Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 1/30/2011

Question
Hello again Valerie! I just saw your other answer to my question (You answered me twice) and that answer was much more informative and kind. So forgive me for getting a bit upset about the answer that was a bit different.

So that you know which reply from you I'm talking about here it is:

"Hi March

Some kids don't babble a lot and others do. If a child doesn't babble at all, I would suspect a hearing loss, but in your son's case, it does seem that he is babbling.

At the 10 month level, what we are looking for is something called jargon. It's a succession of "baby talk" which sound like real conversation with intonation and inflection, but without real words. This is what we expect at your son's age. If he doesn't seem to develop this within 2 months, then write me back and we will go from there. It's kind of too soon to think there is a problem as there is a window of development that your son is still in at his age. And his language understanding seems really good.

I am wondering why he didn't crawl though, but since he is pulling up on his own, it may not matter.

So, what I am telling you is that over the next 2 months, I would like to see your son develop some good motor skills both in the gross motor and the speech area. If he is not using jargon or speech in 2 months, then we will go from there."


My follow up question is this and I will put this as private as I didn't get an e-mail about this answer from you so I can't go through that answer to ask something additional:

I would like to give you more information and also ask a few things if you don't mind. This is very stressful for me because I get very confused when everyone says that each baby is different and develops in their own time but at the same time there are milestones and doctor appointments, if you know what I mean! And I am a worrier by nature so this is being hard on me at times.

You say that some babies babble more and some less, and that it would worry you if a baby didn't babble at all.

1. My first question would then be - what does that mean: "Not babble at all"? When would you say a baby doesn't do that - if they are silent, if they only speak vowels, if they have no consonants, if they don't repeat - which is it? My son is very vocal and uses his voice, it's just not the typical repeating ba ba da da ma ma stuff except from some occasional pu pu pu and bu bu bu very gently and almost whispering it. He does however say ba and bo and ga and go and ma and other sounds like "aiiioo", "ghooa" "ghii" "kkhhh" and things like that even though he does alot of blowing raspberries, squealing, yelling, laughing too and so on.

2. You say that my son seems to babble - what do you consider to be babble of the things he does? So that I can truly understand what you are looking for.

I don't know if it has anything to do with it but my son has never really had to cry. He does cry now when he gets upset or so but when he was younger we were all SO very protective of him because I got preeclampsia during pregnancy and my son was born small - 1,9 kg. Week 37+6. So he stopped growing around week 33. My husband thinks that since he was much smaller than most babies when born, even though he was born after 37 full weeks, he had alot of growing to do after birth and he had to gain weight and get strong while other big babies who continued to grow and develop in the stomach could put their energy on developing other things, so my husband think even though he wasn't a preemie that it's more than logical that our son masters certain things at a bit different timetable, and that it's not really right of us to compare him to other 10 month olds who were born 3-4 kgs and were strong right after birth. I don't know if that makes any sense?

Anyway what I was wanting to say is that we have been very protective of him and as soon as he made a sound we would pick him up or give him food to make him happy, and we would hold him - The first 1-2 months he was pretty much ALWAYS in our arms. So he never had to cry really. And I compare it with his cousin now who's 3 months and ALWAYS crying and that way practicing her voice, it makes sense that she discovers her voice much more.. Does it make any sense?

When my son was 3-4 months he would imitate sounds like ahgooo and ahbooo and we would look at eachother and smile and take turns in saying those sounds. And now at 10 months he will still imitate certain sounds we make and even gestures for example if I pat something and say "bang bang" he will do it too with a smile on his face and looking at me happy :) If we put our arms in the air and go YAY, he will put his arms in the air and yell "EE" or something like it.

When I say ball he really tries to say it, and he makes the "B" sound with his lips and sometimes Ba and even something that sounds like ball at times. "Vovve" means puppy in our language (we're from scandinavia) and when we say it or talk about a puppy, he sometimes tries to say it too - that should be really good right? That he's trying to say words already?

He can say HEEEEY (sometimes with the H and sometimes just EEEY) and says it alot to us and to strangers too.. if we are shopping he will look at someone and do that sound like he's greeting them. And they smile, and he smiles and flirts.

You asked me about why he doesn't crawl and I honestly think he's more interested in walking because he actually walks pretty good with support, he can run and walk and has excellent foot steps, he just can't do it yet without holding our hands (he can sometimes walk a few steps with holding only ONE hand). He can stand with support and sometimes can stand up to 10 seconds ALL BY HIMSELF. He does pull up when he wants to, especially grabbing me and my clothes to pull up. You say that's good right?

And to be honest, he has never had to be on the floor... I have always picked him up, always, and he's been carried around, or sitting in his high chair or walking in his baby walker. I'm trying to give him more floor time now as it's better for my back. He gets on all four all the time on the bed, and can stay in that position if I put him down like that, and if he's on his four he can get into the sitting position himself.

He's honestly never been the floor baby... And it's probably my fault, first time mom, I have always picked him up and there's plenty of people in our family and they all have carried him alot and he has never had to sit and play on his own.. Could that be a reason?

I also have to ask, if my son imitates sounds/words and gestures, starts to point (pointed to the lamp twice today with his index finger), very social, makes sounds to get our attention, has great bond with us, loves babies and wants to play with them, loves animals and also us adults, loves company, smiles and loves it when we dance for him, has great eye contact, responds and reacts to no, understands when we ask where things are and understands when we ask what the cow says... and so on. That should be really great things and far more important? Or am I wrong?

Please do get back to me

My first question with your reply you can find here:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Autism-1010/2011/1/Babble.htm

Answer
Hi March

It's hard for me to really get that deeply involved with an assessment on your son. This service is really to ask more general questions rather than very detailed and specific ones. I would be doing you a great disservice if I tried to give you the specifics that you are looking for.

At this point, I think I can recommend two options: wait until his first birthday and see if the jargon and words start to develop. If not, then begin the process of getting him a speech evaluation through the Early Steps program in your area or through a private speech pathologist.

Or take him to a speech pathologist now who works with babies and see if she feels that he is using appropriate pre-linguistic skills. You may even want to tape record him at home and bring the tape to her(his) office since he may not vocalize when he is there.

Which ever you choose, I wouldn't worry too much as it does seem like he is vocalizing and babbling some and trying to imitate which is good.

Until your son is 12 months, it's really hard for me to figure out what he is doing specifically without hearing it from him first hand.

Hope this has been of some help