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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DD is almost 16 months, and she still can't clearly pronounce a real word.  The only things she clearly says are Mama, Da, moo (for cow) and neigh (for horse).  At her 15 mo appointment, the pediatrician said that by that age, kids have an average of 3 real words but didn't seem concerned.  The pediatrician was extremely busy, though.

In the past week, DD has been attempting to say ball, bubbles, bye bye, bath, book, deer (we have them in our yard), and her nanny's name, but she can't pronounce the full words.  And she clearly said apple a couple times when she wanted me show her a favorite video involving them.  A friend suggested speech pathology or early intervention.  Should I schedule another appointment with the pediatrician, or just wait until the 18 month appointment?  DD was also a bit delayed in walking (13.5 months) but now walks constantly.

FWIW, DH, the nanny, and I read her lots of books and talk to DD quite a bit.  However, DD spends very little time with other people, especially now that it's gotten too cold for outdoor playdates.  She does not watch TV, which another friend says can help with speech.  Also, our nanny sometimes speaks in Spanish, her second language.  I can't imagine that has a significant impact, though, because it's mostly just a single word, e.g. identifying the food she's serving.  [/quote]

Mom of a 4 year old and 13 month old. I wouldn't be too concerned about speech, since it sounds like her receptive language is there (trying to show you an apple with a video... btw if she doesn't watch TV how does she have a favorite video?) and she is trying really hard with the expressive language. I would wait until 18 months and if you have concerns at that time, bring a list of concerns and try to get videos of anything that could be meaningful to show as kids rarely perform at the doctors.

My sense is that doctors can push things a bit, but it's because there are fairly large ranges for milestones. For instance, you said that your daughter walked "late" at 13.5 months but the range for walking is between 9-18 months. If you look at it this way, she is in the middle of the range. It's hard as a first time mom because you have goggle and maybe a SIL or MIL whose kids all did everything early, but I would not worry. [/quote]

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