15 Month Old Not Talking PART 2!!... Tongue Tied...

Updated on April 29, 2011
R.D. asks from Richmond, VA
17 answers

My 15 month old son says mama, dada, and nye nye (night night, when he's tired). If he wants more of something, instead of 'more please', he says mama. He listens pretty well (well, he understands, I don't know so much about the actual listening, LOL), like if you tell him to blow a kiss, wave bye bye, jump, put it away, etc...

I was just thinking about it, and he kiiiiind of babbles, but not really. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART (maybe).... he was tongue tied at birth. We got his tongue clipped when we was a day old, so that SHOULDN'T be an issue... but now I'm wondering if maybe this has something to do with it. He's always been very grunty and growly (because he think's he's a riot), but maybe he's really having trouble forming words? It's too young to tell and he doesn't go to the doctor for another 3 months....

.... but has anyone else's child had an issue like this after having their tied tongue clipped??

I'm usually not a worry wart and let kids 'come into their own, on their own terms', but if this is going to be a future issue I'd like to prepare myself now, you know?

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R.K.

answers from Boston on

Tongue ties can reattach has that been ruled out? My little guy didn't really talk much until 2 1/2 and that was with speech.

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

He sounds perfectly fine to me! I was tongue tied for my entire childhood, and finally had it trimmed when I was 17, for dental reasons. I did have a lisp that resolved after that, but it never kept me from talking.

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

contact Early Intervention in your area and simply have your munchkin evaluated if you truely are concerned ... I was tongue tied and not clipped and speaking phrases at 18 mo (youngest lots of talkers). My son was clipped (like yours) and has a speech delay (among other issues) and the speech therepist agreed that it was best to do for him and that either way he would have had a delay. So ... contact Early Intervention and get their veiw on the subject.

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V.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter had a tongue tie but we didn’t have it clipped until she was 6 yrs old. She started talking clearly by the time she was a year old and her vocabulary took off. The tongue tie didn’t start affecting her until 1st grade when she developed a lisp.

My son, does NOT have a tongue tie, and when he wasn’t talking by 18 months we got early intervention. He didn’t start speaking clearly until he was about 3. He still receives speech services 2 x’s a week. Now he never stops talking! LOL!

Bottom line is that I don’t think it has anything to do with his tongue tie but if you’re concerned, like I was about my son at 18 months, talk to your ped and get some numbers for early intervention if he feels it's necessary.

However, I do also agree that your son sounds like he is very much within normal development =-)

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D.S.

answers from Houston on

get ahold of eci they can help you. I don't know that much about toungue tied but also consider the possibility that he has fluid in his ears. Mine has fluid and all that jazz and babbles constantly. But you saying he kinda babbles makes me think it is more the toungue. eci will hook you up with a speech therapist. So I think that is your best route right now. Start there and go accordingly. The speech therapist is the one who can really tell you if it is an ear issue or a toungue issue.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Sounds like a normal 15 month old. I would just relax and have fun with him. Personally, I would wait to have him evaluated. Certainly you can
mention it to your pediatrician when you go, but please do not lose sleep over this.

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L.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

R.,

He is very much still completely within a NORMAL developmental level for speech. Really. Relax.

I totally understand wanting to be as prepared as possible to hit a problem head on, but really, it is absolutely NORMAL for a 15 month old LITTLE BOY to not be speaking much at this point. I have no science to back it up, but I really do feel that there is something to boys developing language differently than girls, at least generally speaking.

I know you have a valid concern with the tongue tied issue, but it's way to early to be attributing lack of speech to anything. Again, he is well within the normal range at this point. Many, many babies, boys and girls are JUST on the cusp of talking at 15 months. SO . TOTALLY . NORMAL .

Smile! You appear to have a perfectly normal little boy! Of course, I'm not a doctor, or a speech/language pathologist, but for what it's worth, that's my $ .02!

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J.S.

answers from Hartford on

Having a frenulum clipped improves speech. If you hadn't had it clipped, THAT would have hindered speech. So no, having it clipped can't cause a child to have a speech delay.

I think your son sounds like he's in the normal range, but you need to listen to your instincts. Contact your school system to have them set you up with Birth To Three or Early Intervention to have his speech evaluated and they can tell you for sure, and if he's delayed they can start him with in-home speech therapy.

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

I can't speak to being tongue tied (actually, I didn't know that was a real thing!)...
but my DS didn't utter his first word UNTIL he was 15mos old. Lots of babbling and "story telling" with gesture. But no words at all until 15mos. And even then, it was just "ball".

Now, 1 yr later, he won't shut up! This kid has the most insane vocabulary, and I have no idea where he gets half of it. The other day he said "c'mon mom, let's get this party started!" ????? I've never said that to him.

So, don't freak out just yet. Some kids are just later than others. When he starts talking a little more, it'll build fast.

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T.S.

answers from Washington DC on

At 15 months he is not supposed to say more than a few words (mostly mama and dada). He sounds perfectly normal to me!

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J.C.

answers from New York on

He might be on track. talk to the pediatrician at your next visit (or make a call) and see what he/she thinks. If they think it's an issue, they will recommned early intervention. But don't worry too much - as long as he understands and is saying a few things, he should be fine.

C.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter only said about 3 or 4 words at that age too, then once she hit 17-18 months, she started saying all kinds of words. Now at 20 months, I can't get her to shut up!! So don't worry too much. Good Luck!

R.C.

answers from Detroit on

My daughter wasn't tongue tied but she didn't start talking until she was 21 months. I figure you have until he's 2 before you need to get on it. Lots of kids don't start talking until they're 2 and yours is way ahead of where mine was at 15 months. He's doing great!!

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S.H.

answers from Richmond on

I would give it a little more time - maybe the 3 months until his next appt. My son was born in September and the January after he was 1 (16 mos old), he suddenly started talking up a storm. I remember b/c it started on New Year's Day - he said "no" for the 1st time and he hasn't been quiet since! Now at 2 1/2 no one can believe his vocabulary. Even his ped was floored. Give it a little more time then talk to his ped if you are still concerned and he hasn't progressed.

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K.P.

answers from Washington DC on

He sounds exactly like my 15 month old son. He doesn't say much and only when he wants to. My daughter was tongue tied and we had her tongue clipped at 4 weeks. She didn't say much but then around 18 months, out of nowhere, she started talking in 2 and 3 word sentences. She is 3 and most people think she's 4 or 5 because she speaks so well. I wouldn't worry too much about your son, he's still young.

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R.D.

answers from Washington DC on

Sounds normal but if you're concerned, google the county you live in and then add "early intervention." You should get some hits on how to contact an Infant and Toddler program. They evaluate children from birth to 3 years old and I do not think there's a fee. My friend did this when her son was maybe 2ish and someone came to her house once or twice a week to work with him. She was so relived. Good luck to you and your child.

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C.T.

answers from Washington DC on

He might just be a late talker. My son really did not say much until he was about 3. He talked to us - said the mama, dada, and an assortment of other things, but nothing close to what I heard other kids his age saying. 15 months is still very young, so I wouldn't be concerned just yet. You can always talk to your doctor about it, but I'd guess that they won't be concerned at this juncture.
Just to put it out there - I found that it is somewhat difficult to get help for a child who is not talking (or talking well) at a young age. I realized that my son had a problem when he was about 3, because I saw a significant difference between my son's speech abilities and others at his day care and preschool. I took him to no less than 3 specialists, and everyone wrote it off as, "oh, he's a boy - they just develop later." Meanwhile, other boys his age were having perfectly audible conversations with me. Once he went to kindergarten it was no more than 2 weeks before they had us in for a meet & greet with the speech therapist (unprovoked by me - they couldn't understand him either). He's done well ever since then.

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