My daughter is 16 months old and she hasn't said her first word yet.. Just like other mums I have subscribe and member of famous baby and pregnancy websites like Bounty,Emma's diary. As a result I do receive automatically monthly email about child's development and stage of growth. Last month when I received email it says my baby should be saying at least 10 words.. I got panic my daughter hasn't start saying a word yet. So I decided to look for help. I discussed with my children center and health visitors they assured me that there is nothing to be worry about most of the children start talking after 18 months even some children direct start using small sentences. I even checked online for professional opinions. Here are some useful information I would like to share with all readers.Communication and language:
Communication and language has three stages, Listening, Understanding and Speaking. As long as your child respond to your voice and understand simple instructions like come, sit down, pick your toy etc then it means their is no fear of child's hearing and understanding now when it comes to speaking then up to 2 years old you can try but if the child reach to 2 years old you will need definitely help from professionals. Here in England health visitors are the right people to discuss. So do not keep your fear to yourself discuss with them over the phone or by visiting them. And please do not assume and lay back as well its always best to keep up your knowledge and confusions with professionals.Who is a “Late Talker”?
A “Late Talker” is a toddler (between 18-30 months) who has good understanding of language, typically developing play skills, motor skills, thinking skills, and social skills, but has a limited spoken vocabulary for his or her age. The difficulty late talking children have is specifically with spoken or expressive language. This group of children can be very puzzling because they have all of the building blocks for spoken language, yet they don’t talk or talk very little.Researchers have yet to agree upon an explanation for this specific delay. They have determined, though, that Late Talkers are more likely to have a family history of early language delay, to be male, and to have been born at less than 85% of their optimal birth weight or at less than 37 weeks gestation [1]. It has also been determined that approximately 13% of two year olds are late talkers.
Reference:
How to tell if your child is late talker
Encourage your child to talk:
It is important that as a parent or carer we should encourage our child to talk. Sometimes when we are too busy in oird aily routine we unknowingly missed out ont he focus on our little one who needs our attention. So if your child is reaching 18 months and not talking you have to make some efforts.
- Talk to them and focus on words, for example when is dinner time ask your toddler lets come have "dinner" repeat word dinner two three time while making their plate you will see your child will watch you carefully they might or might not try to copy you but for them watching you and listening is very important.
- Read them books. Even showing them pictures is a good idea. One word focus is important like you read them a story focus on pictures and point them "star" "moon" they will point at them and look at you. Make it routine once or twice a day.They will start showing you interest and will start babbling when you point at the pictures.
- Pay attention to them when they say something or make any sound pay attention praise them and show them you are listening.
- "Repeat back what you hear your toddler trying to say to you, even if she doesn't say it clearly. Expand on what she says. So if your toddler says "nana" when she wants a banana, you could say "Yes, here's a banana."
Don't worry too much about how your toddler pronounces her words. It's more important that she feels that what she says adds to the conversation or that what she is trying to express has been understood. "
(babycentre)
Warning Signs of a Possible Problem
If you're concerned about your child's speech and language development, there are some things to watch for. An infant who isn't responding to sound or who isn't vocalizing is of particular concern.
Between 12 and 24 months, reasons for concern include a child who:
- isn't using gestures, such as pointing or waving bye-bye, by 12 months
- prefers gestures over vocalizations to communicate at 18 months
- has trouble imitating sounds by 18 months
- has difficulty understanding simple verbal requests
- can only imitate speech or actions and doesn't produce words or phrases spontaneously
- says only certain sounds or words repeatedly and can't use oral language to communicate more than his or her immediate needs
- can't follow simple directions
- has an unusual tone of voice (such as raspy or nasal sounding)
- is more difficult to understand than expected for his or her age. Parents and regular caregivers should understand about half of a child's speech at 2 years and about three quarters at 3 years. By 4 years old, a child should be mostly understood, even by people who don't know the child.
