New Parents Cannot Tell If Infant Babbling Delays Signal a Problem

“Hello, I know there's an enormous range of "normal" for baby development and milestones but I'm curious whether other parents with babies similar to mine experienced speech delays or other issues later on. My baby will be 9 months in a few days and canonically babbled for a few days at 7ish months then stopped for several weeks then started again but will only babble a few times a day. Between 5-10 times if I had to put a number on it. I celebrate whenever we get a "bababa”

“My son is 10 weeks and I’ve only seen a handful of true “social smiles,” like maybe 3. Most smiles are gas related. I’m worried that something is wrong or that this might be a sign of autism (and please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with neurodivergence. It’s just depending on the level it could make things harder for him). He does make eye contact and seems soothed when I pick him up when he’s upset (the intensity of his crying goes down) but I’m still wondering”

“Hello! First time mom here. My son is determined and happy young man. He is 13 months. A few days ago he started shaking his head randomly up and down... like almost like a "yes" motion but not quite. It didn't bother me at first but it's at least 5 days and he is still doing it randomly throughout the day. I know he has 6 teeth coming in at once, not sure if it has anything to do with that. I am worried! Anyone else experience this with their baby? submitted by /u/”

“Hey everyone, I am looking for some advice or reassurance regarding my son. He is 1.7 years old our only child and does not really have clear purposeful words yet. He sometimes uses an index finger to point but often just whines when he wants something instead of pointing. He does say mama and dada but it feels more like babble rather than actually referring to us. On the plus side he is very affectionate. He hugs and kisses. He also has plenty of animal sound imitations loves songs and is a ver”

“Hi community! My baby is turning 10 months next week and he is doing great so far. He is extremely active, is crawling and pulling to stand and up until recently he was babbling nonstop. However, the past 2 weeks he is not interested in babbling and replaces that by grunting and screeeeaaaaming! He shouts all day long, and he grunts as well, with occasional babbling. Is this normal? What is going on? submitted by /u/Key-Succotash8734 [link] [comments]”

“My baby is just over 6 months old and I’m really worried about him not meeting milestones. So long story short but he was born at 36+6 and for the first few weeks of his life he acted like a premmie despite being almost term. We have had weight gain issues since the beginning but even with the poor weight gain he was meeting all his milestones. Now that he’s 6 months and gaining good weight I have noticed he has slowed down on meeting milestones. Every other baby around me is doing so much more”

“I hate that I’m making this a question but does this sound like Autism? I didn’t want to go down the path of questions about my six month old because I know you can’t get a diagnosis at this age. I guess I’m just looking for opinions still though on whether I should keep tabs on these behaviours I have a six month old. His a happy little boy and his doing well except his a little delayed with gross motor development (rolling onto his tummy) The things that concern me are behaviours of his. He Gr”

“Am I thinking too much? My boy is soon 16 months, he has no words yet and not calling us mama or dada. He made sounds like ahhhh, raaaaa and ba (ba is not consistent) He started to go to nursery one month ago, and it really worries me when I pick him up from nursery, he doesn’t run to me or give me a hug, doesn’t acknowledge me is there, today he was looking at other parents and tried to pick up a stone from the floor. At home, he can carrying a broom and walk around in circle or around the hous”

“Our daughter is 9 months old and has always been high needs. Our paediatrician has made offhand comments about her temperament, and a few strangers have brought up neurodivergence or ADHD after witnessing a meltdown, granted, none of them were experts, and she's consistently meeting all of her milestones (great back-and-forth interaction, greets the dogs, etc.). Based on where she is, we've decided against higher-stress sleep training methods, mainly because we don't think she'd”

“Hi all. Third time dad here, and I thought I'd seen it all by now. Our daughter is 3.5 weeks old, born by c section at a hefty 9lb 15oz (4.52kg), exclusively breastfed, and in almost every way things are going brilliantly. The one thing that has us rattled is the noise she makes during and straight after feeds. She gasps, splutters and honestly sounds like she's choking or drowning, and she seems to gulp down a lot of air while she's at it. Regular hiccups too, and 6 or 7 times so fa”

“When did your LO start talking??? My 15.5 month old babbles like crazy and def thinks he’s having a conversation with you lol. But no real words yet. Doctor said he may be the type that is more focused on motor control things (which he is like a little danger monkey) and sometimes results in a word explosion later on… but she said she wants him to have 10 words by 18 months… I am so worried that won’t happen. submitted by /u/gldn_mango [link] [comments]”

“I’ve a 6.5 month old son. I’m a FTM and really worries because he squeals, makes grrrrr sounds, says aaa aa aa but no consonants yet. No pa ba ma words. Is this normal? When did your baby babble in consonants. I’m really anxious, please help me out? I think he babbled ba ba for a few days at 5 months then stopped :( submitted by /u/Melodic-Yard-859 [link] [comments]”

“I’ve a 6.5 month old son. I’m a FTM and really worries because he squeals, makes grrrrr sounds, says aaa aa aa but no consonants yet. No pa ba ma words. Is this normal? When did your baby babble in consonants. I’m really anxious, please help me out? I think he babbled ba ba for a few days at 5 months then stopped :( submitted by /u/Melodic-Yard-859 [link] [comments]”

“My baby I currently 5.5 months. She skipped cooing altogether and went straight to babbling around 3.5 months. She was babbling and pterodactyl screeching until a month ago at 4.5 months. She suddenly just stopped and now she just laughs, smiles, and blows raspberries. I know they say babies pause on other skills while working on motor skills but in this time, she’s learned to roll both ways and sit independently. I figured she would go back to her babbling by now but she hasn’t and it been a fu”

“Hi — First time mom here. My daughter will be 9 months in a couple days. She has been babbling since July mamama or dadada, however, her babbling is very inconsistent. She will babble every day for a week straight and then go long stretches (sometimes a couple weeks) without babbling. Then she will go back to babbling daily for a week or two and have another pause. She’s done this several times now. I’m a bit concerned her babbling should be more consistent by now? Anyone experience this?”

“Hi — First time mom here. My daughter will be 9 months in a couple days. She has been babbling since July mamama or dadada, however, her babbling is very inconsistent. She will babble every day for a week straight and then go long stretches (sometimes a couple weeks) without babbling. Then she will go back to babbling daily for a week or two and have another pause. She’s done this several times now. I’m a bit concerned her babbling should be more consistent by now? Anyone experience this?”

“Hi — First time mom here. My daughter will be 9 months in a couple days. She has been babbling since July mamama or dadada, however, her babbling is very inconsistent. She will babble every day for a week straight and then go long stretches (sometimes a couple weeks) without babbling. Then she will go back to babbling daily for a week or two and have another pause. She’s done this several times now. I’m a bit concerned her babbling should be more consistent by now? Anyone experience this?”

“I’m hoping a few people have experienced something similar and seen it improve for both my and my wife’s mental health…. My son is about 4 and a half months old. About the time of his 4 month appointment he completely stopped babbling or talking or whatever you would refer to it as. Now, the only noises he’ll make are fussing noises. He still smiles and responds to our voices but isn’t cooing or anything along the lines. I didn’t think much of it until it concerned my wife and now I’m concerned.”

“Really worried about my 15-week-old daughter. I am pushing my husband a lot for early evaluation. The difference between my first baby and this baby feels quite significant, and I’m considering asking for an early developmental evaluation. She is 3.5 months old and still isn’t really cooing. She makes happy squealing sounds and occasional “ooh”/“aah” sounds. She smiles sometimes, especially at the mirror, and has giggled a few times. She is trying to roll, brings her hands to her mouth, and foll”

“My baby is 9 months and isn’t crawling on all fours, still only army crawls. Also is not speaking any words, babbling yes, but nothing clear. Is this normal? I feel my baby is behind. Not sure. First time mom. submitted by /u/Key-Garage4634 [link] [comments]”

“My 5 m old is still only on aga, ga, he , gi and eh type nosies My other child didn’t babble until 8 months and spoke well on time. When he cries though I hear ama, ma ma and da da. He isn’t calling out to anyone because his dad goes by Ba. So I’m just wondering is the sounds made when he cry’s included? submitted by /u/Ok-Cartoonist-8919 [link] [comments]”

“My son is 13 months right now. He’s said “mama,” “dada,” and has babbled in the past. He’s just not saying anything anymore. He just grunts or yells. He does nod his head for yes and shakes his head for no, so there’s some communication, but otherwise nothing. No signing, no other language development, and I feel like he’s backtracked since he doesn’t even say mama or dada anymore. I feel like we try to encourage him to communicate but he just gets frustrated. I’m not sure what to do. We talk to”

“Premise - I am not US based, we have no early intervention programs one can self refer to, and I plan to bring this up to his pediatrician in his next visit, which is soon, but in the meantime I guess I am seeking some form of reassurance so I don't lose sleep over it? (yes I have generalised anxiety!). I am also fairly certain the approach here is always wait and see. A while back, I freaked myself out by checking the 9-month-old CDC milestones because my baby does not always respond to his”

“She isn’t necessarily able to time them but they are constant. Sometimes 3 minutes apart sometimes 10. Doc didn’t seem concerned at all. No bleeding and baby is completely fine otherwise. submitted by /u/pizza_with_ranch [link] [comments]”

“Baby has been slower than average on a lot of her milestones and I’m not gonna lie it worries me, even when our pediatrician is reassuring. At 13 months baby doesn’t wave or clap her hands, doesn’t have a pincer grip and still has to be hand fed, isn’t walking or talking. I know the latter two aren’t necessarily concerns yet, but baby wasn’t sitting independently until 9 months or crawling until 10. She’s always been smaller than average, and I’ve wondered if some milestones are tied to that. Sh”

“We’re coming up on 13 months and still no words with meaning. He has a good amount of babble going on, he waves, claps, and points, and makes noises when he wants our attention on something. If you had a late talker did you do anything special to help? We read books before naps and bed and he’s started to bring us books during the day which usually we read a page or two and then he’s on to something else. I try to narrate a lot of what we are doing and give a name to things he points at. s”

“We’re going to see doctor but ever since baby was little she has these little facial expressions where the top part of the whites of her eyes show (usually when it’s dark room or when she’s excited it seems). However Google has shown that it could also be a sign of hydrocephalus and now worried. She doesn’t have a big head, no sign of veins or bulging soft spot, and has been rolling consistently tummy to back, doesn’t seem lethargic or irritable (quite the opposite she’s always a very happy chil”

“Hey dads, when our first kid was born 2 months ago my wife and I noticed one of her pupils was in the shape of a keyhole rather than a circle in her left eye. We took in her into the pediatrician where we told she has an iris coloboma and we were referred to an optometrist. We were researching this whole topic heavily and we were hoping that it was only her iris that was affected. This would mainly just be a cosmetic issue and she could have some slight light sensitivity which we could navigate.”

“I have no frame of reference for a normal baby. And I have PPA. But I just keep seeing people say they can really converse with their babies and I can’t say the same about mine. She’s 4.5 months. She mostly coos when she’s playing with her toys or getting frustrated. I get the occasional tiny coo when I’m holding her. But I can’t make noises at her and then she makes noises back. But when shes in her good mood she makes all kinds of sounds and raspberries. She’s extremely smiley at people. She m”

“Does anybody’s baby look up then shake their head? My son has started to do this a lot recently. I dont think anything is medically wrong as he will usually stop if I redirect him, but just wondering if this is common or not. submitted by /u/Cautious_Advance_969 [link] [comments]”

“Like the title says, I’m concerned about my little boy not responding when we call for him. He just turned 9 months old, and in prep for his 9mo appointment on Friday, I went through the milestones his doctor will ask about and realized my son doesn’t really respond to his name. He is doing really well on all other milestones besides crawling, he’s juuuust started to kind of hitch crawl. But he’s a very talkative, happy, engaged little baby and meets everything. I should say when we’re on his le”

“How much babbling is expected at 10.5 months? Is it supposed to be an all day thing? He babbles but is also perfectly content being quiet. His sounds are mama dada ahh yaya. (Sometimes a lot of ahh. Kind of like loud grunt. Is that normal?) He can entertain himself quietly or watch whats going on quietly, even for long periods of time. Im concerned with how much is expected. He squeals when he is excited and loves to hi five and play peekaboo. Crawls fast, Climbs everything he can get his hands”

“My baby just turned 9 months old and still can't sit up on her own. At today's pediatrician visit, the doctor said it was something she wasn't entirely happy about. However, when she sat her down with a toy in front of her, she was able to stay seated for a few seconds. We've been referred to a specialist just to be safe, although the pediatrician thinks it's probably more related to a lack of practice and stimulation than an actual physical issue. We've never really done”

“I’m spiralling with PPA right now. My son is going to be 8 months next week but was born 36 weeks 5 days so his adjusted age is a little earlier than his chronological age. He’s sitting, crawling, pulling to stand and yells, hmms, ahhs and started growling and blows raspberries. But he doesn’t really do vocal play or imitate, he’s done it briefly once or twice with his dad. But he seems more physically motivated but it’s driving me insane why he’s not babbling or vocal playing. I also don’t know”

“I’m writing this in hopes of getting some advice on my current situation. At my baby’s 12m appt we brought up the fact that hes showing some repetitive behaviors that started at around 10 months( shaking head, flapping arms) and his Dr refered us to get an Autism evaluation. At the time of the visit my baby had already been babbling “mama” for a few weeks and the morning of the appt he babbled “dada” for the first time. The Dr asked about his speech and we told him about those two words he said”

“Hi. My boy just turned 7 months few days ago and he doesnt relly babble. No “mamamama”, “bababa”, “dada”… I am worried because few of our friends have boys at the same age as my baby (give or take few days) and they are all way more talkative. I admit that my baby is advanced in gross motor skills. He crawls, sits, and is pulling to stand (all learned on his own last month). I heard sometimes babies who focus on motor skills dont progress in social and vice versa but I do have PPA and find it in”

“Kind of losing my mind over milestones. Anyone else feel anxiety over this? My son is 9 months old and seems to be falling behind in some areas. Mainly gross motor skills. He spent some time in the ICU on a ventilator when he was 5 weeks old due to a condition he was born with. He also had hip dysplasia and spent 12 weeks in a "pavlik harness". I knew he had some set backs and some delays were to be expected it but I cant help but obsess over milestones. Keep coming back to the ASQ-3 q”

“My 9.5 month old (born at 37+5, if that matters) doesn’t babble consonants. He screeches, says a lot of vowel sounds, looks to me for validation that I saw something, and holds his hands up to be picked up. He only responds to his name about 30% of the time. I also feel like he does some “stimming” behaviors. I do EVERYTHING recommended for language development, kind of to the point of exhaustion 😅 and still nothing. Granted I wasn’t doing everything under the sun until about 7-8 months old, ot”

“Basically as title reads - he is 9.5 months. Makes lots of vowel noises, blows raspberries constantly. Pointing, responds to his name, looks in direction of his preferred people when asked “where’s mama?”, starting to wave hi/bye/night night. But still no repetitive or singular consonants like baba mama dada etc. We read, imitate all of his noises, demonstrate the consonant sounds when he looks at us. I’ve already put in a referral to local developmental support but what else can we do to help h”

“Basically as title reads - he is 9.5 months. Makes lots of vowel noises, blows raspberries constantly. Pointing, responds to his name, looks in direction of his preferred people when asked “where’s mama?”, starting to wave hi/bye/night night. But still no repetitive or singular consonants like baba mama dada etc. We read, imitate all of his noises, demonstrate the consonant sounds when he looks at us. I’ve already put in a referral to local developmental support but what else can we do to help h”

“My baby turned 8 months 1 week ago. He passed the stage where everything he wanted to do was blowing raspberries. He does vocalise himself and says a lot of eh sounds and ah and shrikes like a dinosaur. He is not babbling at all though. I rarely hear a “ma” and most often it’s a “mmmm” sound but again not too often. He is still to babble and say “mamama” or “dadada” we never had that yet. He does respond to his name and occasionally takes turns in chatting. But it’s been quite some time that he”

“Hi all. I’m worried about my child’s social development at almost 9 months. - Babbles but not back and forth - Makes no gestures except for reaching up when I initiate it - Does not interact with us unless we try hard to get attention - Doesn’t imitate my smile when I smile most of the time - Makes eye contact but not to interact rather to check in then continue playing - Has stranger danger and a strong preference for me as the mother - Does not enjoy kisses/cuddles from anyone even me I find m”

“I’m writing as a slightly worried mom and would love to hear your experiences. My son is almost 14 months old, and so far he has reached all of his developmental milestones, especially when it comes to movement. He has been crawling for almost 4 months now, and he has been cruising along furniture for about 3 months. Around 3 weeks ago, he started standing up independently — not only by pulling himself up while holding onto something, but also getting into a standing position without needing sup”

“So yes, I had my son 9 months ago. At 3 months pp I found out I was pregnant. Im currently 30 weeks with a little girl. I guess im asking for a bit advice or reasoning. The past few weeks have been so exhausting, im just so so tired. Like ready to put him down for a nap as soon as he wakes. Is it, I have a 9 month old crawler? Im pregnant? Something maybe medically going on? Mixture? What can I do to remedy the exhaustion & lack of motivation? I feel so guilty for being so tired always. &#32”

“Hi! My baby is almost 5 months old. He was really sleepy and rolling on the bed, and hit the side of his head to the wall. But wasn’t hard enough for me to hear a hit, if that makes sense. He did cry a little, but I was able to soothe him with breathing and then a bit of jumpy play where he had a lot of fun and laughed a lot and got more tired. He fell asleep shortly afterward and now I’m freaking out wondering if I should look for concussion? New mom anxiety. Thanks! submitted by /u”

“For context, we took our almost 6 month old baby in to see if she had an ear infection. (Turns out, she’s just a gunky gal.) She saw a pediatrician on staff but not our usual. That pediatrician said she should be sleeping through the night at this point. But everything I’ve seen and read says it’s normal for breastfed babies (she has never had formula and we just started solids this week) to wake 2-3 times during the night to eat. Which she does. She usually wakes to eat 11, 2, 5. She dream feed”

“I breastfed my son until 2 months shy of his 2nd bday. I’m now pregnant with my second and the last couple of months or so my son has become touchy again. He’s almost 4 and idk if it’s my hormones or what? He pushes on my boobs or yesterday he just stuck his hand in my top. He kinda does the same with my husband. I’m just like what’s going on is this normal? submitted by /u/Starry_burn25 [link] [comments]”

“Hello! My 9 month old has been vomiting and with diarrea for almost 2 weeks now. It has gotten better little by little but he is still only able to keep down liquids. Pediatricians took a stool sample and it came back with astrovirus detected. I had never heard of this before and I barely see anything online about it. Has anyone else’s little one gone through this? submitted by /u/kaleid_27 [link] [comments]”

“Hi Friends! I have an amazing son whom I love very much. Unfortunately he seems to have a delay in expressive language. He is 10 months old and babbles very rarely and is generally very quiet. He seems to have strong receptive language and understands a lot. He is an only child. Any science backed ways to encourage spoken/expressive language in babies? I read to him a lot. Would it be helpful to organize playdates with babies his age? Would exposure to other babies help? Any advice will be great”

“My baby boy is 3.5 weeks old. Tonight he’s been crying like he’s in pain. When laying down he screams. When up right he screams. We try to calm him down and he’s calm for a few seconds but starts scream crying again. We think he might have silent reflux. Are we overreacting if we take him to the ER at our local children’s hospital? Yes we are aware that we might be waiting longer since this isn’t a real emergency but we are desperate and worried for our little one because he’s in pain and it jus”

“My son is 7 mos old, he hasn’t started babbling but he will make noises (blowing raspberries,screeches and will even do dinosaur like noises). I’m curious to hear around when did anyone’s baby start to babble ? I try not to compare but I have my niece who’s only a month older than my son, she started saying Dada since she was 6 months. I know babies go at their own pace but as a FTM i obviously overthink everythinggggg ugh submitted by /u/pinklol2 [link] [comments]”

“Ever since my baby was born (10 months) I’ve had anxiety that he is autistic. I struggle a lot with anxiety vs intuition. I have no reason to think he is besides him being a serious baby. He takes awhile to warm up to people and everyone comments on how serious and observant he is. He doesn’t babble consonants much, just mamamama occasionally. Growls and blows raspberries constantly, and will do it back and forth with you. Besides that, he smiles, laughs, plays peekaboo, plays with other babies.”

“Anyone else have more floaters or more visible floaters after getting pregnant? I’m 31 weeks pregnant and have noticed a few more or noticeable floaters since 28 weeks? Did it get better for anyone after giving birth? No, I don’t have pre eclampsia submitted by /u/Zestyclose-Ladder-89 [link] [comments]”

“I’m 31 weeks and was diagnosed with gestational hypertension on Sunday. FTM, never had issues with high blood pressure. I went in because I had a brief weird vision thing, and they monitored me and diagnosed me because I kept reading at about 140/95. I went in again on Wednesday because I wasn’t feeling right, and I had a couple REALLY high readings creeping up to 106 diastolic. My labs looked great though so no preeclampsia. Now my problem is that I am so stressed about this that it is messing”

“My 9 months is babbling very infrequent . He did say mama for about 4 to 5 days then he has stopped babbling for about 2 weeks now. He is crawling and he actually crawl from bedroom to living room to find me when I call him in the living room . I don't know they can do at this age ??? He turn to his name when not busy, he look at the clock and tv everytime I asked him " where is the tv, clock?" He gets off the bed to floor with landing feet to the ground first. He smile and can do”

“Would you let your baby swim at the lake with a 3 day old cat scratch? I could be overthinking this entirely but I’m frustrated. 7 month old was at my MILs house and was scratched by the cat. We’re supposed to be going to the lake on Saturday. Mr. Google says 3 day old cuts are still too fresh and are risky with lake water. Over thinking or should I really not let him in the water? submitted by /u/IndividualSea8075 [link] [comments]”