My son is almost 18 months old. I posted recently in the developmental delay thread that he only said words that start with "b" and "d". Well he goes off and proves me wrong and says "cheese" this evening.
So, how can we encourage him to use the words and not cry, point, etc? I've heard him say many words just off the bat BUT he often won't ever repeat them.
coconut / 8299 posts
No clue but would love to hear from other bees about this. My son only says a handful of words and it's hard to get him to talk. The one thing that has helped tremendously has been signing. It's cut down his whining/tantrums/fussing by so much! Have you considered teaching your LO to sign? It's awesome!!
pomelo / 5866 posts
One thing I tried that didn't come naturally (read it in some book) was to use the same word, several times in different contexts, as naturally as possible. You don't have to teach the word directly. Here's an example- look a ball! That's a pretty ball. Can you get the ball? I want to see the ball. Such a nice ball. Let's roll the ball. Get ready for the ball. Here comes the ball.
I don't know if that is the key, I just know that it was a novel idea, makes sense and we did it with DD who was an early talker. Expect the word to show up in their vocabulary a few days later not right away so no pressure. Also repeat and expand on the words you hear from LO as naturally as possible. Oh, dog. Yes, that's a dog. That's a big brown dog. Do you like the dog's ears? Pause. Silence is golden to let them process but then pick up the conversation again. That dog's ears are long. Choose new words on the same topic as the words they already know so you are expanding from what their base.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Not sure. My 14 month old is the same. She's doing good with animal sounds. We do baby sign language which helps us communicate with her.
grapefruit / 4110 posts
@banana: he's been doing sign forever. He has a good amount of signs but these days they are mostly useful in helping us figure out what he thinks he is saying. For example he says "bah" and signs water so we know that means water. He does seem to pick up a sign easier than a verbal word still.
pomelo / 5093 posts
I do signing, lots, and that really helped us. My daughter is just very verbal, so we've had an easy time rewarding her for using a word and not giving her what she wants if she doesn't. I'd say that if your child is a bit slower on the verbal end, maybe you ought not push it and create stress around the area.
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