4 Month Old Not Cooing Much

J B - Want to progress a child’s 'sounds' or verbal communication??
Sing - YEP sing - the "ABC's", Old McD, Bingo, YOU name it - SING it. <At late nights our favorite was ‘counting’ using a little sing-song and now she is SO good at math> From the time your feet hit the floor in the am - and even during the night time feeding. My youngest, <of 6 children> is now 5. At one year she was using full and proper sentences and words my teenagers hadn't even heard of.....my ped’s office asked ME what I was doing……..and I laughed, “JUST SINGING”.

<Quick story> At 18 I was a nanny for a family with one little boy; lasted just over 6 months and I had to take a different job <for insurance reasons>. Three weeks after I left the mother called me in TEARS I could barely understand what she was saying and I thought something TERIBLE must have happened to the baby. NO, come to find out, he stopped. Stopped cooing, singing, talking everything; I explained to the mother that the new nanny had to be a ‘singer’ – don’t have to be good, just sing. They found another girl that liked to sing, and he was back to his ‘noise’ within the month!!

Best of Luck.

If I could just put a word of advice out to you. Don't worry about the little things. Did you meet another 4 month old who was cooing a lot and that is why you were concerned about yours not? Every baby is different and will develop at a different pace. Some are faster than others. My oldest daughter who is now 3 years old didn't start cooing a lot until about 6 months. She barely said anything now that I remember. She is now one of the smartest 3 year olds I've ever met. She talks like she is 3 going on 6. She speaks really clear as well. I also have a 4 month old right and she really doesn't coo that much either. The only time she does is when she needs one of us to pick her up or she is tired. She rarely does it when she is just sitting there enjoying her surroundings.
So please don't worry yourself about the little things. Just focus on your kids and try not to compare him/her to other kids. You will find that will save you a lot of stress and anxiety. You'll know when it's a "big" problem that needs to be addressed.
Good luck!

I believe all babies are definitely different. I had three at the same time and all three were different when it came to their first sounds and when they hit their milestones. It's hard not to compare siblings because your first born is probably your benchmark. If you don't have it already, get yourself the "What to Expect the First Year" book. It really helped me through concerns I had with my trio.

My daughter rarely cooed at all. She is 4 1/2 now and doesn't stop talking.

Now with my son, he is "talking" away at only 2 months. I almost think it's weird that he IS talking so much!

I would ask your pediatrician at her next visit--if they think it is okay and she seems to be engaging with you, then she is probably fine.

JB,

My current 5 1/2 month old is a chatter box and has been since I can remember. He doesn't stop "ma, ma, ma" "ba, ba, ba". Our older son wasn't that way at all. He wasn't quiet, but compared to his little brother he didn't "talk" much at all. And, he's 2 1/2 now and a talks all the time. So, I wouldn't worry. At 4 months, she's probably thinking about rolling over more than talking or something. There's so much for them to learn, it all happens at different times.

JB, Are you still out there? what happened with everything? im a speech pathologist(recent grad) and am definitely anxious about the lack of cooing in my 3.5 month od; tell me some good news...do you have a chatty 3 year old now?