Is is a speech delay?

DD is 16 months, and while I am not overly worried about this, it has dawned on DH and I recently that she doesn't really say many words that we can understand.

She 'talks' a lot, but it's gobbledegook mostly and I am not concerned at all about her comprehension or hearing. The words she does say are 'dada', mama and 'bir'(bird) the other times she tries to say something she just says the first letter eg m for moo or c for clock, or else it comes out as incomprehensible.
She has said a few words as a one off thing and the haven't been heard again.



I'm definately no expert, but my feeling is she will just improve as time goes on but I have googled and there seems to be a wide range of feelings about speech, from wait and see to people who had their 9 month old seeing a speech therapist.

I'm happy to wait and talk to the MCHN at the 18 month check but would like other peoples experiences and whether you think I should contact MCHN earlier. Thanks!

My Ds was quite delayed with his speech, even at 2.5 he wasnt making much sense.
I had hi looked at by a speechie to make sure there was nothing physically wrong, which there wasnt.
He is now pretty good with his speech, but it has taken till he was 5.
My gut told me he was fine.
Lazy, but fine.
Haha

I wouldn't be worried at this stage, she sounds pretty typical for a 16 month old. Just keep talking and reading, name what she is attempting to say etc.

My first had a speech delay, by the time he was 2.5 he was only saying about a dozen words. You wouldn't know it now though!

This might surprise you but.... We are following your lead here too. I seem to be copying you!
DD Has only 3 or 4 words but it's hit and miss with them. Getting better at mimicking us but definitely not clear or just talking.
I'm just going with the flow and trying to say as many words over and over while pointing to things.

Yeah me too Joeve, I have always read to her but I must admit to talking a lot of baby talk to her before she was 1, when I had to force myself to stop, just do it very occasionally now

Lol DD has been randomly saying bubba bubba.... Ooops here too lol

Quoll didn't have more than 20 words the week before Easter. Something clicked that week and now he's unlocked all those words in his head - he was comprehending but not speaking. it was so frustrating. His words aren't all there yet, but so much better and we're working on specific sounds.

It's probably normal. But one thing you might be doing without realising is not allowing her to speak before you give her something. Ie. she points to the fridge and you get her a drink, rather than waiting for her to say "drink" or "milk" or whatever. Does what I mean make sense?

I'm not suggesting forcing her to speak. But not responding to gesture alone and coupling her gesture with a single word you expect her to say. Then praise if she makes a sound even if it's gobbledygook to start with.

You might be onto something there myturn. Since she was quite young she has used nodding and shaking her head for yes and no, and a pointing/hand grabbing sign for whatever she wants plus a hand sign for breastfeeding. We probably have subconsciously spoken to her in a way that would encourage these, rather than using words as it was a good communication tool when she was younger.
I have been trying lately to ask "what do you want?" when she uses her hand signal to point at something and giving her a chance to say it, and will work on this more.

Of course as not long after I posted this we went to the playground and she started pointing at a dog and saying 'da', so there's another word lol.

I guess it's just about teaching her that she needs to speak to get what she wants, cause its way to easy for mums and dads to just interpret stuff her expressive language will start soon. And before you know it, you won't be able to shut her up. Lol

Yes DH. Will attest to the fact there is no speaking issue in my side of the family

We have a chart we use at work that give basic guidelines. It suggests that you should be concerned if a child doesn't have 60 words by the age of 2. You've got a few months to go yet and often words just come flowing out all of a sudden over night.

When my first son was young the checklist at the MCHN for 18 months was 10 words. There were some children in our mother's group who could barely get that many words. If you included making animal sounds they almost made it but they had more like 6-8 words. My son had over 100.

Fast forward to 2.5 years old and my son was developing a significant speech delay because he didn't start making 2 word sentences. The children who had just a few words at 18 months were doing fine and continuing to develop their vocabulary and expressive communication.

So I really wouldn't be concerned at this point. It is more important that she is communicating, even if non-verbally or with utterances, than her total word count at the moment.

My DD was slightly 'delayed' in words and clarity, but at 4 years is similar to her peers. Certainly would not have had 60 words by 2! (just looked up the blue book and it only asks for use of 5 -10 words at 18-21 months). My son seems to be following a similar pattern. Both kids showed understanding, just not the speech. DS not only signs and gestures, he does interpretative dance to tell his stories.

We did through speech therapy with DD, but i really think it was largely time and maturity (connection of synapses?) that led to her speech becoming clearer and more prevalent. Signing and giving her time to get her thoughts across helped deal with the frustration.