Thursday, February 18, 2010 MJ asks

Q: Acid reflux-speech/babbling issue in almost 6 month old

Hi, I have a 5.5 month old baby girl who was diagnosed with acid reflux at 3 months. She is on prevacid 15mg solutab(7.5 mg am, 7.5 mg PM) She weighs 15Lb.14 oz at 5.5 months and takes about 28-30 oz of formula a day + 1 tbsp cereal during the afternoon. Feeding is a struggle at times but she will eat 2-3 oz at a time and the rest may or may not be a struggle depending on the day.

My question is more on her physical/social developmet skills. She is rolling over(tummy to back) but not the other way around. She tends to 'swim' a lot while on tummy time and has recently started trying to lift her legs while on the tummy(like in preparation to crawl). She does about 25-30 minutes of tummy time a day and seems to be content on her tummy for about 10 minutes at a time.My major concern however is lack of speech/vocalization. She only does cooing, oohing and ahhing and that too not a lot. She has good eye contact, watches her older bother in action like a hawk and responds to her name most of the time. She can hear I know because she startles quite frequently when she hears a loud voice. There is no babbling yet however(my son started babbling at 4 months). BTW, she has an older 4 year old brother who is constantly talking. Somes times she strains(face goes red) while talking /screaming. Should I be concerned and refer to a speech therapist?

Thanks,MJ

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Answers (2)

Stephanie, Health Guide

2/18/10 9:40pm

My first refluxer never babbled until we got her reflux under control. But, it is normal for babbling not to start until between 4-6 months. At almost 6 months, it's still considered within the normal range for her to not to be babbling yet.

You are really on the ball watching her though which is awesome. All of the other things she's doing sound great which is a good sign for her overall development. As a pediatric physical therapist working with the 0-3 group, I would love for the babies I see to be on their bellies as often as your daughter is. Being on her belly actually helps with babbling as well as it helps bring her tongue forward and her lips together.

If she doesn't start babbling soon (and if you live in the USA) you can find your local Infants and Toddlers Program. It's a federally mandated program and most states do evaluations for free and many of them also provide services for free. It can take a while to get an evaluation though so don't wait to call until you are at the point of really wanting her evaluated.

The Infants and Toddlers Program may also be called Early Intervention in your state or you can always call the school based Child Find number and they should be able to help you find the right program.

I always tell parents that it never hurts to have your child evaluated but the only thing to consider is that to be considered delayed your child has to have at least a 25% (some states 50%) in order to be considered delayed as there is such a normal variance.

One last thought - if feeding continues to be an issue you can ask for an evaluation through the IT program for that as well.

Best of Luck

Stephanie

Jan Gambino, Health Guide

2/19/10 6:47am

Hello MJ,

Stephanie gave you some great ideas. Here is one more to consider-if you have a video camera, record her vocalizations. In a few weeks or a month, update it. This way, you will have a record of her speech sounds for yourself and if needed for early intervention or your pediatrician.

So glad she is managing her reflux. You must be so busy with 3 children and balancing your daughter's medication and feeding schedule. Yikes!

Jan

2/19/10 9:29am

Hi Stephanie and Jan,

Thanks so much for your replies. The video recording sounds like a great idea...I will have to do that soon.

Btw, Jan sorry if I wrote this wrong but I have 2 kids(a 4 year old boy and my 5.5. month old baby girl) But you are right..managing both is stressful and busy not to mention I am going back to work on March 1st..

Jan Gambino, Health Guide

2/21/10 6:59am

Oh so sorry-I probably replied to your message after just one cup of coffee! My addition skills improve after the second cup!

Good luck going back to work. Let me know if you have any questions and concerns about childcare and reflux. I wrote a few articles my experiences here on HealthCentral and in my book, Reflux 101.

Good luck!

Jan

Q: Acid reflux-speech/babbling issue in almost 6 month old

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