Hi
My 17 month old has not started talking yet. She just says amma appa and thats about it. She understands all that I say though. In my family there is another baby who is a couple of months older than her but she has started talking and says many words. This brings in a lot of comaprisons from the elders.
I really dont feel desperate to make my daughter talk but i feel anxious when other make comparisons.
Really upset.
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...
richa replied. Hi Sunk
I am not a specialist in any field but what i say is only from my experience.when
my first child was born he had alittle jaundice then he recovered and was gaining weight as described in milestone chart.but who soever came at our place would sayhe is too weak.i got worried and visited a few paediatritians.one of them told me after examining him thouroughly,\";dear,people are like that only if your child is a little chubby,they will say he is obese and if he is a little thin they will say,oh,he is weak etc.YOU SHOULD BE CAREFULL IN MAINTAINING THE MILESTONES CHART AND IF THE CHILD FAILS TO ACHIEVE ANY MILESTONE OVER A PROLONGED TIME THEN ONLY U SHOULD WORRY and not by the comments made by so called friends\"; And moreover my daughter who is now 16 months also speaks only 2 words and so i know that she is not dumb but i also have to face such comparisons but now i give importance to only doctor's word and my intuition which guids me properly.