There are no shortages of parental advice in our culture, whether it is the next door neighbor, Aunt Tina, or your best friend. Everyone seems to have an opinion about how children should behave. When a parent suspects that something is not quite right with their child, it can be truly frustrating to know who to ask and what to do.

This is the first blog of a series in “Does My Child Need Speech- Language Therapy”. This blog will focus on early language development and when a caregiver needs to seek out a professional.

Infants are communicative from the moment of birth. Infants look intensely at their caregiver. In the early weeks they make sounds that consist of grunting and cooing, and often in response to a bodily function or face to face interaction. They let us know what they need by crying, with differing cries for differing needs. By the time babies begin to sit up and later begin to move when exploring their environment, their sounds change rapidly to more playful babbling, using long strings of different sounds. They play with pitch and volume. They turn toward sound and voices once they are sitting up. As older babies they begin to listen more intently. They often imitate what they hear and see, clapping, blowing raspberries, animal sounds. Babies also become progressively more social and their sound play reflects this.

By twelve months of age most children have one or two words that they use frequently. They use many gestures and use their voice to get attention and demand by looking at the caregiver. They more readily imitate caregivers and other children in the family. They begin to respond to simple questions such as “where’s your belly?” They respond to “no”or “give to mama”. Playful routines like “so big” and “peek” are easily exchanged.

Between 12-18 months there is generally a spurt in language development. By 18 months a child has a growing vocabulary of single words that may not be exactly articulated clearly, but are used to let others know what the child likes and needs. These first words are unique to each child and give us a window into their world. Early first words may include “nana” for “banana”, “ba” for “ball”, mama, dada, up, “gog” for “dog”, “ha” for “hi”. By the second birthday, at 24 months, a child should have at least 50 word approximations and begin to put words together in short phrases such as “no me” and “hi mama”.

Some parents may be concerned that their child is not talking or seems to not be progressing beyond a few words. Some children may have lost their ability to use first words. Some may seem disinterested in communicating with people, have poor eye contact, or respond by echoing. Some children may not be responding to sounds or voice in their environment. If any of these scenarios are the case, trust your parental instincts that all may not be well with your child’s development. Know that early help is available.

There is help by contacting your child’s physician and by contacting a speech-language pathologist with expertise in early childhood. Always follow your instincts!