Speech: should I be worried?

[rosmonster]

Ds is now 20mo and I'm not sure whether I should be concerned about his speech development or not. At 18m he wasn't really saying much apart from mummy & daddy, and the HV said to keep an eye on him and bring him back in a couple of months if he hadn't improved much.

Now he says mummy, daddy, yes, please, no, choo choo, shoes, bubble, bye bye, mine and trees. Some of these he can say without prompting but others you have to say the word first for him to say it (eg if we see a train, he'll point to it but won't say 'choo choo' until we do).

He does understand a lot of what we say and can follow instructions etc. Also if we say something like 'thank you' he will try to copy us and say 'daddoo'.

Should I take him back to the HV to get him checked or does this sound normal? Sorry its long but thanks if you've read this far!

[loujay]

Sounds about right to me, but remember that all kids develpo differently.
My DD was not really saying much at age 2 but was STILL not saying much at age 3.
Try to encourage language as you have been, understanding is the key thing, so if you are happy that he understands you both then thats half the battle.
All that said, if there is a speech and language drop in in your area, take your DS along and they will reassure you and give you some pointers to help him along a bit.
Dont worry though.

[fannyanne]

Hi , I have a ds 19 months who also says very little, (mummy daddy, dd name, duck, dora, backpack,ta, please, do do(dummy) shoe.
IMO as long as things are changing over time , and it appears to be with your ds then I would not worry all children are different, I could have a conversation with dd at 18 months, but ds is a different kettle of fish.
Round here as long as child says 25 words understanable to those outside the family by 2 yo thy are not concerned

[strawberry]

Sounds normal to me. Ds1 struggled with speech and turned out he had glue ear. Any reason to think there may be hearing difficulties? It's relatively simple to get a hearing test sorted out.

[rosmonster]

Hi thanks for the replies.

Loujay - How do you find out about speech and language drop ins?

He did have glue ear when he was younger but this seems to have cleared up and he doesn't seem to not hear us (unless he doesn't want too!).

He does chatter a lot but not things you can understand. Maybe this is just one of those things he's going to be a bit slower at.

[stressteddy]

My ds says very few "proper" words and he is 2.6. Please don't worry they all develop at different rates. I blame my son's lack of words on the fact that he is with me most of the time and I understand him perfectly...why does he need to talk when he can communicate with me?
Please don't worry - I'm not and compared to his friends his speech is very behind

[stressteddy]

Plus he's only 20 months - this is very young and he's a boy. They tend to develop speech later than girls

[notasheep]

I wouldnt worry at the moment.
My ds was referred to the speech therapist at 2yrs old.I was very upset as thought ds was a bright kid but just lazy.
He is now 3 and a big chatterbox.

[rosmonster]

Thanks everyone, guess I'm worrying unnecessarily with the HV saying to come back in a couple of months!

I'll keep an eye on it and just keep doing what we are!

Thanks again

[ChasingSquirrels]

Sounds like he says ALOT more than my 20mo (who might manage a mama if pushed).
Does he understand most things and is he vocalising something (mine chatters all the time, just not in any human tongue ), if not I would be more concerned.

[Soph73]

rosmonster - our DS is now 5 and only just speaking in proper sentences & still has to be reminded to pronounce certain sounds properly. He has been tested for everything and there´s nothing wrong with him he´s just a late developer. Your DS is saying a lot more than ours did at 20 months. I wouldn´t worry just yet just keep doing what you´re doing for now

[rosmonster]

thanks, I guess I just need to relax a bit more about it! Its funny though that I've never been worried about any other aspect of his development but I seem to be really overly-anxious about his speech!

But anyway, you've all reassured me

[katendmom]

rosmonster, your DS is saying WAY more than my DS ? and they?re the same age. Like others say - if you do not find anything else that concerns you (I did) - then please don't worry. If you like - see a speech therapist. They can do a quick evaluation (they actually look at other things too - like motor skills development, problem solving skills, etc) and they'll tell you if they suspect any developmental delay.

Now, a couple of us have kids with speech delays and other challenges. If you have time and interested, take a look at this link - that what I meant when I said I noticed things other than speech delay with DS.

GOOD LUCK! I'm sure your child will be chatting in no time

[mummyloveslucy]

He sounds fine to me. My daughter at his age could only say manna dadda and ta. She is now 2.5 and is learning more every day. They all catch up in the end. As long as he wants to talk or babble and understands more than he can say, he'll be fine. Don't worry, it didn't do me any good!.