Getting My Son to Talk! Need advice... (ideas, parents, wife)

[leavingcali]

My best friend's son also didn't use many words. Turns out he has a speech delay and goes to see a speech therapist. However, my friend discovered that he started talking a lot more once he was in preschool--social enviornments like that can be a big help. So, maybe consider putting him in daycare 1 day a week where he will be socialized with other children his age and older. Or, maybe join a mommy group for the same reason.

[5kingsinvegas]

Be careful what you wish for Once they start talking you can't get them to shut up

My 4th daughter was a late talker, turns out she had some hearing loss from ear infections. We went to an ENT and he put tubes in and within a month she was talking up a blue streak. Hasn't quit yet and she turns 5 in July.

As long as you know he can hear I would just enjoy the peace and quiet for now

After 4 kids you realize each one is different.... I always tell people who stress about potty training and "binkies"....how many kids do you see going to kindergarten with their binkie and wearing a diaper???

[ADVentive]

My daughter is 12 months and does not have any words yet. She does do several signs though, which just started going really well the last few weeks, so I know that she is just starting to understand that she can communicate with us.

I get her to do signs when she is eating. I give her a little food, and then I ask her if she wants "more" to "eat" (signing those words while saying them). She then has to sign back and then I give her some more food. She now understands this to the point that she will sometimes do the sign before I ask for it. This is how I try to encourage her to do the signs. If she doesn't do it on her own, then I take her hands in mine and help her do it. We are now also working on doing "more" and "finished" for things other than food so that she won't think that they only apply to food. If we are reading a book, when I get to the end I say/sign "finished". If she wants another book, she signs "more". Stuff like that. She can do "eat", "more", "finished", "milk", and waving "bye-bye" pretty reliably now. But she says no words. Though we think she might be trying to say "uh-oh", but we don't know if it really counts as a word. Having some way to communicate with you, by signing or talking, is supposed to really help alleviate the frustration of toddlerhood.

[jkmewright]

As long as your toddler is comprehending what you say and you know that he has no hearing or other problems do not worry. I went through the same thing w/my lil guy. We did the whole sign language thing as well. And as others stated, wait til he does.... he is saving up I promise. Once he gets started, he won't stop lol

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by MsB23

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. He gets a lot of ear infections (he gets a little congested, then gets an ear infection which makes the congestion worse...insert vicious cycle here...) but I don't think he has any hearing damage. he seems to hear & comprehend well, altho he does ignore me sometimes... I suppose I should get used to that, tho!

..

Have his hearing checked. Hard to check vision as well at this age, but DEFINITELY have his hearing checked. He should be due for a well check, yes....... He'll start ignoring you at about 11 or 12 (no, that's girls...).....

[stellar9]

Each kid is different and it is hard not to compare when you see other children your child's age doing more of something than yours is. Your 16month old sounds perfectly normal. And the normal spectrum is quite large. My current 16month old says more understandable words now than his 2.5yo sister did at the same age, but they are both very normal.

And if reading books about developmental milestones is stressing you out, GET RID OF THE BOOKS! Only a few children have read them and follow them.

[MsB23]

Thanks guys! I'm feeling a lot better about this after reading your replies.

He has had a fair number of ear infections, so I do think that I will have his hearing tested the next time I take him to the Dr. Whether or not that's sooner than his next well-baby check, I dunno...I try to remind myself that daycare is making his immune system strong & robust so he won't be so sick later in life...but the pediatrician is expensive...

I'm still going to keep a close eye on him, but I do think that my boy is one of those that didn't read the same baby development books I did... hehe Imagine that, a male that didn't read the directions...hmmm...who'd a thunk it...

[BrianH]

18 months is still very young. My son dosent say much either, but he follows commands. We had the same problem with my eldest son, i think we figured out that it was he never had to speak to get anything he wanted. He pointed, we got, simple as. We got in a speech therapist (NM State provides this) who is real good a getting words out of children, but also helping parents get words out of them too.

[irishmom]

Originally Posted by BrianH

My son dosent say much either, but he follows commands.

How do you get them to do this? Hmmmm, quietly following parental commands...It's a parent's dream come true!...LOL

[Vesper]

I agree with Mary, please have your child's hearing checked just to be sure.

When my daughter was very small she also had frequent ear infections and sinus trouble would develop soon after.... I took her to the same pediatrician for 2 years and he never said a word about her slow speech patterns - 10 words at 3 yrs old. Yes, she was my first and I was clueless as to a "normal" range of development.

I ended up taking her to a specialist for a non-related infection at 3 yrs and was asked how many words was she putting into sentences, etc. I was floored at sentences! The specialist immediately made an appointment with an audiologist who said my daughter had over 50% hearing loss from the frequent ear infections. He said with very small children sometimes the sinus' pathways do not drain properly and it causes infection and hearing loss. As soon as we got the frequent infections cleared ( drainage tubes in her ears ) and did a little speech therepy to make up for what she had been missing, our daughter was as loquacious as a parent could desire.