Cause for Concern? No Babbling and She's Almost 9 Months

I think 9 months is way too early to worry. i don't think early intervention starts until 15 months. my daughter is 15 months now and she didn't make many sounds at 9 months old either. She now says mama, dada and ball, but in general, if you ask her to say something, she will growl or grunt like you are describing. Anyway, I understand being worried, because i was too. But at 9 months, it is totally normal what you are experiencing. My doc said if she doesn't have more words by 18 months, we'll start early intervention. Anyway, since I had been worried, I heard a million stories about kids who took forever to talk and then one day, just spoke in sentences. they all develop different things at different times.

Seriously, my daughter did the same exact thing! She's 18 months old now and has some words, but she also had tubes in her ears, so her constant fluid buildup was impeding her hearing. She's fine now, but she also grunted and growled. As long as she responds, my doctors said there's no reason to worry at this point.

Don't worry! My son is the king of growling and weird noises, but consonants are rare. She'll be fine! If you're really concerned, get her hearing checked. But I'd bet $$$ she's just doing her thing, learning cool stuff, enjoying all this fun time with her family and pooch...she sounds adorable and perfect!

PS My son crawled at 6 months, but still doesn't clap. My friend's baby still can't crawl at 9 months, but already says 3 words. Everybody's on their own schedule, you know?

I just read at the end of your note that work out of the house - who takes care of your baby when you work? does this person or people spend a lot of time talking to her and around her? I have had friends with full time nannies who did not speak english or at least not well and their babies were delayed in speech development. If this is not the problem, check with your pediatrician - all babies develop at diff. rates but I am pretty sure that at this age she should be repeating consonant-syllable combos like "da da da" "ma ma ma". I hope all goes well.

when i first got my foster son at almost 8 months he was the same way. no consonant sounds at all. the baby babble dvd was recommended to me and it made a lot of difference. he would love to watch is and soon after he started babbling more. now at 15 months he watches baby babble 2 and his first words are finally starting. i would highly recommend both of these dvd's. my dr felt that his speech development is fine, that babie's all progress differently, etc. so as long as your dr feels your daugher has no physical issues, these dvd's can't hurt.

http://www.talkingchild.com/

yes, we had speech therapy for our daughter 9 years ago. it's through the state of nj until they're 3. can't rmember the name of it, but i'm sure you can google it and find out. it may take awhile to get the appt. but keep it even if she starts making sounds between now and the appt.
also, you may wnat to bang pots around her to startle her...to check her hearing.
good luck

She's probably fine, but since you're worried about it, definitely get her hearing checked, as some other moms suggested. Also if you're using a pacifier, now's a good time to get rid of it. Some speech therapists say using pacifiers into toddlerhood can delay speech. It makes sense because if kids can get what they want by pointing to things, and if there's always something in their mouth that they can suck on for comfort, they're not going to have much incentive to talk.

A.,

Have you mentioned it to the doctor? If not, I would. He or she can tell you best whether there is cause for concern. You should also check out http://www.babycenter.com and http://www.cdc.org. There is a page on the CDC site about what milestones the babies should be reaching to try to help catch developmental delays earlier.

Good luck,
L.

I posted a very similar question on March 30, 2008... you can read the responses I received if you like:

http://www.mamasource.com/request/854857900504383489

My daughter is almost 16 months old now and doing very well with her speech. Still, I got her on a wait list to see a SLP back when she was 9 months old and, coincidentally, that appointment is today. I can let you know how it goes, if you like. A.

Hi A.,
Your daughter sounds exactly like my son who is 9 months today. In the past two weeks, he just started really babbling, mostly dadadadadadaa and nananananananana. Before that it was just kind of little noises and definitely growls. I called him my little lion and he still roars. Also, he claps, sits up and is trying to pull himself up. No crawling yet but we had his 9 month appt. yesterday and the doctor said "Do you know how many babies I see that never crawl?"
To me it sounds like everything is fine. The ped. also reminded me that there is no definite timeline for these things, every baby is different (although yours and mine sound a lot alike!)
I hope this helps!
Tahara

Hi A.,

As a mommy who just found out that her "baby"'s cute quirks are actually signs of a developmental disorder, I would encourage you to seek answers. If it's nothing, so what? Your mind will be set at ease, no harm done. If it IS something (maybe she isn't hearing well), you can intervene now while she's still very young and able to catch up.

My husband and I are both firm believers in "when in doubt, check it out!". After all, this is your precious child. What harm can come from being proactive about her health?

Good luck! Some day you'll probably wish for those days of quiet rumblings instead of the steady stream of "But why? How come? Mommy, mommy, mommy..." *smile*

T.

You are doing a great job by staying aware of this. Your daughter has missed some speech milestones and no matter what the reason, getting it checked out now is a great idea. A hearing test would be a good idea if she hasn't had one at the pediatrician. Also, I would recommend getting in touch with Early Intervention for an evaluation. You can get free speech therapy for her through this federal program that might jump start her early language skills and prevent any possible speech problems later on. Don't worry! Taking steps will calm your concerns and give you more information. Then you won't be just worrying and wondering whether you should be doing something.

D. B.

Hi A., All babies develop at different times. I understand your concern. Bring it to the attention of your doctor and see what is recommended. You want the best for your little girl and if help is needed, get it early. Grandma Mary

In order to address your concerns, I would suggest to contact EArly Intervention to have an evaluation done. It is free of charge (I believe - we started the process in CT where it was free of charge) and they will send a speech therapist to your house to evaluate things. The philosophy is that if you catch something early on, it is much easier to correct, and therefore not nearly as expensive for the state. Call your Ped. to get the necessary information to move forward if that is what you decide to do. Good luck!

My son was this way too. Instead of the babbling he was supposed to be doing, he said an actual word at 9 months (uh-oh) and then another at 10 months (bye bye). When he got tubes at almost 11 months, we realized that he wasn't able to hear properly to form the consonant sounds. And maybe he was more interested in saying the real thing instead of babbling? ;-p He still is having some trouble saying the "k" sound and a few others, at 21 months, but he's speaking in sentences and expressing himself very well. If your daughter seems to be beginning to understand you and since she's meeting her other milestones, I think you don't need to worry. My own daughter isn't really babbling either, and she's almost 8 months. She's really good at screaming though!

A., i think she is ok, she is still to young , sometimes babies don't make a specific babbling sounds or even say mama till they are 1yo, i wouldn;t worry just yet. if she's responding and understanding very basic things. if you're worried talk to your ped. about her speech development. i think she's ok. too early to worry- enjoy her babyhood, she'll be talking back soon enough

If she is not babbling, I would highly reccomend that you get in contact with early intervention in the state you live in. They will have someone come out to your home to evaluate her, and she will be able to get the services.
You can get early intervention services in the home till the age of 3. If she does not babble at all there is a valid concern. Does she respond to her name when called?
I am a foster mom I am a special service provider and I see alot of this type of problem. I have a little boy that I adopted, he is autistic, on the mild side. I got him alot of therapy and he talks well now, he is autistic but high functioning. Therapy can help so much, get her the intervention now it is very important to do so.
Good luck,

T.

Get her hearing checked. My daughter had a hearing problem and we didn't know until she ws 2. Check it out.. and good luck. Also make sure that whoever is watching her, talks to her and let her watch baby shows on tv.. ie. sesame street and other learning show.s..

A.~
I'm sorry to say but I would be concerned. I'm divorced and my boyfriend's sister had a similar problem. Unfortunatly, she waited until daughter was nearly 2 before seeking help and now she is doing quite well. My own daughter had the whole baby babbling thing down pat at 4 months and was saying one syllable words by probably 10 months but had always shown interest in speaking. She'd touch my face when I read to her and intensely watched my lips, too. She would say the names of those she recognized (ie, Mama, Dada, and her brothers) and once we went to see her cousin in a marching band competition and she sat there saying "Da Na", trying to say Daniel. If she's going to be 9 months in a week or two, then I'd say to go ahead and wait until her well child check up (I believe they are every 3 months), but I probably wouldn't wait much longer than that.
Good luck to you!
J.

I really wouldn't worry. 9 months is still very young in terms talking. My twin boys are 22 months old are speech delayed and are going through speech therapy (which is going very well) but they didn't even talk about evaluating them for any help until they were around 18 months. The fact that your daughter made those sounds are great... she will totally get there.

I wouldn't sweat it at 9 months. They should have one or two words by a year and about 5 words by 18 months. But there is such a big range for "normal." My daughter had tons of words by 18 months and my twins had only 1. The boys wound up getting speech therapy (and they are totally fine now at age 3). But when I brought them in for evaluations, the evaluators said to wait until they were 18 months old to see what happened then.

Of course, you can always mention it to the pediatrician at the next checkup, but I'm sure he/she will tell you not to worry yet.