Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Doubt

I consider myself a very confident parent. While I am new to this whole thing, I think I'm doing a pretty good job. My kid seems happy, laughs a lot and generally has a good disposition. She eats well and healthy, better then her parents! She sleeps through the night (I hope I didn't jinx myself) and loves to be around new people. All this is good.
Last week my mom made a comment in passing. I don't think she even realized how much it got me or for that matter, that I found it worrying at all. When we were down at the beach for a day trip visiting my parents, my mom was talking to another grandmother who also had a grandchild Mo's age.
Mo was her usual crazy self. Jumping in the waves, running down the shoreline, and laughing at her grandpops. They were talking about toddlers and communication.
My mom said, "Yeah, Mo has a lot of signs and can communicate a lot through them. She just doesn't talk too much".
I can't tell you what the rest of the conversation was about because that sentence hung in my brain.
"She doesn't talk too much".
What almost 17 month old talks well? What's much? What's too much?
I never thought my kid had a problem with communicating. She signs- more, help, thanks- she says a few words- hi, dad, no, dog (or duck)- but I never thought she had an issue.
I have spent the past few days scouring the Internet. I picked my sister, Dr. Jeanna's brain this past Sunday about it. Should I worry that my almost 17 month old doesn't really speak too much? Of course, she gave me the "every child develops differently" line, which really didn't answer my question.
So here I am, worrying that something COULD be wrong with my kid, all because my mom made a comment in passing to a stranger!
I'm on the fence about contacting Early Intervention at this point. I think I'm going to wait two weeks and really observe her language. We're also going to meet with a new pediatrician in a month, so maybe he can offer some new insight.
I love Moira and want the best for her. She is happy and I don't want that to change.
Sometimes being a parent can be so stressful.

2 comments:

  1. Don't worry at all!!!!
    Kaiden didn't really start talking till about a month or two ago. He is going to be 2 in October. We have a nurse that follows him developmentally for the first 3 years of his life because he was a preemie. She had the speech therepist out to evaluate him when he was 17 months and the therapist was not concerned at all. She said if he gets to the age of 2 and still isn't saying anything then they would be concerned but not at this point.
    Once he began talking, he hasn't shut up and keeps picking up new words all the time. It's like one day it just "clicks."
    But seriously, I wouldn't worry about it yet. Just enjoy her fun loving, adventurous spirit!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jackie, you are a wonderful mother, just like your mom! ha,ha,ha... you don't have anything to worry about till Mo's about 16 years old!

    ReplyDelete

Let me know what you think.