Hi
I have 16 months old daughter.She understands what I say but never speaks any workd clearly...occasionly 'thatha','baby'...she never calls amma/appa etc though I talk talk with her a lot. My ped said that he is concerned about it as she has to talk clearly 5 words.
I took it light earlier as babies r different and as i live in the US with nobody else at home , its quiet normal.
Am sort of worrie dnow as ped expressed concern. I put TV now whole day ...but she doesnt watch more than 20 mins. She runs behind me all the time.
Any suggestions to improve her speeching skills ?
Thanks
Maha happy helper replied. I had the same thing with my daughter and spent hundreds on seeing specialists to find out the cause... All that money later the answer was simple... I allowed it to go on. There were concerns about her hearing, he development, my skills and even that she might be retarded... She was infact healthy but she was also lazy and shy.

The key is to get her to begin ASKING for the things she wants... As you say she isn't using sentances begin with words... If she wants a drink show him it and say drink pls... ask her to repeat again another 3 times.... everytime she makes an attempt make a big show of it... tell her she is a good girl and reward him with hugs and claps...

If she refuses to try than put the glass down and wait a moment and then go to offer it repeating drink pls again... Keep trying and be strict. Try 3 times(that trying to get her to repeat 3 times in 3 seperate tries) and then give the drink over and let her know that you're feeling sad she can not say drink...

This can be used with EVERYTHING... when we brushed her hair we would say BRUSH and show the brush... Shirt and showed the shirt to her when dressing... Even when trying to get her to say peoples names you can do this. We would touch our chest and say MOMMA and for her RADHA... etc...This is the advise our speech threapist gave us and with in a few weeks my daughter was talking ALL the time... Maha replied. Navin n mom,
Thanks a lot for ur tips. Am looking for creche/day care now.
Mom's points r very good n can be taken steps at home itself. Many thx.
Let me wait n watch,
Maha Navin replied. Hi Mahalakshmi
You should get your child enrolled in some creche.

That way she will see her peers a learn from them. I have seen this happen earlier so am advising you.

Moreover you already said that she speaks ocassionally, which is a clear indication tht are vocal cjords are functioning.

Dont worry she should be fine once she joins a creche, you will see amazing changes in her. mom replied. if she is pointing and responds to ur requests(i.e yes, no, take,give,come,go) then there is no problem.
as she is very young you can itself give her speech stimulation.
u have to keep her busy always. not a minute u have to leave her free.
at this age u can improve her eye contact very well .once this is done she will read ur face and talk.

1. always see her face and make her also to see ur face and then talk.(for this u catch her chin and make her to c u).u always make her sit on chair and u be down at floor so that eyecontact will be improved.talk to her in front of mirror.
2. u switch off TV completely.(TV leads to major diorder problems).
until 2 years children should not watch TV(i have completely switched off TV)
3. if u have to use CD's let it not be animated.
4.if we speak in our mother tongue they learn easily. labeling all be in english.but atleast only one language.
5. teach her to eat by herself. that also gives her lot of confidence.
6. appropriate toilet training has to be given.

above points are suggested by my pschyatrist.
early visit to pschyatrist is always best. early disorders is always cured.
some children speak late. its always agreed. but in this generation we have so much sophostication and improvements there in medical terms. so instead of worrying why not to take steps.

best of luck
bye mom replied. hi,
does ur daughter responds to more on TV Advertisement,title songs. is she telling yes/no for the things u ask.
is she calling u amma.is she pointing things and shows it to u or when u ask her to show is she pointing her finger to it.
and thatha,baby is that meant correctly ie she shows photos or pictures and utter the word.

actually i have a son who is 2 1/4 and not still speaking apropriately. i have joined him in play school and speech therapy classes. he had the same problem as u had mentioned for ur daughter.

u reply for my questions. i will suggest u.