My son is 18 months old now. He’s huge for his age, and he’s developing more and more of a personality. He’s becoming more and more defined, and it’s fun to see.
Today I decided to go online and look up some tips and tricks and get some advice on when to start potty training him. (Especially since some old lady yelled at my boyfriend for buying diapers because she “had them all trained at 15 months”) One site provided me with a short checklist of six signs to tell if your child is ready. Charlie only had a few signs, but one of the clues was verbal communication. If they can tell you or give you some sort of indication that they need to go. Since Charlie’s only 18 months, I can forgo the toilet training for a little while longer, no harm.
I started searching online through some parenting groups for indications on when children usually begin talking. It basically says that some kids can start as early as six months, and by 18 months they should know around 50 words, and by two years, they should be pulling together short sentences.
Now I’m concerned. Charlie doesn’t talk. I know he can say words, he’s said a couple of them already. Things like “Mama” “Baba” and whatnot. It’s like he just doesn’t like to. I can’t coax him into saying words no matter how many times I try. I try repeatedly to get him to say a simple word like “baba” and he just smiles at me and laughs. He can say it on his own if he wants to. One of the most memorable things was when he jumped out of my closet and he yelled “Ham!” It was really, really funny.
So I know that he knows words, but he just doesn’t like to speak them, especially if he’s told to. He knows words, he doesn’t like to communicate with them, it seems. I read to him, he has books with lots of pictures, and he loves the Baby Flash Cards I have on my iPhone, when I’ll say the words out loud, and then he pushes the touch screen to change the pictures. He loves it. I’ve cut down on TV time a lot, which I’m sure will help. Sitting and trying to coax him to say even simple words doesn’t work for me though. Although he knows how to point, he grunts and growls some things, and even his facial expressions can be used to communicate with me. He understand words that I say, like “Charlie, get down off the chair.” He understands the command, and he climbs down, and usually runs in for a hug.
When asking for some advice and things on some online parenting groups, I found myself being ripped apart by some of these other mothers. One of them even said “That is ineffective parenting, and you are the one at fault here!” I’ve been told that its likely ADD or some other kind of disability. They are telling me that my child is under developed. I’m being told to take him to a doctor or a pediatrician right away and get him checked out. I probably should anyway, but I can’t help but feel stung by these accusations that I’m not doing my job effectively. Now I’m starting to question everything I do. This is my first child, and I’m doing the best I can, but it’s not good enough apparently.
Today I decided to go online and look up some tips and tricks and get some advice on when to start potty training him. (Especially since some old lady yelled at my boyfriend for buying diapers because she “had them all trained at 15 months”) One site provided me with a short checklist of six signs to tell if your child is ready. Charlie only had a few signs, but one of the clues was verbal communication. If they can tell you or give you some sort of indication that they need to go. Since Charlie’s only 18 months, I can forgo the toilet training for a little while longer, no harm.
I started searching online through some parenting groups for indications on when children usually begin talking. It basically says that some kids can start as early as six months, and by 18 months they should know around 50 words, and by two years, they should be pulling together short sentences.
Now I’m concerned. Charlie doesn’t talk. I know he can say words, he’s said a couple of them already. Things like “Mama” “Baba” and whatnot. It’s like he just doesn’t like to. I can’t coax him into saying words no matter how many times I try. I try repeatedly to get him to say a simple word like “baba” and he just smiles at me and laughs. He can say it on his own if he wants to. One of the most memorable things was when he jumped out of my closet and he yelled “Ham!” It was really, really funny.
So I know that he knows words, but he just doesn’t like to speak them, especially if he’s told to. He knows words, he doesn’t like to communicate with them, it seems. I read to him, he has books with lots of pictures, and he loves the Baby Flash Cards I have on my iPhone, when I’ll say the words out loud, and then he pushes the touch screen to change the pictures. He loves it. I’ve cut down on TV time a lot, which I’m sure will help. Sitting and trying to coax him to say even simple words doesn’t work for me though. Although he knows how to point, he grunts and growls some things, and even his facial expressions can be used to communicate with me. He understand words that I say, like “Charlie, get down off the chair.” He understands the command, and he climbs down, and usually runs in for a hug.
When asking for some advice and things on some online parenting groups, I found myself being ripped apart by some of these other mothers. One of them even said “That is ineffective parenting, and you are the one at fault here!” I’ve been told that its likely ADD or some other kind of disability. They are telling me that my child is under developed. I’m being told to take him to a doctor or a pediatrician right away and get him checked out. I probably should anyway, but I can’t help but feel stung by these accusations that I’m not doing my job effectively. Now I’m starting to question everything I do. This is my first child, and I’m doing the best I can, but it’s not good enough apparently.
