Why isn't my one-year-old talking yet?
At one year old, children may not yet speak actual words or may drop ending syllables and mix up sounds when trying to talk. This leaves parents constantly questioning whether they should be doing more to encourage speech or if they are accidentally overwhelming their child.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Why isn't my one-year-old talking yet?
- 1comparing milestones with other childrenDid this help you?
- 2constantly talking, reading, counting, and naming things throughout the dayDid this help you?
- 3using sign language like 'all done' during feedingDid this help you?
- 4watching educational videos like ms RachelDid this help you?
- 5Using a rollercoaster voice technique to work through the word togetherDid this help you?
- 6Asking the child to close their mouth at the end of the wordDid this help you?
- 7Ignoring the phase or avoiding making mention of it, as pointing it out can turn it into a gameDid this help you?
- 8Attending physical therapy (PT) for muscle weakness and walkingDid this help you?
- 9Using a push walker to encourage independent movementDid this help you?
- 10Comparing the child's development to older siblings or listening to comments from othersDid this help you?
- 11interpreting the child's speech for othersDid this help you?
- 12comparing the child's development with siblings or peersDid this help you?
- 13Enrolling the child in part-time preschool, YMCA programs, or gymnastics to socialize with other kids.Did this help you?
- 14Prompting the child by asking them to 'use your words' instead of anticipating their needs and speaking for them.Did this help you?
- 15Repeating the child's sentences back with correct pronunciation rather than overtly correcting their mistakes.Did this help you?
- 16Reading books about feelings and having deep conversations to help them build emotional vocabulary.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I just don’t know what more I can do to encourage talking.”source ↗
“Do I need to be doing more? Just give it time? Am I overwhelming him or something?”source ↗
“Ik we aren’t supposed to compare but I’m like why doesn’t he say ANY words at all.”source ↗
“my kid basically didn't speak out loud much until she was two and her word explosion happened at daycare.”source ↗
“I would not notice any “speech difficulty” were it not for getting these occasional comments.”source ↗
“Is this anything to be concerned about or flag for an SLP?”source ↗
“Thank you lol I just freak myself out 😭”source ↗
“While they’re hitting milestones, neither of my kids are speaking at the level of their peers and it’s making me feel like I’m doing something wrong.”source ↗
“When I try to get him to elaborate on his emotions he just cries. When his dad tries, he gets frustrated and completely shuts down and doesn’t want to talk at all.”source ↗
“Why does every child seem to be able to express themselves except mine, no matter how much I try?”source ↗
“Basically she noticed what we did not; that my husband, myself and my two older daughters were all speaking for him. We just knew him so well and would know what he wanted when he just simply grunted, and we would run to get it.”source ↗
“Toddler doesn’t say ending Syllables, “mom” = mah but they normally say “momma” but sometimes they’ll just ignore the ending even when we are taking a moment to teach them how to say “mo-mm” the right way and they’ll continue to repeat “ma” like they don’t even hear the mmm at the end when we say it”source ↗
“or sometimes they’ll switch them up, for example.. saying yes they say “ye” and when trying to work through the word together we say “YeESsss” like a rollercoaster (that works best) and then asking them to say it alone they say “Sssss- YE”, same with other words also.. is this usual? Anyone else child do this?”source ↗
“My son is 18 months old today. He’s not walking or talking much (says mama, dada)”source ↗
“That’s where my worry is, I can’t tell if this is just a developmental delay or if I should start him in early intervention.”source ↗
“Has anyone else had a late walker/talker? My other children were a whole other experience.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Is my toddler crying too much compared to other kids?
- 2Am I overthinking my toddler’s behavior, or is it a problem?
- 2How do you stop worrying about making parenting mistakes?
- 2Why is my child always late getting ready for school?
- 2Why is my tall toddler refusing to walk unassisted?
- 4My child is constantly loud but their hearing is fine