15 month old has only 3 words (including Woof) -- just back from pedi -- help

[hillview]

Hi all,
DS is 15 months old and has a full time Spanish speaking nanny. Right now he says woof (when he sees a dog and at other times too but pretty causal when he sees a dog), dada (often when he sees DH but often when he does not), NaNaNa for no when he doesn't want to get in his car seat, stroller or eat something (pretty direct). He doesn't say any spanish words but does seem to follow directions in Spanish (not so much with English). DH and I do not speak Spanish. We love our nanny. The pedi said that if by 18 months DS doesn't have 4-6 real words that he would get EI involved. What can we do to help DS? Doc only suggested that when DS points to an object not to give it to him and wait til he names it or at least try to get him to name it 6-7 times. What else should we do? Any help? Thanks for reading this far!
/hillary

[clc053103]

I just had DS's 15 month appt last week- our ped said he is not concerned until a child does not speak 1 word by age 2. My DS doesn't routinely speak more than 4 words or so (and like your DS, Mama isn't one of them! Only when he is desperate for help!), he often says a word and then doesn't use it again for weeks or more- the ped and also books I've read say that is entirely normal.

As for your nanny giving commands in Spanish- can she use basic commands in English to help reinforce? That would be my only idea.

I really think your DS will be just fine and speaking a slew of words by 18 months!!!

[mamato1]

My son did not have many words, if any, at your DS's age. He did not really start blossoming language wise until 2 years of age. Now his vocabulary is huge, people's jaws drop when I tell them he is only 2 1/2. So I think your ped gave good advice, but I would not be too worried if I were you.

Chris

Mama to Brendan, aka Boomer, my little peanut who is allergic to peanuts! 01/16/04


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[newmomto3kids]

Gracie didn't have any words at 15 months and now talks a lot at 2. I think that just talking to them helps them learn to talk. Some kids start really early, but I think your DS sounds about normal for the little ones I know.
Good luck!

[JBaxter]

I was just asking Nathan's speech therapist the same question for a friend of mine. ( He is in EI) She said that before 2 it is really hard to evaluate a speech delay before 2yrs old. She does do therapy on younger children but it has been in conjunction with global delays. I raised Nathan's delay at 18 months and my ped said to wait and reeval at 2yrs.
I would have your care giver try to use more english if possible. My nephew was a little delayed but he was bi lingual ( Japanese/English) He is almost 3 and now switches back and forth during his conversations.

[mariza]

Grace is 21 months and only has about 15 words, but we are teaching her Polish and English. She uses words in both languages appropriately, but doesn't put 2 words together yet. Her pedi said it's normal for biligual babies to start talking later but they catch up. Right now they are "sorting" the words in their heads. My Mom said I didn;t talk at all until I was 2 and then started right into full sentences.
My pedi said not to worry, but if I wanted to get EI involved she would get us set up. I'm going to wait till her 2nd B-day in January and take it from there.
I think your pedi is right to follow your DC's progress, but to withhold things DC points to for 6-7 attempts to name sounds like a recipe for a temper tantrum to me. I think it's awesome your DC is being exposed to another language so early and would not discourage it. Trust your Mommy instincts, I'm sure it will turn out ok!
Good Luck :)

Mariza
Mommy to my "Thing 1" DD 1/05
and "Thing 2" DS 9/06

[gordo]

My DD is 16 months and only has a handful of words. At her 15 month appt she had 1 consistent word and mama and dada which she used all the time, not just to name us. However, I do teach sign language to DD hand she has upwards of 25 signs and her comprehension seems to be amazing. My ped wasn't too concerned b/c of her understanding of sign language and because of her great comprehension. She said we would re-evaluate at her 18 month apptl My ped recommended I continue teaching sign since it is really helping her communicate. I was worried that she wasn't speaking since she could communicate without it, but I was told that sign language really can help and enhance speech. Maybe you can try teaching sign?

[brittone2]

Not a speech therapist, but I don't think that's all that delayed and I doubt your son would qualify for services right now even if he was evaluated, but obviously no way to say for sure without seeing him.

How is his receptive language (what he understands)? I'd play a lot with that...ask him to point to different items in your house, etc. and see how he does with that.

I'd probably request the nanny use certain English words with him for basic things (eat, drink, more, all done) that are more common. YOu might consider signing as well (using the sign in conjunction w/ the word) as that can help solidify the pathways for language. Sometimes they can't get the word out yet verbally, but they can sign it, and that shows that they are making the right connections. There are free resources on the web for signing. YOu could start with just 3-4 signs, and use those as much as possible. Use things that are REALLY important to him if you can find signs for them. (sometimes something like "all done" can give them a lot of power in being able to use it, and so it is a good motivator, provided you really allow him to be "all done" when he uses it, kwim?). If you start w/ just a handful of signs, I would think you could show them to the nanny, have her say it in ENglish as well, and use those with him every day. I have been out of the work force for 3 years now, but when I was working all fo the current research showed that signing enhances lanugage, and doesn't slow the development of it, which is what many parents fear. It really just facilitates making the right connections.

If it were me, if he points to certain things routinely, look up the signs for those. See if he'll sign or say the word for it. If he signs it, then reinforce the word by saying it after he signs it. It is good to give them a chance to try to get it out, but pushing too hard can be a negative thing too. I think giving him the option to sign OR say the word is a little more flexible.

ETA: you can never go wrong with playing games associated w/ speech either. Make funny faces in the mirror together (see if he'll stick out his tongue if you stick out yours. Lick your lips and see if he'll imitate that. Make various funny sounds in the mirror and see if he'll try to imitate. Also singing various songs that repeat often...see if he'll try to imitate the repetitious parts if you pause for a second). Again, not a speech therapist, but those kinds of games certainly won't hurt anything and may help a bit.

[jennifer_r]

I wouldn't be worried. DD1 only spoke 4-5 words at 15 months and then at 17 months her vocabulary exploded. Your DS doesn't really sound "delayed" at all. It sounds like he is comprehending so that is excellent (if he wasn't comprehending anything, then I would worry). I'm guessing that he's going to be able to speak a few words in Spanish as well (I think it's great that he's being exposed to two languages). I personally don't like the idea of not giving him an object unless he tries to name it 6-7 times - it's only going to get him frustrated and he truly may not know the word for the object anyway. The best advice I can give is to just keep talking to him.

Good luck.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[californiagirl]

Bilingual kids tend to be slower to start to speak. This is not a delay in the sense that it indicates a problem; it's perfectly normal. The long-term result is kids with better language skills, so all the language acquisition experts I know would recommend leaving everything alone, letting the nanny speak Spanish to him, and adding 3-6 months to the expected charts of language milestones.

FWIW, my monolingual DD had 3 words (none of them Mama) at 14.5 months -- and BF's DS had 3 words at the same time, despite being in a bilingual Japanese/English household plus getting mostly Spanish at daycare and being 9 months younger than DD! DD then caught up to age-normal in 2 weeks and had 10 words by her 15 month appointment and just kept going from there.