What counts as a word? And problems with bilabial sounds.

My 14 1/2 month old doesn't speak much (other than babbling). She's been saying da-da like a pro to DH since 10-11 months (though started babbling it at 5 months). She has a hard time with the 'M' sound. When she puts effort into, she'll say mama. But a lot of the time, she'll call me 'na-na.'
Other than that, she calls our dog "Stewie," Sta, really drawing out the sssst sound. Does that count as word? She calls him that all day long.
She's says na-na-na, for no, no, no (my bad) for some time now.
She imitates that sign language song on Nick Jr by pointing to herself three times and says 'ne-ne-ne'
She also has trouble with B's, so she says "Di-di" while waving for bye-bye.
She knows her all animal sounds, but has her own little versions of each, some are more accurate sounding than others. And not very surprising, she says "nnnnnnn" instead of mooooo (again with the m issue).

Does these not-quite-right words count as words? She says them all in the right context.

And she clearly has trouble with the bilabial sounds. Anyone have any experience? Will she just get it one day or is it more likely that by this point, she'll need a little help?
We have a couple of weeks before her 15 month appt.

Message edited 3/22/2012 2:01:10 PM.

Re: What counts as a word? And problems with bilabial sounds.

As long as she's babbling and understanding what you say (looking for the dog when you say, "Where's Stewie?"), she's right on target speech-wise. I would most definitely count what you listed as "words" as they hold meaning for her.

Does she blow raspberries? Those are often a precursor to bilabial sounds. Try modeling those sounds for her, make sure she's watching your lips while you do it.

Re: What counts as a word? And problems with bilabial sounds.

Re: What counts as a word? And problems with bilabial sounds.

I think she sounds great. My daughter is 13 mos and I count anything she uses to refer to something on a consistant basis as a word. For Elmo - everytime seh sees him she sings Ra-Rah-Ra-Rah! lol. All dogs are woof, woof. My daughter has a lot of words but her speech is defintiely garbled too. Not all is clear. She calls her brothers Kevin da-din and Alex - Aex.
My oldest son had speech services for articulation and they told me that I should have counted things like that as words - anything they use to refer to something on a consistant basis. I never did with him because I didn't know too - I was looking for the real words with close sounds. I do know from my experience a lot of sounds take awhile and every kid is different in which sounds they pick up faster. I'd just keep modelling and eventually she should pick it up.

Message edited 3/23/2012 6:52:46 AM.

Re: What counts as a word? And problems with bilabial sounds.

Thank you for the response! Very helpful!