I second this. I’m not usually one to compare my daughter to other children, but he is only doing/saying things my daughter was doing at around 12 months.
Every kid develops individually, but we do have guidelines for a reason. I’m no expert, per se, but I have taken child development classes, worked with kids for over 10 years, and I of course have a bunch of kids in my life. It’s completely okay if he is delayed, but it’s like she’s in complete denial of it, and that can cause issues. Most people I know or have seen, realize their kid has a delay, takes them to a doctor to rule anything out, and then addresses it. She’s doing the opposite. If the delay is caused by a medical condition (like my cousin being partially deaf, and that causing a speech delay), then it should be looked at by a doctor. If it’s just how he’s developing, just slower than normal, it’s on her to take steps to help him.
It’s unfortunate, and I’m not one that likes to assume neglect, but she’s given us enough reasons to realize it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that he’s delayed because they just don’t do what they’re supposed to as parents. Play and talk to him without the phone in his face, read to him, take him to a doctor, have him around other children. Those are all CRUCIAL to development.
And on a related note, you guys were asking about waking a baby. In my child development classes, they were saying it’s absolutely not okay to do that. Some people seem to have the idea that keeping a baby up will help them sleep when it’s convenient for you, and that’s just not ok. Kids that young run entirely on instinct (and curiosity), but that means your baby knows when it needs sleep. Please, for the love of god, let your baby sleep when your baby wants to sleep. Always try to accommodate your baby’s schedule as best you can.
