19month old speech regression

[StudentMummy20]

All of a sudden my 19mo has stopped saying pretty much everything she normally says, nanny, mummy, Olly, Bobo, her friends names and she's stopped giving 'kisses'. Is this normal. It's made me quite worried and sad

Thank you @BrooHaHa you’re absolutely correct. Yes, a score of 0 is what you want. Sorry, I read your post incorrectly. I have used that test hundreds of times. Lockdown is fogging my brain. So if your DD scored 0 then that’s great and should be a big relief to you. However, you are still right to be concerned and need to bring those concerns to your GP. Having her ears tested would be the first option.

Oh and it doesn’t sound as though she has any unusual sensory issues which is also good. No toddler likes to get dressed so I wouldn’t worry there.

These are all good signs. But clearly her loss of words needs investigating. Good luck with it.

I'd watch for unusual repetitive hand movements and give it a couple of weeks to see if she goes back to normal, personally, especially given the current situation with the NHS and coronavirus. It may not be true regression- she might just have lost interest in talking temporarily. And most hearing loss in kids is related to infection and is temporary.

Honestly, sounds totally normal.

My best friend has a DS who at 12 months was so confident in so so so many words.

Then at 18 months totally stopped talking for a good 6 months for no apparent reason.

Then one day, suddenly talking loads again.

Very odd

Yes as BrooHaHa says, watch for unusual hand movements such as twisting and moving them strangely in front of her eyes. Also unusual eye movements such as looking at things sideways. Also repetitive play that’s inappropriate to the toy (difficult with a child this age) All toddlers play repetitively but ASD often seems more repetitive and obsessive if that makes sense.

I will add here that I have many years of working professionally with young children on the spectrum but I also have a DD on the spectrum who wasn’t diagnosed until 11 because it was all so subtle and even me, seeing it all day in others didn’t spot it in my DD. My point being the spectrum is so wide and whilst there’s a collection of recognised difficulties, it isn’t always obvious especially in girls. My daughter is very high functioning and was extremely sociable as a toddler but because she’d learned that behaviour from others and so copied it rather than instinctively wanting to socialise if that makes sense.

I'm sorry but to rely HVisitors opinions is IME not nec. going to put anyone's mind at rest. They can be blinkered about child development DD1 was a smallish baby she is a small adult 5ft. she was growing just not an average height child. The HV said she was not putting on enough weight which was not the case.

Exactly Pentium

I would add that to 'command' children is not a great way to communicate.  No one likes to be 'commanded' . There are ways of talking to little children, playing games, telling stories, dressing their teddies instead of forcing dressing etc etc.

It really isn’t normal development.

It might be due to acute illness, though it sounds like the OP’s dd is now well, a hearing loss or a developmental problem such as emerging ASD.

Some children with ASD show speech regression and then regain speech.

No one should be reassured about speech regression until the child has been assessed by a health professional with a specialist interest in early child development, ideally with a knowledge base around ASD assessment.

Yes @Ikeameatballs is correct. Lack of speech in terms of it being delayed is not even an indicator of ASD. Non verbal communication is far more important.

@Ikeameatballs I wouldn't say well, shes been coughing since she had bronchiolitis in November.

I am wondering if the big change in her routine since nursery closing is a contributing factor.

You said she’s been coughing since she was ill? Is it just her verbal communication that has stopped? So is her non verbal communication as good as ever? So no regression in pointing, showing, sharing etc?

If it’s purely spoken words that have stopped, have you considered that she may be in pain with her throat? If she’s continually coughing and she’s whinging all the time then she could be in pain and maybe talking further exacerbates that pain.

This may be nothing developmental at all but rather a child opting not to do something that hurts. Get someone to look at her throat ASAP.

babyology.com.au/toddler/learning-and-development/development-regression-in-young-kids-what-is-it-and-when-to-be-concerned/

Might be a helpful read, OP.

@Neednewwellies sorry for the drip feed, I didn't mention the coughing. She's still babbling so didn't think much of it being throat pain. Yes, its just words that have stopped (as well as giving 'kisses', but she did give them to my mum today for the first time in a while) but pointing and showing and communicating with body language and pointing to what she wants hasn't stopped. She's been grouchy for a little while. As for sharing and the like, I've never really got her to share with me as she's my only child and doesn't need to share with siblings, she was always good at sharing with children and nursery and her little friends but as we know she can't see other children at nursery or friends she has little chance to 'share'. She's laughing with me and being playful etc. Just words have gone totally - she just isn't saying them, well apart from the word no . It's been quite sudden too.

I've spoken to the GP via video link, who isn't concerned that she needs to be seen acutely but said to keep an eye on her for a few days and to call back if no improvement by next week.

@BrooHaHa thank you

No, don’t worry. It just occurred to me that if it’s only the physical issue of using her mouth/throat coupled with the whinging then she may be in pain. Poor thing. My son had his tonsils out 2yrs ago but before that he had recurrent tonsillitis. Sometimes it was extremely painful and other times ‘just’ moderately so. He also didn’t want to kiss and lost his appetite but he was 8 so much easier for him to articulate. He didn’t have a cough though. But then it could be that her throat is raw from the continued coughing rather than an infection like tonsillitis. Get back on to the GP if no improvement by next week. Fingers crossed you get an answer.

Just to be clear, the fact that she’s using lots of non verbal communication and that hasn’t stopped is a very good indicator that it’s not a major developmental worry. I’m sorry if I worried you it’s just that I’ve heard parents told over and over that they shouldn’t worry about their toddler who is regressing or not using non verbal communication or showing signs of obsessive repetitive play. Parents need to know that these things do need looking at even if they turn out to be nothing.

GP has prescribed antibiotics for an ear infection but won't see her as she had slightly raised temperature this morning. Hopefully this clears it up. Thanks all!

Student If it were me I'd watch her dairy intake, ear infections are often caused by too much. Then by the time you get to the GP she could well be better. plant milks and yoghurts are a good substitute.

Oh and plenty of fresh fruit for the vitamins, fibre and minerals.

@StudentMummy20, hiya, how are tou guys getting on now?x