When do you start worrying about their speech?

Trust me I am already worried, but I mean when do you really start to think EI? Maybe I am getting overly excited, but help me out here...

my dd's are 12 months old.

Baby I was the first to say a word, "dogguh". at 7 months. She always called the dog that, and soon just shortened it to "guh". We all thought it was hysterical and taught her how to say "Quiet dog", which she repeated "Kiet Guh". She showed understanding by shaking her finger at him and yelling. We showed the Dr. at ten months and he was wowed, impressed, whatever. Baby J always said "mama" since 7 months, but finally understood what it meant at 10 months. It all took off from there. Baby J now can say mama, dada, dawg, uh-oh, cup, bubble, light and sock. Her vocab grows every day, and she babbles to herself in the crib. She imitates things very well, but most of them are a one-shot deal.

Baby I can only say "mama" and "guh". She calls everything "guh", and it's starting to worry me. She can imitate the word "cat" when prompted, but if I point to a picture of a cat, she calls it "guh". Same with a pic of me or DH. It's almost like she's the hare, asleep during the race. When she babbles, all she says is mama and guh and imitates her animal noises for a tiger, dog, lion and monkey. She shows understanding, but is behind her sister in vocalizing. She points and "grunts" a lot, which I try to ignore.

We can't help to compare our babies because we have a mini control-group going here. I am just wondering when it's time to get a professional involved.

TIA for your advice

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

It is always tough to not compare with twins, but I think the limited speech is not an issue at 12 months old. If you want to check, you can always ask your pediatrician about early intervention for speech, but I don't think they will really consider anything until 18 months, especially since she is babbling and pointing and grunting and whatnots. Good luck!

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

I just had my twins evulated on the 2nd bday. That is when EI stops adjusting their age. They are already in the system for PT.

Baby A, at the time had a limited vocabulary. Baby B, never stopped talking. Neither were using their words, just identifying. Baby A was 2% away from qualifying.

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

One of my triplets is in the EI system...it would be close to impossible to qualify for speech now if there are no other issues. One of my other trips with no other issues is a little delayed with expressive language and they told me wait till he is 2 - supposedly it's very hard to qualify before then. Plus your kids do not sound delayed at all. Don't let the bragging FB/playground moms rattle you :)

When do you start worrying about their speech?

Thank you guys for responding. I feel better now. There is true understanding going on, and she proves it over and over. She's so bright, I just worried that she isn't up to where her sister is.

When and why do I need to start worrying? What are the signs?

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

My doctor always told me that at that age understanding what you are saying is most important. You will see their vocab improve drastically over the next year.

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

my twins are no where near vocally and i am not worried

you will see the word explosion soon

and remember babbling is talking,we just don't understand

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

Posted by gina409

my twins are no where near vocally and i am not worried

you will see the word explosion soon

and remember babbling is talking,we just don't understand

When do you start worrying about their speech?

Thank you so much, everyone. I am definitely more relaxed!

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

My twins were evaluated at 18 months after being suggested by their ped. They only had a few words each and although I wasnt concerned I got it done because I figured it couldnt hurt. Based on their scoring neither one qualified. The only reason we still got services was because of my DD low birth weight it was an automatic qualification no matter how she scored. Again I took the services because I knew it couldnt hurt. Basically at their age as long as they were understanding pretty much everything then they were ok.

When do you start worrying about their speech?

DS didn't have much more than that around a year adjusted...
Maybe 4 words or so. Now, at 20 months (17 adjusted), he never stops talking!!!!! 12 months is early to stress. I had him evaluated in June, when he was a year adjusted and they told me he was fine.

Have DC evaluated if it will give you a piece of mind. You can just call up.

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

my girls are 18 mths old and really don't say anything beyond babbling, mama and dada. They grunt and point when they want something.

Our ped suggested an audiologist, and we have appts in the next 2 weeks. I also have a call in o EI, so I'm just waiting for the county to call.

Their comprehension is amazing though!

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

I know its hard not to compare twins but I think its way too early to worry. But, I am a hypocrite for saying that. My DS didnt have any words at 12 mo, maybe mama dada if anything. I was worried because I had friends whose kids said a handful of words by that point. But, by 14-15 months he had a crazy word explosion and was talking in sentences by 18 mo and is now probably considered advanced for speech. Its very early, try not to worry too much. They both seem more advanced than my DS was at 12mo!

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

I am a little less worried, thinking she will definitely have a language explosion. she's still wayyy behind her sister, who now says her name when she looks in the mirror at herself. Sister also says,"Hi dog"

She now says "mama", "dada", "cup", "cookie" and repeats after me if I say "baba, "gaga", "nanana", "mwah", blowing a kiss. She can also say "patata", which means potato in Italian!

I am taking her to the audiologist just in case, Dec. 19

When do you start worrying about their speech?

Our twins are 16 months old and do not qualify. The grunt, point to many things, and everything is "da". Our daughter knows her name and responds to it. However, our son does not respond to his name and we are scared he doesn't know it. Should we be worried?

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

I don't have multiples, but my first was an early talker and had a TON of words by 11 months. My last, not so much. The last, I was worried about, had barely any words, other than mama, dada, and sit at around 18 months. Ped said not to worry just yet, as did my friend who is a speech therapist. So, I tried not to worry. No new words between then and 21 months. I was about to call EI and then all of the sudden at almost two, DC exploded! And not just words, but literally started speaking in sentences all of the sudden.

No words to sentences, just like that.

At 12mos, I wouldn't worry about it, honestly.

When do you start worrying about their speech?

Hearing came back fine. The audiologist said I'm too worried and that she is just fine. Whew.

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

glad to see her hearing came back ok!

Re: When do you start worrying about their speech?

We will always drive ourselves nuts comparing twins. One of mine understands a lot, TOO MUCH and is already outsmarting us. She says baba, tree, drink, diaper (drink and diaper are both "deee"). She says mama, dada but I think she only recognizes DH as dada. No mama for me. The other says mama and sometimes directly at me. She can say a lot of sounds and babbles ALL the time, says tree and Bri Bri. She gets EI (I called at 11 mo b/c I thought she ate weirdly and had motor issues). She has no motor issue, but doesn't always understand when I want her to come to me and doesn't look when I call her name a lot of times. Her sister looks and continues being defiant lol.

I heard that there is usually a word explosion at 15-18 mo so I'm giving it a few more mo for DD2. I'll ask the EI teacher about how many words they should have. I'm not as worried about DD2 b/c I see she understands things and is taking it all in so language might be later. See, we always compare! lol


If you are concerned it doesn't hurt to call and have her evaluated. They tried steering me away b/c DD was only 11/12 mo but we pushed and got her services.