Speech at 27 months???

[Scottie22]

My dd is 27 months and talks a lot - has quite a wide vocabulary and attempts sentences but isn't always very clear. She will often miss sounds off words in sentences but says individual words pretty accurately. I have a 5 year old ds whose speech was incredibly clear at this age so may be comparing dd unfairly.
Can anyone advise as to whether speech should be clear at this age or am I worrying too much??

[lagaanisace]

I think your 5 year old was forward. I don't think it's expected that speech will be clear at this stage.

You could put your mind at ease by talking to your HV, but I'm sure at just past 2 it's normal to miss words of sentences and so-forth.

[Scottie22]

Thanks for your reply and reassurance lagaanisace!

Development guides are quite vague about clarity of speech so is very hard to tell if she's doing ok. I worry as she has motor skill delays and am hoping that it won't effect her speech...

[meandjoe]

I wouldn't expect speech to be clear at this age to be honest. It's the attempting to communicate that is important. I can understand you worrying if she has motor delays. Have you asked a Health Visitor for her opinion?

DS is 25months and never stops talking and trying to put sentences together but although I understand 90% of what he says, I do have to interpret a lot for other people to understand. If she has 30-50 words that you understand then I wouldn't worry about her pronunciation and her sentences being a bit jumbled for at least another 6 months.

[TurtleAnn]

You can get more information about speech sounds at www.speech-language-therapy.com/acquisition.html
This is a website for professional Speech & Language Therapists (SLT) so don't get too bogged down in it.
Basically at just over 2yrs, we expect 50-75% of what your daughter says to be understood. Scroll down the page on this link (& ignore everything else) to Table 4, and you will see that at 3yrs there are still a huge number of sounds that we don't expect kids to have yet.
Don't worry just yet, but keep an eye on it and if you still have concerns at 3yrs ask your HV to refer to you to an SLT. Things don't sound bad though as you have mentioned that your daughter is making sentences, a wide vocabulary and that you understand most if what she says.

[ShowOfHands]

My dd is the same age and speaks normally, clearly, no problems. Her 'best friend' speaks in 3 or 4 word sentences and is hard to understand about half the time. I know many toddlers that are somewhere in the middle. All normal.

[nouveaupauvre]

my ds is the same age and has a very wide vocabulary, been speaking in sentences for ages, but he too is sometimes unclear/fluffs words/stutters/gets sounds wrong especially when excited and trying to get something urgent (well, urgent to him...) out.
i think at this age their desire to communicate, and to try out new things they've heard, often outstrips the ability to get it out clearly.
john prescott still has the same problem so i'd say your dd was normal!

[snickersnack]

Sounds identical to my ds who is the same age - lots of words, lots of sounds missing, sentences with missing words (mummy give cuddle me, for instance). He's had several SALT sessions because of hearing problems (now sorted) and she feels he is just fine.

[Scottie22]

Thanks for your advice and replies. I just saw my SIL who is a childminder and she thought dd was doing fine with her speech so feel quite reassured atm!
HV said no problem with referral to speech therapy so might get on waiting list just in case!