Feeling a little worried about DS

Hi everyone!

Matty will be 9 months old this week and we took him for his check up on Friday.

He is crawling like crazy, pulling to standing and this morning cruised a few steps around the coffee table.

He giggles lots with daddy, LOVES peek a boo and loves to open doors, unlock things and explore everything. He understands "no" definitely- he cries when we say it!

BUT, he makes no consonant sounds (but makes a lot of vowel nosies) and doesn't wave or clap yet. The doctor said that if he still makes no consonant sounds by a year he wants him "evaluated".

I'm so worried- is my baby okay? Anyone else have this with their 9 month old.

Just to add- the one thing that makes me less worried is that DH and his brothers had speach problems as children- but they are all fine now!

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

I wouldnt worry. Each baby works at their own speed. He sounds like he is already doing EVERYTHING else he should be doing plus more.

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

My Matty was not really clapping or waving much at 9 months. Maybe he'd do it once in a blue moon. He started doing it more as he got closer to his first birthday. Once he turned 12 months he started doing it more.

As for the speech thing. I have the same concerns because at 14 1/2 months my son is not saying much. Nothing at all to be exact. Sometimes it sounds like he's saying something but who knows if it's just a sound that he's making and not really saying a word. I am going to see what the doctor says about having him evaluated however I think that having him evalauated after he turns 1 is too soon. I am going to wait until my son is 18 or 20 months and also going to see what his doctor says...

Message edited 8/27/2007 12:16:02 PM.

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

My Reese doesn't say any vowel sounds she does everything else and understands everything i say. She waves and runs but doesn't talk..just some sounds but not much..i had her evaluated but she didn't qualify for early intervention because she was average or above in all other areas. Also with talking they said they usually don't do anything until 2 years of age.They told me to call my ped and talk to him about other options my insurance company will cover..like a speech therapist. My Ped said Reese is still young so lets wait until October and see if she makes any changes. Oh Reese is 18 months old.

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

Every baby is different. Lily is a little older than Matty (she's 9 and half months) and does wave occasionally, claps, and does make some consonant sounds (I think?) But she just started crawling forwards this week (has been going backwards for awhile) and doesn't cruise standing like Matty does, and she just started pulling to standing. I really don't think you should worry.

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

At 9 months I wouldn't worry just yet. My DS was the same way. He made a lot of vowel sounds, but really no consonant sounds. At 9.5 months he finally started saying consonant sounds. Once he started babbling he just really took off. By 1 year he had a whole bunch of words and now at 17 months he has well over 100 words and is combining 2 words into phrases. He's a little chatter box! I would give it a little more time and if he's still not doing anything by 1 year I'd talk to your pediatrician again.

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

Steven is the same exact way! I was worried for a little bit, but I stopped worrying. I know that all babies go at their own pace. Steven's already walking, so I know he's developing OK.

I really think that all these books and doctors have you worry for nothing. This is JMO, of course, but if your baby isn't doing something by a certain time, they scare you half to death. My mom said something that really stuck with me, "when you guys were younger, we used to let babies do things on their own. If they weren't doing one thing, they were doing something else." And that has really helped me. Sometimes I think we push the babies too hard to do certain things by a certain time

Try not to worry until your doctor says there is something to worry about. A lot happens in 3 months!

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

What kind of speech problems did your DH have?

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

Thank you so much for the reassurance everyone! It helps so much to hear what other babies are doing.

To answer your question- DH and one brother had trouble with certain letters but the youngest brother was pretty unintelligible for a LONG time!

Re: Feeling a little worried about DS

Christopher still coos and makes no sounds like mam , baba, dada.
He will be 1 in a few weeks. He doesnt wave or clap hands like Matthew does. I had him evulated but NOT for speech yet. I was more concerned with other issues. If he does NOT say much later on I will have him re-evulated.
I wouldnt worry to much
I just know Christopher will be behind a little and will get there

Message edited 8/27/2007 1:38:01 PM.