Opinions and advice?

[ElleJay]

My DS, who's 18 months old, just won't answer his name when we call him. As a matter of fact, he barely answers anything we say to him.
His hearing test was ok when he was born, but hasn't been tested since. He talks the limited few words he knows ('out there', 'nan nan', 'no', 'yeah', 'dada', 'gandad' - for grandad - 'aldair' - for Alfie, ILs dog)

Any thoughts? I never really noticed it because, and it pains me to say this, I work so much that I just don't notice things like that till someone mentions something (gosh that makes me sound like a horrible mother )

[UntoldAngel]

Does he respond to loud noises? Have you tried making eye contact before you talk to him?

Maybe get his hearing checked, but it could be an age thing (or boy thing lol). Sorry it's not much help, hopefully someone will be able to give you some better insight.

And you are NOT a horrible mother

[Lily Dust]

LJ you are not a bad mother, my precious girl
Do you call him by his name or do you have nicknames for him? DD knows her name but we call her that mostly, we have friends with a child the same age and they generally call her stuff like 'princess' and she doesnt respond specifically to her name. That said DD has some pretty serious selective hearing going on at the moment, so DS could be doing that! If W doesnt want to 'hear' his Mummy then he may very well be turning his ears off
Does he respond to noises and can he hear pinpoint where a noise is coming from? ie car out the front or back. He is definatley saying words that arent the normal 'non words' for want of a better term. DD didnt really start getting adventurous with words until about 18 months and its still often not understandable to others.
If you are super concerned in another few weeks, maybe see your Dr.

[~Kim~]

EJ you are not a horrible mother .....that coming from someone who didn't notice 11 teeth erupt in a fortnight

Nate didn't know his name was Nate until just recently. Nor did he have any more words than that at that stage....I think he only had 3-4.

Does he react to loud noise?
ETA just read LD post and exactly what she said.

[damprye]

My DS was much the same. He is still a bit behind in his speech but the one thing that helped him the most was a CD full of kids songs. We played it every time we went in the car and sometimes, just as background noise at home. Within weeks there was a remarkable change in his speech. There isn't actualy anything wrong with my boy, we are mainly just a quiet family so that is why he is behind. If you are really worried that something is actually wrong, definately get him checked out. They tell you off more for not going in than for going in and finding nothing wrong (as I found out recently lol). Oh aqnd he also just didn't want to listen to me when I called him grr. HTH

[STARRYSKY]

DD, you are a fantastic mother, get those thought outta your head girl!

DP and I had to consciously stop calling DS "bubba" as he wasn't responding to his name. He does now, no probs and has just started saying it too!

Over the last few weeks I have fielded comments from well meaning friends and relatives about DS speech (or lack of) reccomending I go see someone now before it becomes a problem. I was all set to do so, find a speech therapist etc.. but in my gut/heart I knew there was nothing wrong, he is a boy, boys tend to be a bit slower on the speech side of things.Ds has always been a bit behind in everything, crawling, walking etc.. I figure he is just a bit behind with speech too.
But since we went away over easter with all DP's extended family and about 6 kids all up, we have come back witha chatterbox! he has acquired so many new words, even now saying sentences! all that over the course of a few days! could be that "word explosion" I've heard tell of.

anyway, just wanted to tell you that, as there are so many different types of normal, if you feel yourself that maybe, possibly, there could be something wrong then there is no harm in getting it checked out. HTH. xxx

[Razzberry]

You are not a bad mother DD - you are a concerned mother!
Lilydust is right - some of his words aren't the common words so that is a good sign.
Does he respond to instructions? For example "go and bring me your shoes" That is an indicator of receptive language when they can understand and follow instructions.
As for how many words he says at the moment, DD doesn't have that many either, but I am seeing a paed for her reflux, asthma etc so she is being monitored pretty closely for all her development. I am waiting for that "word explosion" you hear about too!
If you have any concerns I would get him checked out by your GP and get a referral to a speechie or paediatrician, I'm an early childhood teacher and have taught kindergarten so I see kids who's language skills are behind and if they had had a little intervention before they came to school then things would be much easier for the child.

I am sure he is ok, but it is hard not to worry as a mother - trust me - I know!