18 month old late bi-lingual talker

[jiskafo]

My DS just had his 18 month check up and does not have the average vocabulary of his peers. Doctor does not seem to be to concerned, but did make a note in his chart. I am Dutch and we are trying to raise him bi-lingual. Should I hold of on speaking Dutch with him until he catches up? What are some ways we can help him expand his vocabulary. His listeing skills are great and he has no social problems. He loves to be read to but does not seem to be interested in the body part game.

[aliceinwonderland]

I don't know...I am in the same boat (except different language and my son is 16 months)...the only word he says *consistently* is daddy. He can repeat words (has said doggy, banana, etc before), but only when he feels like it. I am so worried I can't stop thinking about this. At his 15 month apt., the doctor said it was not time for Early Intervention yet...I beg to differ, and am calling this week to set something up. He babbles non stop and "talks" in his own language...i mean the boy wakes up "talking" each morning.

I do not think he has a hearing problem, as he *loves* music, every morning he goes around the house turning each radio on and bouncing and dancing to the tune. Hip Hop was the music of choice this morning.

Anyway, I am kind of depressed about his talking, as I started talking at 9 months and never ever stopped, LOL. The odd thing is we are *surrounded* by other boys who are late talkers--my SIL's son who's 18 months, my friend's son who is 19 months (but he is also bilingual).

EDITED to ADD that I am not stopping speaking to him in the other language till he talks more, though I did consider it...

[californiagirl]

Bilingual children are, on average, later to speak. So are boys. This is not a problem, it doesn't represent a delay that needs to be fixed, and being bilingual will be an advantage in the long run. You don't need to do anything about it, and it would be sad to give up the long-term advantage of being bilingual for a few more words right now (plus, I don't think it would work anyway).

[miki]

I would not stop speaking to him in Dutch. I personally don't think that being taught 2 languages delays talking. My DD is almost 2 and she has been very verbal in both our languages and also ASL since well before she was 18 months old. Having more than one language in the home certainly did not cause a delay in her. Your DS will talk when he is ready to talk and he will AMAZE you.

[buttergirl12]

DS is exposed to 2 languages and he is a late talker. He was never really into naming and showing body parts either.
I still worry about it a little bit but things are getting better. At 15 month we didn't have any words. At 18 month he had 2 or 3. Our pedi wasn't worried about it as long as he could understand us and follow direction which he did. DS will be 23 month in 10 days and now has more words than I can count (under 100 but I just can't remember them all). He understands English and knows a few German words. Last week I was worried that he doesn't really use his words for communicating but a couple of days ago he started asking for his car instead of just pointing. He made so much progress in just a matter of weeks. I'm trying to go by my instincts and not comparing to other kids his age. DS seems very smart and I know his hearing is good.
I'm not sure if I have any advice on how to expand your sons vocabulary. My DS only seems to learn words for things he is really interested in. His first word was car. He still doesn't call me mommy. I think he sees no need to call me since I'm always there when he needs me. When someone else asks him where his mommy is he will run to me and point at me.
If you want your DS to learn Dutch don't stop speaking it. And if you do get him evaluated take everything the doctor says with a grain of salt if he/she doesn't have any experience with bilingualism.

Manja
WAHM to Joshua 10/2003

http://lilypie.com/baby2/031011/0/5/3/-5/.png[/img] (http://lilypie.com)

18 month checkup - 32lbs - 36in

[R2sweetboys]

I don't think you should stop talking to him in Dutch at this point. It's a great gift you are giving him by teaching him two languages. I think that's fantastic. It's early to worry much about exactly how many words he's saying. As you said, his listening skills are great so just keep on talking to him as you would another adult(not baby-talk). You'll likely be surprised when he starts talking more at how much he has learned.

Eri, I also think it's early to worry a lot about Erik's speech. I know it's easy for me to say but I hate to see you depressed over this. He's still very young and,just because some other kids you know are saying more, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Erik. I've been surprised to hear of other parents on the boards starting early intervention programs so young. I know it's hard to sit back and wait. You could easily see a huge change in the next few months as this is a time/age where they seem to turn into sponges.


My ped.(who is God to me!! :P no,really,he's very well educated and homeschools 5 kids!) was fairly laid back about counting #s of words and the such. What was most important to him was that they were hearing O.K. and socializing appropriately. Both of my boys have always been pretty good in the language skills area but my nephew was not. He said very little until btw. 2 1/2 and 3 and then he spoke in paragraphs! He's perfectly fine today with no intervention. I, personally, would wait a little longer to start early intervention. I know it probably wouldn't hurt, but it doesn't seem necessary just yet. Obviously JMHO and you definitely should do what makes you feel most comfortable.
~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[spunkybaby]

DD is exposed to three languages--English, Chinese, and Taiwanese--and is also a late talker. She has more words now, but our pediatrian has never been worried at our check-ups. Our ped says that bilingual (and in our case, trilingual) babies speak later (and have fewer words at the beginning) but end up speaking more.

HTH

Not-so-new mom to a spunky baby
March 2004

[Momof3Labs]

What do you consider the "average vocabulary of his peers"? At 18m, DS was at the bottom end of "average" but he has caught up and then some, believe me!

I wouldn't change a thing, personally. It's just too soon to worry since all the other pieces (listening, etc.) are falling into place.

[schums]

DS was a bit of a late talker. He had his own language that he used all the time (along with a few real words) and was perfectly happy. He actually had a structure to his language -- questions, mini sentences, pauses for answers, etc. He understood us with no problems, but just didn't feel like using our language, I think. Between 18 and 20 months, his language skills went through the roof -- now he's WAY ahead of the game in terms of language use. My ped was totally not worried at all, so I tried to relax and let DS develop the way his body was going to. That said, if the situation hadn't changed by the time he was between 21 and 24 months, I would have looked into EI.

And I have heard that bi-lingual kids can be late talkers too. A friend of my mom's has a tri-lingugal DD who was a late talker, and now they can't get her to stop!!

HTH,
Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[brittone2]

I'm not knowledgable on the specifics, but as you know, it can be quite common for language to be a bit delayed in bilingual children.

I will say that when I was on eval teams and a child qualified for services (meaning at least a 25% delay), I commonly heard the speech therapists recommend choosing one language. I have no idea at what point that is the recommendation though, kwim? If you are willing to wait it out, I'm sure he'll be just fine. If you are concerned, you might want to think about one lanugage. I'm not sure what I'd do in that case, personally. I just know I've heard the speech therapists I worked with generally recommend using only one language IF the child had delays.

[boys2enough]

Hi, I have done some research on this topic. It is perfectly normal for kids exposed to multiple langauegs to start speaking later. Once they do start speaking though, they will be bi-lingual. Please be patient and continue to speak Dutch with your DS. The earlier you start the exposure the better, in fact. They will be able to process the information so don't worry about it. Kids in European countries grow up speaking 4 to 5 languages with no problem at all. (Sorry i am at work so i am trying to type very fast...)

I also read about "One parent, one langauge" method. For example, you will only be speaking Dutch to DS while DH will only speak English. You have to insist esp. when they become older and are in school. Some kids will come home and refuse to answer you if you are not speaking English to them. (Probably why bi-lingual education at home tends to work great if there are grandparents that do not speak English: forcing the kids to speak the non-English language...)

I gave up when DS 1 was three becasue he came home and announced that he did not want me to speak Chinese to him. I am also pretty isolated in the sense that I don't have any Chinese-speaking friends/family around so I just got lazy and gave up on the fight. Now I totally regret it. Both my kids know no Chinese and cannot communicate with my parents at all. It is really sad and I feel guilty every day.

I know I may sound hypocrical to ask you to be patient and persistent when I gave up so easily. But I do believe that you and your kid(s) will be grateful in the future that you make sure that they learn more than English since childhood. Just my $0.02


Cheers, Lin
Mom to 2 wild boys
D 3/98
G 11/02

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pnoodles.gif

[californiagirl]

Try and think of it like a growth curve. Bilingual children are on a different shape of curve than monolingual children. That curve starts slower but ends up higher. A bilingual child who doesn't have the average vocabulary of his monolingual peers may still not be delayed; it's not until the child is falling off the bilingual curve that you need to worry. And, like a growth curve, the child has a natural place on the curve, and unless there's something interfering with that natural place, there's not much you can or should do about it.

I know I fretted about DD's language, even though I knew better. In 2 weeks she went from about 5 months behind to on target, and in 2 more she went to way ahead. We did precisely nothing to cause this to happen -- it just did.