Ds still mispronounces 'L' - should I be worried?

[chocolateshoes]

DS is nearly 4. His language skills are good and his vocab is excellent (I think!!) but he doesn't pronounce 'L' correctly and I am beginning to worry that this should hgave resolved itself by now. He can say 'L' if it is a middle letter eg doll but if it is at the start of the word he tends to pronounce it as an 'r'. Should I be worried? Do you think I should take him to see a speech therapist? I don't want him to get a complex about it...any advice appreciated - thanks.

[cocolepew]

No, don't fret over 1 letter.

[chocolateshoes]

Thanks Cocolepew - am I being over anxious?!

[DamonBradleylovesPippi]

My daughter is almost four as well and she does exactly the opposite. She is fine in english but in Italian she can say R if in the middle of the letter (and in my language is a RRRRRRR type of R) and not always but it becomes L in the beginning of word. So Rara becomes Lala!
She said that she'll be able to do it at 4, .
I am not worried yet, even less now that I know she's not alone .

[cocolepew]

Yes . It'll come, he's still young and the rest of his speech is good.

My DD1 went to a speech therapist, she couldn't speak a single word up until the age of 3. The therapist had a waiting list of over 100 children needing to be seen with severe speech and language problems. He'll be 25 by the time you get an appointment

[chocolateshoes]

Thanks you - am beginning to feel reassured...

[kel4mum]

You have nothing to worry about, most children learn to pronounce words correctly as they get older and their tongue muscles develop more. My son is 5 and he has articulation problems, the school are trying their best to help but I do most of it at home, there are some great activities that are fun and that will help children to pronounce words correctly. If you are still worried speak to the school and maybe SENCO can test ds for any speech problems.