21 month old not saying proper words yet

[Anonymous]

My 21 month old DS doesn’t say proper words yet. Not even ‘mama’ or ‘dada’. He does say ‘Hi’ when he sees himself in the camera/mirror and waves to himself. But mostly just baby mumbling and not proper and full words.

He used to say mama but stopped a few months ago. He is very responsive though and plays with us as well as with his toys. But I notice other babies similar to DS’ age and they say more and clearer words.

Should I be worried about this?

[Anonymous]

You should defintiely get him assessed. Assessment and early internveiton is great for child development, even if the issue ends up being minor.

By 18 months - the developmental norm is 20-50 words and by 24 months the developmental norm is 50-250 words and 2 word combos - milk please etc.

Some kids are just slower in their development - it doesn't mean something is wrong but he is behind the developmental curve and it is worth an assessment. He will soon get to an age where a lack of verbal communication skills will start to cause frustration. Then you have more behavioural and emotional issues as that is how he can communicate. Early intervention can be great both for monitoring and supporting kids as they catch up to the curve as well as providing more intensive supports and recommendations if there is a developmental issue.

[Anonymous]

Agree with above. Also try teaching sign language - first for basic words eg milk more mom dad etc. this will help him obv but also good to understand if conceptually he gets the idea of naming things.

[Anonymous]

Please get an assessment with early intervention asap. Can’t hurt! Likely needs some speech therapy.
Btdt with one of mine at 20 months, she started speaking within weeks and was much happier!

[Anonymous]

Speech therapy immediately.

[Anonymous]

My sons were slower to speak as well, but I had the training to teach them baby signing and they had a signing vocab of about 100 words by the time they were two and that kept all of us sane because there was very little frustration.
You've gotten some great advice already, so yes, get the support you need to help your little one communicate more. In Virginia, the early intervention folks review the case with you and the case manager in person after 6 months, and if you ever feel like the goals have been sufficiently met before then you can cancel services early.

[Anonymous]

Yes you should.

[Anonymous]

Time for early intervention.

[Anonymous]

Speech eval but also a hearing test! One of my speech delayed toddlers simply couldn't hear and once he got ear tubes he went from having a handful of single words to 3 and 4 word combinations in 6 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Call Child Find ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course.

Also, find a new pediatrician because this should have been on their radar.

[Anonymous]

Many kids are late talkers and will catch up on their own. But you don't know if your kid is one that will catch up or one that needs supports. This is why early intervention is subsidized. You can reach out yourself, you don't need your pediatrician to refer. They will assess for free and will offer services. You don't have to use the services if you don't want to.

[Anonymous]

I freaked out when my 2 year old was like this and my (much older) pediatrician wasn’t bothered at all. He obliged me in sending a rec for speech evaluation services and my kid qualified because all 2 year olds who aren’t saying words qualify. In the end, it was a waste of time and my pediatrician was right - my kid started speaking in complete full sentences between 2 1/2 and 3 despite not saying a word before; therapy didn’t seem to help speed that up much at all. They were just on their own time.

I think speech therapy can be valuable in some cases but if no one is worried about autism or any other developmental markers it’s not something I’d necessarily do again. If it’s free it can’t hurt but know that (depending on your county) it can take a LONG time for the early childhood intervention process to work, qualify, and get on the schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 21 month old DS doesn’t say proper words yet. Not even ‘mama’ or ‘dada’. He does say ‘Hi’ when he sees himself in the camera/mirror and waves to himself. But mostly just baby mumbling and not proper and full words.

He used to say mama but stopped a few months ago. He is very responsive though and plays with us as well as with his toys. But I notice other babies similar to DS’ age and they say more and clearer words.

Should I be worried about this?

I think more than the language issue is the regression. I would definitely get him checked out.

[Anonymous]

How is his understanding? Can he understand when you say thing things like "get me the book/bowl/blanket?" or do you want the apple vs. orange?