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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

My 4 year old can't say any word beginning with Y

29 replies

FabBakerGirlIsBack · 30/07/2009 18:55

Yes is wes

Yellow is lellow

When is it a problem?

Bit of history but would like to know what is "normal" first.

DS1 calling - back soon.

OP posts:

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gingertoo · 30/07/2009 19:03

DS1 did that.
He replaced every 'Y' with a 'L' (Lellow for Yellow etc)

He didn't stop doing it until he was 5.5 but he did so with no intervention.

Saying that though, it had started to become a bit of an issue. A little girl had started teasing him at school and I had been in to see his teacher She said she thought he would grow out of it and he did about a week later!

sockonmyhead · 30/07/2009 19:06

Is it that she can't or won't? DS is 4 1/2 and currently loves baby talk and so also does lellow.

yama · 30/07/2009 19:07

Dd is 3.9 and up until recently yellow was lellow.

She could always say 'yeah' though.

I think laterally the 'lellow' was to wind me up.

How old is he?

yama · 30/07/2009 19:08

Oops, sorry just saw from thread title that he is 4.

FabBakerGirlIsBack · 30/07/2009 19:08

somh - he can't.

yama - he is 4.1yrs.

OP posts:

sockonmyhead · 30/07/2009 19:17

I think no being able to say certain letter sounds can be demonstrative of particular speach problems, but I don't know any more than that so hopefully some one more informed will be along.

Have you tried anything to get him to say the sound? My friend was told to repeat back words saying it correctly but not actually tell them they are wrong.

teamcullen · 30/07/2009 19:35

My ds had this problem. He also couldnt make the sound c, at the beginning of words. cat was tat and his bf curtis was turtis. He went to see a speach theapist but they said he could make the sounds in the middle or end of words so they wer'nt too concerned and it was just an immamaturity in his speach.

It took him a while but he got there in the end. If your ds says a word incorectly, repeat it back to him corectly but dont make an issue out of it. This is the advice that I received from the ST. It was a few years ago now but I cant see the advice being much different.

Is he starting school in september? He will probably improve greatly then. You could always mention it to his teacher, Im sure she has children like this every year and will have an idea of how immature his speach is. He has only just turned 4 though, I dont think its much of a problem.

FabBakerGirlIsBack · 30/07/2009 19:37

TBH I think it sounds cute and with all his previous problems it really is pretty minor but having said that, I don't want to be a neglectful mum if I should be doing something.

OP posts:

DoThisDoThat · 30/07/2009 20:37

My 5.6 year old still says lellow. It's hilarious and his teacher is not worried at all - she thinks it's sweet and also knows he'll grow out of it soon.

merrymonsters · 30/07/2009 20:48

When DS1 was about 3 or 4, he had this conversation with an older girl in a shop:

DS1: look that's lellow.
girl: no, it's yellow.
DS1: that's right, it's lellow.
girl: it's yellow...
and it went on and on

It think this one is pretty common and it certainly passed in DS1's case.

shouldweorshouldntwe · 30/07/2009 20:51

Another lellow for yellow in this house too!

FabBakerGirlIsBack · 30/07/2009 20:57

Normal then?

OP posts:

allaboutme · 30/07/2009 21:00

My DS is nearly 4
He cant say Y words either
But he also cant say any words starting with F, C, S, G and a few others.
He says lellow for yellow and substitutes B and D for pretty much everything else
He's recently started speech therapy and they are focussing on the F and S sounds to start with as the others dont come naturally till later anyway.
So if your DS is doing all others ok except for Y then he sound ok to me and will get there on his own!
If you want to get another opinion then you could ask your HV. My HV is the one who got DS the speech therapy appt.

Luvvies · 30/07/2009 21:01

My DS1 also had trouble with c sound. Shame as his names starts with a K.

Started his first reading book in reception - the one with the word "look" on every page. Monday it was loot (rhyme with soot). By Friday it was look.

So, I would say yes, likely to develop massively once at school when sounds. Too early to worry at 4.

My DS now 13 and recently made a speech to 800, with perfect diction. And I had been so worried.....

theyoungvisiter · 30/07/2009 21:08

fabbakergirl - are you sure he CAN'T or just that he doesn't for some words?

For eg, DS1 pronounces certain words wrong. He says "just" as "yust", and "finished" and "shunished", but he can say both Js and Fs in other contexts.

Maybe have a listen and see if he is using the phoneme ok in other words, in which case it's probably just a habit he's got into. I think my DS1 has just got so ingrained into saying these words wrong that it slips out.

moondog · 30/07/2009 21:10

It's not an issue.
Very common to mix up l r w and y [as in 'yolk'
I'm a SALT and wouldn't take on a kid with something as minor as this.

FabBakerGirlIsBack · 30/07/2009 21:11

Yes, I am sure he can't.

OP posts:

Platesmasher · 30/07/2009 21:16

we have a four year old lellower here too.

bruffin · 30/07/2009 21:28

No problem, SALT told us that it's normal at 5 not to be able to say "yellow"

Ponders · 30/07/2009 21:34

ooooh, I used to say lellow too - I can remember the day I first said "yellow", my dad had a fit & dragged me upstairs to say it to my mum!

Sadly I can't remember how old I was at the time, but I must have been at least 4 to remember it & I know it was a big deal to them.

barbareebaa · 30/07/2009 21:54

hello!
i used to be an salt assistant and the salt said that it is really common. if you do a 'y' sound and a 'l' sound you will see that the position of the tongue in the mouth is in the sameish area - upper frontish i think so v. difficult to do a 'y' and 'l' in quick succession as in 'yellow' when learning to speak.

not an salt myself but find speech development fascinating and this just stuck in my mind.

IdrisTheDragon · 30/07/2009 22:00

DD is 3.10 and has only recently reliably said yellow. Her best friend of the same age says lellow

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barbareebaa · 30/07/2009 22:02

sorry - just to be an absolute bore and because i am so interested in all this but theyoungvisitor 'yust' for 'just' the tongue is in the same position in the mouth for the 'y' and the 'j'.

gah- i'll shut up now

moondog · 30/07/2009 22:04

Er, not it's not Bar.
[But you are right-it's very interesting.]

Trixel · 30/07/2009 22:07

Ds1 said "lellow" until he was 5.5, at school and learning to read - he realised it was spelt with a Y, and changed straightaway. I was a bit gutted actually, I thought it was cute. I'd only ever seen it as an immaturity of speech, and was rather fond of it.

He's now trying to educate DS2 (3yrs) as to how it should be said, much to my chagrin...

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