My 16 months doesn't talk much ,he doesn't call mama or papa even though sometime he may try to say it when we ask him to.when I ask him to repeat some words I can see he tried to pronounce but it doesn't sound like the word or it sounds all the same when I ask him to try to speak different words,he babbles a lot .my first born wasn't like that I didn't want to get worried but can't help worrying now , anyone whose kids seen speech therapist , how young can we start? Thanks

My LO was similar, and it was a concern for the nurses too when we went for our 18mo routine checkup at polyclinic - we ended up being referred to child development unit for a development assessment, where we found out my son had isolated speech delay. He's 2 years old tomorrow and he only knows "mama" and "mummmum" at the moment, but he's been improving a lot! While I don't know about your child, you can highlight it to your PD/polyclinic when you go for the next checkup and get a referral to child development unit to do an assessment :)

The age at which children learn to talk varies widely. Rest assured that learning to talk slower or later than other children should not affect your child's development. Also, although they may not speak, they may understand what you're saying! So keep talking to your child, it encourages them to learn!