Worried sick about twins' speech (lack of)

twins will be 15 months soon, the age their Dr. said it would be worrysome if they didn' t have words.

they sometimes say mama and dada. they understand more... but...

I am worried sick because two weeks ago I was OVERJOYED that our baby A was saying 'door' (5 days in a row) when I dropped him off and rang the doorbell, or when a door opened.

It would be his first CONSISTENT word.

Think it was because kids at daycare always yell 'doorbell!' when the doorbell rings.

They were both sick all of last week. He even said it last Tuesday when at home and the doorbell rang, and my husband started going to he door...

And today, back at daycare... and...

he isn't saying it. Not when I rang the doorbell, not when other people rang the doorbell today.

I am really really worried. Did he loose his only word?

If so, what does it mean? Would it always mean ASD or Childhood disintegrative disorder?

 

Please don't worry so much. :hug: I know my two would "forget" words if they were working on other things... like a gross motor skill or whatever. :hug: Or maybe because they were sick they are working on getting better and not in the mood to talk? At 15 months my two didn't have many words at all! I think they were only saying mama, dada and water. It's really hard to not worry, I know this but please try and not worry yourself sick. :hug: That won't help matters only make them worse for you. If you are very concerned, call their ped. and maybe have them evaluated? I don't know the age requirements to get evaluated though. I know that my two went from very few words and by two years of age they word machines! :lol: It will happen, please don't worry. :hug:

 

oh he didn't lose the word!!! :hug: Have you talked to your ped about getting him evaluated by EI (early intervention)? My ds Jake was very much like that and at 18 months didn't say anything but dada and momma (but momma wasn't towards me). We had him evaluated and he was delayed and has had speech therapy for 6 months now and is doing awesome!!! He now has over 50 words and a new one every day.
:hug: Every child learns to talk at a different age and some just need some time, but don't stress too much about it! I do think that you should talk to your ped. But it's great that he said door and he will say it again, just when he wants to :lol:

 

Our son (now three) did not say a single word consistently until after his second birthday. He would learn a word, use it for a few days and then forget it. He could understand everything and would follow directions (and was extremely independent), but no amount of coaxing would get him to talk. Even his younger brothers (now two) were talking more than he was. It was very worrisome and extremely frustrating, so I understand how you're feeling. I think it must be even more difficult when you have one twin doing something and the other not. But one thing to keep in mind is that their brains are developing so rapidly that they will sometimes stop doing things while they're learning something else. It may just be something as simple as that and in another month, he'll start chattering away suddenly. I know that it's very easy to worry especially now with as much information as we have at our fingertips, but try not to read too much into it. :hug:

 

I wouldn't worry at all about him losing a word. It's perfectly normal for kids to do something and then stop for a while. One of mine did that with rolling over back to front. He did it several times at 3 months, and then totally forgot until he was like 6 months old.

Try not to worry. :hug:

 

ours didn't have very many if any words at 15 mo. at 18 mo. they still had few, but maybe the 3-5 that our pedi was looking for. I'm not worried, though if you are EI is a great tool to take advantage of.

ours go through phases of saying words and then not...

 

Losing one word does not point to autistic spectrum disorder or sensory processing. Of course it can, but it is more than losing just one word. Your ped is worrying you for nothing. The normal range for language is up to 2 years. Mine are 15 months and only say mama, dada, and one says nigh nigh (night night) My ped said no worries...twins typically develop language a bit later, as do boys. I am a worrier too!

 

SLP here... just echoing the pps... please don't worry so much. It's FAAAAAR too early to worry so much about ASD or other disorders. Look for at least 6-10 consistent words by 18mo and if there are none, then talk to your ped about possible EI evaluations. Just keep giving them good consistent models, consider adding sign language (it doesn't delay acquisition of spoken language, and may even help it, and it will allow them to have a communicative outlet), and expose them to as many words as you can. Reading to them is huge, too. The big warning signal would be if they also didn't appear to comprehend language, but that doesn't sound like the case from what you described. I'm a speech therapist, and my twins had maybe 10 words at 15 months. They signed alot, but spoken language didn't really blossom till 18 months. You've got time.

 

And p.s. my son now is 14 months and says 5 words for everything, "no" (of course), "dis", "dat", "dada", and "dog"- meanwhile, I've heard him say about 10 more words, but each one of them were said for about a day or two and then promptly dropped. It's totally normal.

 

I am glad to hear that. He said 'ball' 'look' 'cat' and 'kitty' (over the last few months) for a few days each then dropped. I've been starting to get really worried about it.

 

Our guys had no words - not ball, doggy, Mommy - nothing, nada until 22 months. We had them evaluated at 36 months (long story as to why we couldn't earlier). At 15 months, I wouldn't worry. Also remember that if he has any signs, those count as words. Even if he mispronounces something, but says the same thing consistently, that's still a word. So he might have more "words" than you realize at first.

 

i agree with everyone else! nothing to worry about - so stop it! :catfight: :hug: i totally know where you're coming from - these things can seem so overwhelming (and it sounds like your doc isn't doing much to reassure you). at 18 months my girls barely have 5 words a piece & my doc wasn't worried at all. he made a note of it in their file, but fully expects that they'll be babbling away by two. and as everyone else has mentioned, dropping words is also very normal. both my daughters were saying hockey (yup. you know you're Canadian when...) for about a week but haven't said it since. :hug:

 

Thanks for posting this - I was kinda wondering the same thing. G will use a word for a couple of days and then not use it at all and I thought that was a little odd. It is hard not to worry!