Should 15 months old be talking???

[sheeberi]

We just arrived from the doctor's visit & everything's fine other than my twins language development. Their pedia seems a little concerned 'coz they are not talking yet. She said at 15 months they should have at least 5 words already. I'm not really worried 'coz from what I've learned that's normal if you introduce them 2 or more languages at the same time. She suggested that I should concentrate on one language 'til they talk, and teach other languages later on.(I speak to my babies in English, Tagalog & Visayan & let them watch lots of English-Spanish DVDs). They babble a lot but they really aren't saying anything yet. They do signing & can identify some words in flash cards.

Should I stop teaching them Filipino & Spanish and focus on English or continue what I've been doing??? Is this normal or should I be worried?

[nhockaday]

The fact that they are twins has something to do with it too b/c they develop their own language between themselves. I would wait until they are 18 months, and if they still aren't talking you may want to consider speech therapy.

[purplefungi]

I wouldn't worry as long as they are social in other ways. Make sure that they have good eye contact and etc!

[Nikita]

Being twins and it looks like they are identical,there are many reported cases of identical twins not talking to anyone else but having their own secret unintelligible language. Maybe if they had more time apart they might develop more ability to communicate with others normally.
If I had the ability to speak other languages I would continue to speak them. Who cares if they arent speaking any language now?  So What if they are late? Soon enough they'l speak all 3 languages fluently and this non-speaking time will be forgotten. Dont waste this time with just one language!!!
My son didnt speak much until he turned 3 and suddenly spoke normally, in full sentences. He actually had an identical twin in utero (there were 2 sets.. quads) but they reabsorbed early.  This may have been the reason he didnt speak.  There are books on late-talking children, and it isnt all bad!! Einstein spoke late (7 years old, I heard). You can buy them on amazon. His father was a late talker, and is very intelligent. Maybe those who speak less think more!!

[patience]

I am a twin and my mother told me that we didn't talk until we were about 2. She said we had our own language that we communicated to each other in, but no one else understood us.  I think it is great that you are exposing them to many different languages! Continue doing what you are doing and happy teaching!!!

[ayana]

really all children are different right!
some children work on the ability of walking first and some learn to speak first.
Nothing to worry about though!
my older daughter started to say 15 words by her first birthday.Then she just went on the words were clear enough for an outsider to understand by the time she was 15 months she had a vacabulary of 50 words.
But my second daughter said 2 words by her first birthday but she started to walk before the ninth month started.  

[trinity papa]

Hi ayana this is interesting.

I was told by some much older parents and some professional babysitters that babies who talk first walks later, while those who walks early talks later .... maybe the walkers are able to get to where they want and get what they want that they don't see a need to speak out for their wants??

Anybody any experiences with their own child, and would like to share it so that we all may know if its true?

maybe i need a new post to see the results .....

[patreiche]

My grandson didn't start talking until 16 months and he was only one language. You need to concentrate on getting them to make some sort of sound for what they want. Start with food and the words more, all done, bye, etc. Concentrate on five words. Make sure they are looking at your mouth when you say the words. The video YBCR (your baby can read) helped him. I would sit him in front of TV in high chair while he was eating and play them for him. It is hard working with him on speech and I only had one, so I can only imagine what it would be like with twins.  He says a few words now but still is not speaking very clearly. He says more, no  , bye, nite-nite, juice, fruit bar, cheese, banana, dog, up, mom, grandma, grandpa, etc .. You notice they are things he really wants. so whatever they want try to get a noise from them before they get it.

[sheeberi]

Oh thank u so much for all ur replies... karma to all of u!
I let my hubby read all those 'coz he's kinda agreeing with the doctor but now he changed his mind. Again, thank u for ur wonderful insight especially to Nikita, Patience & Patreiche.

And yeah, they have YBCR & almost all the learning DVDs & software for babies available 'coz we want the best for them (well, all parents do). But I think I let them watch too much 'coz they are too addicted. Sometimes they get tired watching and just play with their toys but they'll cry whenever I change to something else or when their show is over & I ignore; they just like to listen even though they are not watching. The only time I don't play their DVDs, LR & other software is when I play & read books with them (aside from when they're asleep).  Well I'm busy too, I can't spend all my time with them so they watch learning DVDs almost all their waking hrs. Is that bad??? & can that also be the reason why they are not talking yet??

[iLusion]

My son's doc said the same thing when he wasn't talking at 18 months. One of the reason might be that he was exposed to 2 languages right from birth. another aspect that my friend suggested at that time was sometimes we are over attentive to them. for e.g. my son used to point at water bottle or he would do 'uuum', I used to give him water bottle. Before giving him a chance to talk I used to anticipate it. So once I realised that I made it a point to wait till atleat he has tried saying the word!

[PY]

Don't worry, it is nothing to be concerned, but I will start focusing more in speaking one language and once they start speaking go back to teach them more languages.But it ok!!

[KUAngie]

I wouldn't worry too much.  You are teaching multiple languages, which I think is great!  And I've heard about the secret language of twins, too.

Do they have other ways of communicating with you?  Do they gesture, or use signs?  They may feel less need to communicate verbally with you.  My ped said 3-5 words by 18 months, besides mommy and daddy.

Another issue could be hearing.  Have they had frequent ear infections?  That could hamper their hearing for the period of time and verbally speaking.

Angie

[staceycanada]

I wouldn't be concerned. Many children develop at different rates. Some children are participants right away, always wanting to say and do everything. Others like to sit back and observe. I would continue speaking to your children in any languages you feel fit to teach them. You r children will talk eventually and then you will wish they would just stop for a moment!

[Twinergy]

Hi sheeberi,
I have twins too, a boy and a girl, they just turned 18 months.   After watching my two go in very different directions I have concluded that kids show interests in different activities at a very early age.  What activities do your girls show a preference for?  Chances are that they are ahead of milestones in some areas and behind in others.  Milestones are just averages anyway and don’t account for the child’s individuality. 
I bet your girls are saying a lot more words than you are recognizing.  When most parents say their baby can say 5 words, they aren’t necessarily talking about words a stranger would understand.  More likely they mean that their baby has at 5 of her own words in baby talk that the parent understands.  When my kids were about 15 mo I was thinking it was odd that my daughter had been saying her brother’s name since she was 9 months old, but I had never said her name.  So I listened, and within 1 minute I heard it.  Her name is Rowan, but he says “Rururu,” and he says it all the time.  Where they are hearing so many languages, they might be using phonemes that sound similar interchangeably.  Here is an example, when my daughter was younger her word for no sounded like “ñeh” (the n sounded like the Spanish ñ in pequeño.)  I’m learning Spanish from CD’s so she probably picked it up there.  Some of my babies favorite words have been names of people they see frequently or any pets, “no”, words for animals they see (i.e. dog.)  I hope this helps you listen for what your girls are saying.

By the way, your babies’ pictures are beautiful.  Do you take them yourself?  Ever since my little ones became mobile, it has been nearly impossible to get a decent pic of them both at the same time.  My daughter has now learned to anticipate the flash and squints the moment she sees us with the camera.  Oh well.

[Twinergy]

Hi sheeberi,
Raising twin toddlers is no easy task, I hope you have more help than I do.  I am on my own with the twins nearly every day when my husband is at work.  Fortunately I don’t have a job outside the home; I think I would go crazy.  I relied on videos (Signing Time & YBCR) a lot when the twins were younger to help distract them while I left the room to get some chores done.  My girl was starting to tantrum if she didn’t get to watch them or if they ended.  I too was concerned about them watching too much TV, especially since I have heard horror stories about how bad this can become when they start to understand the power a tantrum can give them.  So I have been working on other ways to help them with separation anxiety.  One thing I do is hand them something “new” that they haven’t seen for a long time (of course there has to be 2 of the same thing or else there is a fight.)  I use random house hold objects, like wooden spoons, I also keep a stash of toys they don’t often so they can have a surprise like this.  I also have some games I play that where I am outside their play area and they are inside.  One is similar to peek-a-boo where I disappear & reappear.  The other is where we toss a ball back and forth over the gate to their area.  When I have to leave them I often bring a couple balls with me then toss them back to them if they get fussy.   These games work especially well for us since the kitchen is adjacent to their play area & it allows me to get work done.   I actually started cutting back on videos just before they turned 15 months & now they only watch them 3 or 4 times a week and are listening to a lot more music.

18 months is a lot more peaceful than 15 months was for us.  Their language abilities have also taken off.  It just keeps getting better (of course there is the occasional setback when somebody is teething or sick.)  Something just fell into place one day, it was just better than the day before.  And it has been that way for almost 2 weeks, even though they haven’t been sleeping well.  This happened about the same time they started recognizing themselves in the mirror and started asking for things.  There is still a lot of work, and I get overwhelmed if I stop and think about it all, but they are just more at ease. 

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