This is a question that I get asked every single week. I can hear the panic in a parent’s voice even though I am just reading the words in a DM. I get messages like, “my 4-month-old was making so many sounds and now I only hear cries- is this normal?” Or, “my 5-month-old was imitating raspberries every day and now won’t imitate them- is this normal?” Here is what I say to these questions…

Babies aren’t robots.

We shouldn’t expect a baby to do the EXACT same thing every single day or every single time that we say or do something. Baby’s response SHOULD change as baby grows, learns, and notices more.

For example, if your 3-month-old started blowing raspberries back at you and did so several times one day, but the next day only watched your lips and didn’t imitate you- it’s likely nothing to be worried about. Your baby might have noticed something different about your face and decided to focus on that instead. If baby is giving you variable responses to your smiles, laughs, and chatter, that is a good thing!

Look at other skills.

Instead of focusing on what your baby has STOPPED doing, take notice of any other new things that they are doing. Perhaps your baby started babbling with a new sound a week after they stopped imitating raspberries, or perhaps they just learned to roll over. If your baby is moving forward with milestones and development OVERALL, there is likely nothing to worry about. Sometimes skills “pause” while others are pressing “play.” Monitor for that skill that has stopped to come back into “play mode” in the coming weeks.

Look at a Milestone Checklist.

When in doubt, head to the checklist. If you are concerned that your baby is behind, a milestone checklist can help put your mind at ease and give you ideas of how to play with your baby. I’ve got a free one for you (as an email subscriber you get a 0-24 month speech-language milestone checklist as your welcome freebie). If baby hasn’t checked off all of the boxes for their age range, spend a week or two trying to elicit those skills. Baby may be able to do it with some time and support. If baby is on track overall, again there is likely nothing to worry about!

Know What the Chances Are.

If your baby has been developing on track and has hit speech and motor milestones on time up until this point, there is likely nothing to worry about if you notice that a certain skill has stopped or paused. One study found that the chances of a child having a speech or language delay is about 2.53% (Sunderajan & Kanhere, 2019). This indicates that the chances of any one child having a delay are very low. It’s important to note that chances of a delay are increased if there is a family history of speech-language delays or presence of an underlying medical diagnosis.

What if the skill doesn’t come back after monitoring for a few weeks?

Even though the likelihood of this happening is very slim, it may be a sign of a developmental delay or other underlying developmental diagnosis. First, talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. Next, remember that you don’t need a referral from a physician and you can call yourself to schedule an evaluation with your local Infants and Toddlers or Early Intervention Program. Evaluations for children under 3 years of age are free in the United States and therapy services (if needed) are no cost or low cost for families. Getting your little one help early is key.