying to communicate. We still use sign language but his speaking is much clearer than it was before. I still think that he might need some speech help later but just continue to speak to him and repeat words to him and encourage him to say them after you.

I hope this was encouraging for you.

T.

My son is 17 months and we try to teach him more words by making a game out of it. I will point and say the name of an object, and then use the object in its intended capacity. For example, I would point to a hat, say "hat", and then put it on my head.

We also look at pictures and paintings and in books when we go places and point to various items and say their name and try to do something silly to get him to giggle. Now he is always picking up books to read on his own and turns pages, and points out things he wants to show us.

Our son is very interested in how things work together, so he enjoys these games.

If those don't help, there are tons of story hours or mommy and me lay classes you could enroll in to help spark linguistic development for your son.

Good luck!

Hi,
My daughter had the same experience and I only regret that I didn't take her to speech therapy much earlier. Like you, I did 'all the right things' for speech development. I even had the additional benefit of having enrolled her in an early childhood development study that helped me stay abreast of all the latest techniques. Doctors and educators all agreed: wait it out. But a simple trip to therapy was all we needed, and it's so painless.

The doctors finally gave up and sent us to therapy when she turned 3. It turned out she had a 7 year-old's vocabulary crammed inside her little head and she didn't have the motor skills to pronounce what she wanted to say. It all made sense, once the therapist tested her. She likened it to a log-jam between my daughter's mind and her mouth.

Perhaps this is like your son? My daughter began speaking at 10 months with single words. She then progressed to two- word phrases. Next, she SHOULD have progressed to three-word phrases, but she didn't. She skipped straight to LOOOONG sentences, complete with excited gesticulation and inflection. The problem was that only three or four words out of 20 were intelligible. (And that was a good day!)

The look on her face convinced me that this kid knew what she was TRYING to express. The moment our faces registered a blank look, her whole demeanor changed. She knew we didn't get it... again. It was like watching a balloon deflate. It broke my heart. That's when I saw it was changing who she was and the way she saw herself. She started getting quieter, shutting up sooner, she stopped trying to be heard. She was giving up.

I went to the doctor again and didn't ask him a thing. I told him what we were doing. Period. She was in therapy a week later. It set her free.

The therapist determined in one visit that her vocabulary was huge, but her (speech) motor skills were weak. She skipped the stages of development she needed to train her muscles to enunciate -- she had too much to say and no way to say it. Can you just imagine having so much trapped inside you, wanting to be expressed? How lonely she must have felt in our crowded house.

It was such an easy thing to fix -- seriously, within two months she spoke clearly enough to be understood. Within six months she sounded pretty much like any other three-year-old, she just talked about a larger variety of things. And she still talks a LOT.

I just can't believe I waited until she was three -- I should have demanded speech therapy the minute my gut instinct said she needed it. I could have saved my daughter thousands of deflating, frustrating, isolating experiences.

Whatever the problem, a therapist will be able to assess it's source and treatment -- or at the very least, direct you to a specialist who can.

I speak humbly from experience. Don't wait it out. Go with your instincts. Don't ask for a referral, very sweetly demand it. My daughter still looks back on her short time in speech therapy as the time in which she was finally heard. And all it took was someone who knew what to listen for.

Best of luck! :-)

PS: For whatever reason, my daughter found Spanish easier to enunciate than English, even though we speak English in the house. During those gobbeldy-gook years, she spoke Spanish more frequently -- and more clearly -- than English. Especially in a crisis! Just fyi; I have no idea how it could help, but you never know. :)

K.

Our 3 year old had the same issues. Our boy didn't speak any words at all. We were so worried that we had him tested (hearing and speech). Turns out he just needed a little more time. So if you are worried get him tested by a speech therapist (since you already know his hearing is fine you can skip that test). Our boy ultimately started talking at 2 1/2 and now nobody can stop him.

So, just keep on doing what you already are doing and wait for his 2 year appointment. Then you can still decide whether or not to have him evaluated.

Hi K.,
I wish I was part of this group when my daughter was not speaking. We had only about 3 -4 words at 18 months. We took our peds advice and waited until she was 2, then at our peds suggestion, contacted our local regional center. The regional centers are great, and everything is free until the child is three, then the school district takes over. The problem comes in the process- My dauighter turned 2 in September, and we were not approved until December, and did not get a therapist until January. I wish I had started the process sooner. There is a speech therapist shortage, so if you are not persistant you may even wait longer. Also, my daughter was approved for preschool, but they all had wait list so we were never able to take advantage of that. Speech therapy has been amazing and I am so sad that it will be ending soon, she loves her therapist. There is nothing wrong with looking into it now, and if your son has the sudden growth of vocab in a couple months, great. Speech therapy can also help with prenounciation. I also was taught she was not working her muscles in her mouth enough- chewing all sorts of foods help with this, as does using a straw. (my daughter used a sippy cup and let her food dissolve in her mouth sometimes). There is nothing wrong with getting a little help, my son is 9, and gifted, but even he needs more help then I can give. We are supermoms- not because we do it all, but because we get it all done.

K.,

Talk to him, read to him, label everything you see and do and sign with him more. I highly recommend Volumes 1-3 of the Signing Time dvds www.signingtime.com They have lots of volumes and are all fun but I think the first three are the most useful for a beginner.

Some oral motor things you can do - use drinking straws to drink, use straws to blow cotton balls back and forth at each other across a table and blow bubbles.

:-)T.

Hi K.,
I read a few of the other responses, but here's my take...my son, who is now 21, is 4 DAYS older than my niece and he didn't speak really well until about 2.5 years old. My niece started speaking when she wasn't even 1.5, which made me really concerned for my child. I spoke with his ped at the time, which was at 1.5 and he checked his ears. If it didn't clear up by 3, he would insert tubes. He did start speaking in complete sentences, so no tubes. I truly believe girls are faster than boys. It will work itself out and last he'll speak when he's ready. Enjoy him now and the rest will follow...because it's true...they grow up SO fast.

my son did the same thing! he was 2 1/2 before we could even discern what he was saying....we called him "cave baby" since all he did was grunt & point. i, too was concerned & my ped asked questions about his PHYSICAL development....& he was way 'ahead' of other kids in THAT area. she then explained to me that kids (boys imparticular)tend to concentrate on ONE development at a time. and the physical usually comes before the verbal (again - a boy thing). also, dont forget that general rule of boys talking a bit later than girls....so, when my son felt comfortable that he had mastered hitting the ball w/ a bat, then he moved on to attempting to actually talk, & it was an explosion of words seemingly overnight! 8^) i wouldn't worry too much, since you stated that you KNOW that he HEARS you well. i bet if you think about it, you will see that he does physical things very well (bounces a ball & catches it, throws semi-acurately, climbs/jumps/runs w/more co-ordination than some other kids at the park, etc....) he will get there, mama! p.s. my son is now 11yrs old & has been playing organized baseball since he was 4 1/2! he's on travel tournament teams

High 5's to you for not waiting 5 months to do something for your child!

Contact your local: Department of Health; hospital - pediatrics; public school SLP, Speech Language Pathologist; pre-school teachers; elementary school counselors. Get the names of local agencies from them who can help with this.

ALAM: 18 years SpEd teacher for students who are emotionally disturbed and/or have a learning disability and students with Autism.

From my experience, your son is quite normal. My son didn't say much at 2 and he went to speech for three months. I'm not sure if it was the class or if it was just when he was ready but he blosomed in a very short time. Now at 3.5, he's never without words. What's the saying? "We spend the first two years teaching our children to walk and talk and the next sixteen years telling them to sit down and be quiet."
One thing they did in speech that you can do at home is don't ask yes or no questions. If you are offering fruit, ask do you want an apple or banana? Do you want the red plate or the green plate. When you are playing, have him say "one two three, go" before heading down the slide or running to the park. when you are offering crackers say "Do you want one or two?" This way you are not only talking to him but are expecting a response other than yes or no. As he starts responding apple or green, start to add on. "Do you want the red apple or the yellow banana" Have him answer with "green plate"
Sometimes we make it too easy on them so there's not much for them to say.
Good luck and if speech class is the route, so be it.

Try calling the san marcos Regional center. They will do an assessment and help you get started with speech now if its needed. also you can call children's hospitals North county center and they can set you up with an appt. and do an assessemnt as well and it will be way sooner than his 2 year appt.

My son didn't really say anything by 15monthes I started making some phone calls and by 18 monthes we were seeing an ENT to put tubes in his ears bc they found that he wasn't draining fluid from in his ear. we went through regianal center and in one year we went from no words to full on sentences. he is now 3 and all caught up. Don't wait if you think there might be something wrong just start the process and see what they say.
all the assessments are great and easy and very interactive. If you go thru children's hospital they will even show you some classes you can take with your child to help get the words moving like music classes and its all free.

My son was also only pointing and babbling at 18 months and I knew that it was not a hearing problem. (He only could say dada). I was such a squeaky wheel, that I got my son into speech at 22 months. Now, he is in a great speech program. While you are waiting, I recommend a few exercises that may help. When talking to your son, sit at eye-level, so he can see your mouth move. Break up words into individual sounds so that he can understand that words are a compilation of syllables. Also, the speech therapist mentioned that there has been shown a link between watching a lot of TV, and speech delay.
Good luck to you.
L. L.

Expect more words from him. Instead of "milk" emphasize "more milk", etc. Sometimes we as parents resort to using one word utterances so our children can relate but they are capable of more if you work with them. Our son had a speech delay because we didn't try for more than one word (we were happy that he used words at all). We knew milk meant milk but the world wants more than one word utterances. Kid's brains soak things up like you wouldn't imagine so go with it and when he says "milk" say "more milk" or "yummy milk" and when he says "car" say "blue car" or "fast car". The more you use words with him the more he will use them. Best wishes.

My oldest son spoke gibberish (my word for it). He'll be 15 next month and speaks English very well. With mine, I'm sure it was because he thought his way of speaking was the right way and everyone else in the world was wrong! Don't worry. If everything else is fine, he'll come around.

A. D.