My 17 month old still isn't talking...

• 09-21-2009 9:46 AM

  CrissiLovesDylan Joined on 08-24-2007 Washington Posts 52

  My 17 month old still isn't talking... Reply Contact I know this is the baby board, but nobody ever responds in the parenting board, I like this one better. Anyway, DS will be 17 months old on September 30th, and he has yet to say any real words. He has a handfull of nonsense words he uses regularly, for example: Our cat's name is KitKt and he is able to call her DitDit, which is adoreable, and he uses a made up word for food or being hungry and its ABBUMM, which is also pretty cute. Uh-oh is pretty regular, if he's dropped or thrown something. He tries for doggy, but it's always dada, and he doesn't refer to me or DH by mama or dada. So pretty much, no actual words at this point. I wasn't concerned up until recently. My sister's daughter was speaking in 2 or 3 word sentences by the time she was his age, and I know girls are sometimes a little bit ahead of boys, but still expected he'd be saying at least one real word by now. He seems to understand fairly well. He can retrieve objects like shoes or diapers on request, and he knows what no or put it down, means, but no responses as of yet. I guess my biggest fear is autism, which I've read a lack of speech can indicate. I know it's still early, but should I be worried?

• 09-21-2009 11:48 AM

  In reply to

  Keeger Joined on 05-06-2008 BC Canada Posts 1,016

  Re: My 17 month old still isn't talking... Reply Contact First off, if your baby is interacting with you and responds to verbal request and will say the cat's name, do not worry about Autism. He would not be doing things like that.  As for the cat's name, the "k" sound is a harder sound to make and often misprounced as a "d" or "t". This is not a problem untill after about age 3. Here's some things (speech and laungue wise) your ds should be doing by the end of 17 months: be able to pay attention to a book or toy for about 2 minutes Follow simple directions accopmanied by gestures Answer simple questions nonverbally Points to objects, pictures and family members Says two to three words to label a person or object (pronunciation may mot be clear) Tries to imitate simple words Here's a link to some good info you may want to look through: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/speechandlanguage.asp#mychild

• 09-22-2009 5:56 AM

  In reply to

  Musical Christy Joined on 03-20-2008 S11-18-97/S01-13-99 A4-04 D11-18-08 EDD 12-24-09 Posts 560

  Re: My 17 month old still isn't talking... Reply Contact Hi... I wanted to say I agree with previous poster... and also that I my DS1, who is now 11 almost 12, was not really talking much by that age either... his doc said he was language confused ( we spoke both spanish and english to him)... he had words for things that didn't make sense to me... like his brothers name was christian and he called him onion and his cousin named courtney was corcob!! BUT by the time he was 4 he was reading, tying his shoes, and was really on his way to being gifted. He could spell  big words like construction and pharmacy... he is now in 6th grade and doing all 8th and 9th grade work in school. So I wouldn't worry until he gets a little older.  good luck