22m old not talking

[marie98]

Hi guys. My toddler is going to be 2 years in february. As time is passing by i feel concerned about his speech. He is not saying proper words. However he understands everything we say whether its some order, request or when we call him. He responds to every command. Uptil now we haven’t noticed any signs of autism or abnormal behaviour. He’s very active and loves to play around with kids. We’re satisfied with his overall development whether its physical or motor skills. He is always doing new things that we don’t even expect at this age. My only concern is that he is not able to speak words. He is saying basic ones mama baba dada etc and rest he is just making noises all the time. Has anyone experienced this before and what should i do? Am i getting too worried?

I would recommend asking your health visitor for a referral to speech therapy. They might do this as part of his two year check. It will probably be that his speech is slow to develop but it might be something more.

Hi,
I have some limited experience of this, as I used to work with small children.
I wouldn't be too worried at this stage, but do mention it to his HV/doctor just in case they have any concerns.
If he has a dummy in a lot, try and reduce usage in the day to encourage speaking, make a big fuss when he does say words. And also perhaps sit with a 'first 100 words' type book once a day, giving him opportunities to chime in.
You may find that it comes very quickly when he does start talking, some children just find they can get along quite easily without talking so they dont bother much!

It's easier said than done, but do try not to worry. As pp said, speak to your hv at the 2 year check. My dc's speech just exploded after he turned 2, and I had spent a lot of time worrying that he should have more words before then. Seek reassurance and support, but don't worry at this point.

I could have written this about DS. He had his two year check shortly after haloween and was referred to SALT. Compared to his nursery classmates, he was non verbal! Though like your DS could understand and comprehend everything, and no worries about his development. He went back after half term and his speech has steam rolled forward. He just started copying everything one day and went from there. I would ask your health visitor what they think, but it may be he is just a late talker. Some kids are. So long as you have no other worries just talk to him as much as you can, and take it from there. I do understand how worrying it can be though

My DS didn't really start talking until he was nearly 3. He didn't even say mummy at 2. But when he started picked it up very quickly.

I think it was a confidence thing. He started preschool at 2 1/4 And it really bought him out of his shell. It was the best thing we could have done for him.

There were lots of muttering about speech therapy but I was confident he just needed more time.

He is nearly 5 now and thriving at school.

Ours was like that , only had a few words at 18 months and never really expanded on that until he was nearly 3 when he started talking in proper sentences . We reckon he just couldn’t be bothered until he knew enough for a whole conversation . However I will add that he was diagnosed as partially deaf at 6 , it was a routine school hearing test we had no idea and apparently he’d learnt to lip read very effectively and he does have HFA .

In our area you can refer to SALT. You also need to visit the GP and ask to be referred for a hearing test.

I wouldn't worry. I have a 2yo DS and he didn't say much until he turned 2, at which point his speech developed rapidly.

SALT

I was like this. I had a vocabulary of 3 words until I was 24 months, then one day i literally started talking and never stopped! I excelled at school and am now a doctor. So don't worry too much. But I agree it's a good idea to speak to your HV, as SALT input and a hearing test may be helpful.

I would mention it to your hv at the 2 year check just to rule anything out like hearing problems. But it's common, my 5yo didn't speak until he was nearly 3 and now he never shuts up