# 17 month old doesn't shake head "yes" or "no"...



## MadilynPonder (Jul 5, 2012)

or say "yes" or "no"

He says around 12 words or so and understands a lot, knows body parts, can point to mom, dad, grandma, etc.

Im wondering if this is "normal." Anyone's child not doing this yet?

Thanks!


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## Sweetpeasand (Oct 25, 2012)

I think this sounds perfectly normal. Does you LO have other siblings? I have a friend with a two year old that understand basically everything...but refuses to actually talk! She just points and makes 'mmm' sounds. I think once the child is 2.5 years old is a time to be a bit more worried, but for now I think it's normal.


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## skycheattraffic (Apr 16, 2012)

Mine said "no" to everything, indiscriminately. I'd offer water, she'd say "no" and reach for it desperately







Next came the "yes" phase; same thing; everything was yes and she would, for example, reject the banana after I peeled it. Now at almost 19 months she is getting more consistent but waffles between too much yes and too much no - I guess to keep me on my toes lol.

FWIW, she didnt point until 18 months, wasn't interested in body parts (so couldn't identify any) until after 18 months and just now is using mommy, daddy, "gamma" and "gampa" consistently for the right people. She's been doing animal sounds for months now and can do at least 15 different ones (or say the animal's name). For a long time she spoke way better animal than English. When we were at the dr's office around 16 months I asked what they were looking for in terms of language at 18 months. She said 12 attempted words - doesn't have to be fully clear or too consistent, just that she is trying to communicate and can make a variet of sounds.

Your toddler sounds perfectly normal. They all figure things out differently at different times based on what interests them and what their personality is like. I'm not an expert but he sounds just perfect: very similar to both my daughter and my niece at that age.


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## Skippy918 (Jul 15, 2008)

My 17 month old doesn't use yes or no yet either. She'll shake her head no sometimes if I offer her something, but she'll end up eating it anyway. We're still in the point and grunt phase and she knows signs for more, milk and all done and some animal noises. She also knows how to say mama, bath and ball.


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## MadilynPonder (Jul 5, 2012)

Thank you for your replies! Sorry I took so long to write back!!


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## KermitII63 (Oct 29, 2009)

We taught DS sign language for yes--he was shaking his head "no," but couldn't figure the nod, and yes in sign language (basically make a fist and "nod" your fist up and down) was really easy for him and he caught on right away and started doing it almost immediately. Might be worth a try!


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## sageowl (Nov 16, 2010)

Can't speak to whether or not it's "normal", but for what it's worth, DS didn't do it either for the longest time. He started nodding for "no" way before "yes" (probably around 18 mos?), and is still not that great about saying or nodding yes. I wouldn't worry about it, but if you want to encourage it, be sure to practice it a lot and really ham it up...that seems to help.


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## septbabymama (Mar 11, 2008)

I wouldn't worry so much. They all develop at their own pace. I knew a little girl who is very social and bright now as a 5 year old, but when she was younger was extremely shy and wouldn't answer people unless she knew them really well. She also refused to wave. That was one thing noticeable that she refused to do and she's perfectly fine now.


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## MadilynPonder (Jul 5, 2012)

Thanks a lot everyone!

Recently he's been sharing his head "no" for some questions I ask, even if I know he means yes.


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