Q:

Should I be concerned about my 12-month-old not understanding what we say?

My child will be 12 months old next week. He was born 6 weeks prematurely. My concern is that he doesn't seem to understand what anyone of us says. He does look when I say "look" and he does respond to his name, for the most part. I see online that babies should be understanding and performing simple commands, such as, give to mommy. I feel my child is not even in the ball park of something like that. He doesn't have any gestures like waving or pointing, but he does reach to be picked up and has started to clap. He babbles, but has no meaningful words. 
Is this of concern at this point? 

A:

The best advice is to ask your pediatrician.
As well, at least around here, there is a program run by the city called birth to three where they will come evaluate a child for free and then have a sliding pay scale should services be needed.  Check to see if your area has something like this.  We used them and they were great.

A:

We had our daughter tested by an audiologist who often dealt with children. Although our daughter was fine, the audiologist told us that most parents bring their children in when it's way too late. Some children had gone years without their problems being diagnosed.
As Morah said, speak to a pediatrician but also ask about the option of having your child's hearing tested. 
I can't comment about costs in your region but our audiology test was 100% covered by medicare (Australia). The pediatrician cost a small fortune ($370 for 45 minutes) of which we got back half from the government. 

A:

Both of my kids were born early...my son was 4 weeks early and my daughter was 5 weeks early.  I have noticed a HUGE difference in my daughter's development compared to my son's, as well as her development compared to her cousin who is 21 days older than her.  She is not as developed verbally as her cousin or as her brother was at her age.  I have had to push my daughter to complete some of her developmental milestones (sitting up was a huge ordeal).  There are a few things that I keep in mind when it comes to her development.
Even though research says that most preemies catch up by the time they're two, keep in mind he's still six weeks behind.  Check the 10-month and 11-month milestones and see where he is.  He probably understands more than you think, but sometimes we don't always recognize their acknowledgment of what we say.
Definitely mention it at your next check up and have his hearing checked.  Like Morah said, the peds we saw in both Tennessee and Georgia have had referrals to county early-intervention programs who will come to your home and evaluate your child.  One of my nephews received care through the Wisconsin program which leads me to believe that it's a national program (ours in Georgia is called Babies Can't Wait).

