No "Babble" by 11 Mos?

11 months is still pretty young, but it's great that you are so attentive and are tracking his development! Even though the standard "baseline" for speech is 5 words by 15 months old, it more important that your son is making great eye contact with you, is pointing to things that make him excited, and is trying to "engage" with you. (When he gets excited about seeing something, does he try to get your attention to look at it too?) If these things are not happening, be sure to tell your Pediatrician at his 12 month appt.

Regarding his overall speech development: if you feel concerned, contact Early Intervention for a FREE evaluation. Just because some other kids were simply "late bloomers," it doesn't mean that yours is -- and the earlier you catch a developmental problem, the better. Plus, EI can arrange for a FREE hearing test for him if you ask. There is no need to spend any money on this by seeing specialists right off the bat.

Even if he doesn't have a delay that needs to be treated, the therapists that come for the evaluation can give you some great tips on how to encourage him as his speech continues to develop.

I guess we Moms all have strong opinions about this topic. I do, because my son did not babble either...and EI was the first step in catching his developmental issues and getting him the help he needs. This does not mean your son will have problems -- but it's just another Mom's perspective. Best wishes!!

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His speech might be delay a little bit I work for a developmental agency and we have a early intervention program here and you can call to get him a eval we are located 411 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL ###-###-#### and talk to Cheslea Guillen she is the Div. Chief of Early Intervention. and her ext.107 and tell her you heard about her program though Michelle

Call early intervention...my son has been in it since 14 months and it has helped so much!

I have the unpopular vote here...

My son is a late talker. He had no words until 18 months and now, at 20 months, can pretty much repeat anything we say. He clearly understood all that we were saying, indicated by following simple (and sometimes not-so-simple) commands, nodding yes and shaking his head for no, etc... he obviously had no hearing issues and his cognitive development was fine.

I absolutely think that early intervention has done a wonderful service to many families, but it is something you should really talk to your doctor about and put some time into researching. Some kids develop at a different pace than others and in some cases there is nothing wrong with letting nature take its course. It seems like we as parents get so caught up in what "the books" say our children "should" be doing that we forget that there is a huge pendulum swinging when it comes to all forms of development and kids can fall anywhere on the spectrum and be just fine.

But, of course, it should go without saying that you should talk to your doctor and come up with a plan together. Good luck!
T.

My little guy is 26 months old and still only says 3 words but he has a heck of a slap shot with a hockey stick! The doctor said not to be concerned, boys typically talk slower than girls. Read to him simple books with only 1 picture per page is what the doctor suggested to us.

It sounds to me like your little guy has been putting his energy into physical development. They can't master everything at once, so they develop at different rates in different areas.

I second the getting rid of the paci recommendation.

I don't have any advice other than "don't panic". My first daughter used a paci until she was three and she was also slow to babble. She was sort of babbling by 12 months but she definitely did not have a few "words" like ma & da by that age. By her second birthday, though, she was talking up a storm. Now with my second baby, she never took a paci but is developing along the same as my first daughter. She seemed a little slow to start babbling but now at 16 months, she is saying ma & da & almost everything else is ba :) Ha, as she's sitting on my lap while I type this she just started pointing to my glasses saying "ga" which she has never done before.

I personally feel that you know your child best. Does your baby seem to follow what you're saying? Does he respond to his own name? Is he starting to maybe learn what his body parts are? At 11 months, we started saying "belly button" or "nose" and my baby would point to those things on her body. If he seems to be getting what's going on but not verbalizing yet, I really wouldn't be too worried.

That being said, my sister's son wasn't saying a single word by 2 1/2 so they did get early intervention for speech therapy & OT (occupational therapy) which helped a ton. By the way, this same kid taught himself to read at 4, plays the piano very well & is now in first grade doing accelerated classes in english & math. So, early babbling (or lack thereof) does not soley indicate how a child will develop later on.

Trust your own judgement but talk to your ped at your baby's next checkup! Good luck!

I would get his hearing tested and get him evaluated by early intervention. My 12 month old got evaluated last week. He says mama and dada, and does babble, but that's it. He tested at 8-10 months old and qualifies for speech therapy. The waiting list in my area is 3 months though.

Hi M.,

Your son could be normal, just a little slow, at speaking. However, it COULD BE a sign of a hearing difficulty. If he has not started making some effort to speak shortly, you may want to have his hearing checked. It could also be a symptom of autism, allergies, or other ability issues.

My third child was also very quiet. After two chatty kids, I just thought I was 'blessed' with a quiet one. At 18 months, he was speaking 'Mama do', and 'dink wa'. By almost three, it had not improved.

A friend adviced me to have him checked. Easter Seals may check him for free. Try this link for more information. You may want to call them.

http://chicago.easterseals.com

They checked my son and determined hearing problems which began years of ENT care and several years of special speech classes. If that turns out to be the issue and you are in the Elgin area, I highly recommend Dr. Nikhil Bhatt ###-###-####).

BTW, there is hope. Within a month of his first 'tube' surgery, my son could hear and speak fine. He grew-up to be an intelligent young man, who is now an engineer.

Our grandson has had a simlilar history, as his uncle, and is showing simlar improvements, two years later.

You may want to get the toxins from cleaning products and personal care items out of the house. Check out this information:
http://www.livetotalwellness.com/bevk

Click on the "Learn More" and I will be glad to help you with that.

Good luck and God Bless.

Based on what I have read, some kids just take thier time (very careful about choosing words) to talk (especially boys), but I would let the doctor know at his one year check up. What are his nonverbal skills like? How does he let you know what he needs or wants? My concern would be overall communication because if you lets you know in other ways he obvously comprehends and can respond back even if it is nonverbally.

I would have him evaluated by the state early intervention program. One of my girls did the exact same thing, and I knew from my other three that she should have been doing more than the high pitched vowel sounds she was doing. I had her evaluated at about a year and it turned out that she was 50% delayed in speech. She received speech therapy for about 2 yrs., fast forward 8 years and now we call her "speech therapy girl" - meaning we can't get her to stop talking! Trust your instincts and good luck.

I wouldn't worry too much yet but I would throw away the paci. Just like a child should be off the bottle by 1, he should be off the paci as well for lots of reasons including dental and speech related. Also, see if he is looking at your lips when you make sounds. Babies learn a lot by sort of lip reading. Also as some other mention, early intervention screening is free and can diagnose any issues early where intervention is most effective. There is no down side to being screened. good luck.

I would recommend getting rid of the pacifier first and see if that has any impact. It's kind of hard to talk or babble when you've always got something shoved in the mouth!

I know, breaking the pacifier habit can be difficult but at this age it should be really easy. We stopped day time use of the pacifier just before 12 months (he still got it for nap and bed time). He would sorta look around for it and we'd just say "Oh I don't know where it is!" and he accepted our little white lie :)

I agree on the paci - maybe just limit it during the day for now, and give it at nap(s) and bedtime. That might prompt more babbling from him. I disagree with worrying about him having some words down by age 1 - I think that's silly, given that every child develops at their own rate. I would keep reading to him, also just chat to him, explain what you're doing throughout the day, no matter how mundane it might seem to you. He is definitely absorbing your speech even if it doesn't seem like he is.

My son didn't have ANY words at age 1, only some babbling, and even with mama and dada we weren't sure it even meant me and my husband vs. just sounds. Now he's 2 and has a ridiculously huge vocabulary, uses pronouns correctly, etc. (yes I guess I'm bragging a bit :)

As far as I know what you want to watch for in terms of communication from him is that he is pointing to the things he wants/needs. If you always anticipate what he wants before he has to try and tell you, then you might need to test it out. Let him try to communicate to you what he wants before handing it to him. That's the best indicator (per my pediatrician) that he's on track developmentally with communication and that there is not a problem. My ped was not at all concerned with the lack of words at age 1 since he was trying other means to communicate with me (pointing).