# 13-month-old doesn't point-should I worry?



## NicaG (Jun 16, 2006)

My dd says a few words and mimics speech sounds all the time. She seems to understand a lot and can follow simple directions. But she doesn't point. Doctors always seem to ask about this. Should I be concerned? My older ds was a late talker, so I'm tuned into the signs of delayed speech...but dd seems fine except for the lack of pointing. When did your dc start pointing?


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## readytobedone (Apr 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NicaG* 
My dd says a few words and mimics speech sounds all the time. She seems to understand a lot and can follow simple directions. But she doesn't point. Doctors always seem to ask about this. Should I be concerned? My older ds was a late talker, so I'm tuned into the signs of delayed speech...but dd seems fine except for the lack of pointing. When did your dc start pointing?

it was before a year for us (i think 10-11 months). but i think a year is average, so at 13 months, i'd say you're still within the range where it would start.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Also, do you point? Lina didn't wave until quite late, but then I never waved around her, so the only exposure she got was strangers waving at her.


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## BroccoliBabies (Oct 20, 2009)

I was worried about the same thing when DS1 was about 13-14 months because it always showed up in every developmental progress checklist I saw..

I putting extra emphasis on pointing at different things for a few weeks and he started doing it, probably by 14 months.


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## Kappa (Oct 15, 2007)

I would not worry too much if all else seems fine. My son was never a big pointer, he's nineteen months now and doesn't really point much, he prefers to grab my finger and point my finger at what he wants named, or at the page or whatever. Does she reach for things?


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## askew (Jun 15, 2006)

I was worried about that too with my son, and at around 12 months or so I got him those books that are touch and feel books, you know where a piece of the animal is furry or scratchy etc. I used those to teach him to point. We would feel the furry bit, and then I would ask "where is the fuzzy belly" and he would point to it. He caught on in a matter of a week or so, and then started pointing to other things as well. Turns out he was totally capable of pointing but had never been given the input. KWIM?


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## SoxMama (Jul 7, 2009)

My DS is 13 months and doesn't point either. He does reach for things often but with an open hand. We don't point much in the house so it's not surprising that DS hasn't picked up on it. We'll practice more when our weather starts cooling down and we can get outside more (I know that sounds strange to most people).


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## Landover (Oct 12, 2007)

Doesn't really matter if you point or not. It is not the same type of gesture as a wave. A wave only has meaning because our culture gives it meaning. A point has value in and of itself showing that the child understands that their parent has a different perspective then they do. It is about the child seeking to gain the combined attention of himself and another on a third thing. I hope that makes sense.

If all other developmental milestones are appropriate, I wouldn't stress too much about it. I would watch it fairly carefully though. There have been studies that link the lack of pointing at 12 months to various forms of spectrum disorders, but these are mainly children who are clearly at risk as their expressive language overall is lacking.


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