My son is 18 months old and all he does is grunts. He says no words, should i be worried??

Question

He has only said ma-ma a hand full of times but thats it. He is also starting to sound frustrated when he is trying to talk.

Answer 1

Just keep repeating things to him, when he grunts and points at something and you get it for him tell him what it is called.  In the meantime talk to the pediatrician so they can do a referal for you to see if he is having trouble with speaking which can be also a hearing problem or it could be something else.  He should be saying some words but not a bunch and may not say them clearly but still he should be saying smaller words by now.

Answer 2

Check with his doctor.  Most kids that age have a least a couple of words, mama, baba, dada, etc.  Not speaking could be a sign of hearing trouble, autism, problems with his vocal cords.  The doctor can rule out any serious problems and might want him in speach therapy to help him along.  You could also try to teach him a few simple signs.  Kids can learn sign language younger than they can learn to talk.  This could help relieve some of his frustration with trying to communicate with you.

Answer 3

It might be normal but just to be on the safe side, you should probably check with his pediatrician. I know of a couple of kids who were refered to speech therapy, but they were 2.

Answer 4

Please dont be worried. My son is 2 1/2 and he was saying just a handful of words up until june. Now he is like a sponge and he picks everything up. Every child learns in time. Dont worry he will pick it up when he is ready. I knwo that it is hard to see other children the same age saying words but he will get it in his own time.

Answer 5

take him to be evaluated by early intervention or a birth to 3 program in your area. The screenings are free and they can arrange for him to have speech therapy paid for by the state or county. Not to be harsh, but he is a good 6-9 months behind in his expressive speech. My son has a diagnosed speech delay and he said 10 words at that age (and still at 24 months old). until you can get him into speech therapy you can try to teach him some sign language. My son loved "signing time" DVDs

a lot of people do not take thier kids to be screened because either they don't know there is a problem ( which you kind of know there is) or they are ashamed that thier child needs help. Like it looks bad on them and thier child is not smart. Totally not true. My son is very smart, but the words were stuck...sort of like an adult who has had a stroke and lost the ability to speak. As soon as he learned some basic signs his frustration went away and his personality blossomed. He has been in speech for 6 months now and has a huge vocabulary. This morning he told me he wanted to go out and build his "mountain" of gravel in the driveway. then he told me it was hard work.

people are AMAZED when my son uses total communication by signing as he speaks. His enunciation is still pretty bad sometimes, so the signs help me understand him too. the signs that he learns now while he is catching up speech wise will only be an asset to him later.

Answer 6

As a speech-pathologist, who deals with children who have speech or language difficulties, I would definitely make sure your pediatrician knows this, and would recommend getting a speech-language-hearing evaluation.

If you would like to know the typical development for a child your son's age, below are some links to milestones:

Answer 7

My son didn't talk until 2 weeks before his second birthday. His Cousin who is his best friend went on holiday and i guess he was really missing him because he pointed at the picture and said "Josh?" Because he was missing him so much he had to make the effort to talk. And because got an answer he realised talking had its rewards. From then on we couldn't shut him up. He will talk when he is ready. If he gets frustrated, and if you know what he's trying to say, just say the word slowly a few times. He will soon pick it up.

Answer 8

My daughter didnt start talking until she was a little over 2 years old .  she said mama and dada and a few other words. I talked to my doctor about it and he sent us to speech therapist and she said that jae was a little behind in speech but above average in comprehension she also said that if we worked with her at home she should catch up soon she also suggested that when we talk to her to use 1 or 2 words like if she could say mama then work with putting 2 words together like mama bye and after she could start with 2 words start putting 3 words together like mama go bye and so on. So instead of speaking in full sentences to your child break everything down because they cant repeat a whole sentence. also point things out to them and talk to them as much as you can

Answer 9

lol - when i first saw this questions i thought it said he was 18 years old - which would be normal....however for an 18 month old he should be starting to move into using more words.

Just as the previous answer says you should be trying to verbalize things for him so that he is hearing lots of words (it's easy to forget to talk to them sometimes especially when they are not talking back)

he just may be a late talker too, so get him checked out but don't be too panicked at this stage :)

Answer 10

my little brother was the same, but he ended up going to speech therapy for 6 months or so, its might not be neccessary as boys start talking later than girls do though.

Answer 11

Well it sounds normal to me that he is only saying Mama for right now..because Boys usually take longer to talk then girls do. What i would do is when he grunts for things you tell him exactly what it is, and if you just talk to him and not use baby talk, he will get it. My daughter said a handful of words at that age but it was not until she was closer to two that she really started to pick it up. maybe if you let him interact with Children his age and he hears and see them talking he will want to. But if he is still having troubles I would talk to the Doctor just to make sure his earing checks out ok.

Answer 12

Its real hard to give a timeline for children because they are all individuals and learn at there own speed at least he is trying to talk to you. I would worry if he starts talking and then stops then there could be problem for now i think hes just taking it all in  but when he does start youll wish you could go back to when he was a baby and now becoming a big boy. Good Luck

Answer 13

i wouldnt be worried yet but if you are worried you could talk to your doctor about it he may have information for you. but if he dosent start talking by two you should get him tested just in case he has a problem like autisim or something.