To be concerned about 2y old not talking?

[lizzlebizzle33]

Or is it too soon to be worried?

He's just turned 2, he has words, quite a few. Car, bus, Apple, banana, small easy words but he never tries to string any together. He still can't ask for things he just points and says what sounds like "this" or "more".

What are your experiences with this age? Is this normal? Am I being overly expectant to think he should say more by now?

Too soon to be very worried but not too soon to be trying to encourage his language. The main thing is that he is communicating. Google speech and language toolkits for some ideas. You could also mention it to the hv at his 27 month check. If she's concerned she might refer him for a hearing test. But I think what you describe is within normal variation for that age.

Sounds fine. My nephew barely said anything at 2 but has amazing speech at 3. Girls tend to develop language skills earlier than boys and my daughter was way ahead of her cousin at 2, but at 3 they seem to be at the same level.

Sorry, should add that of my 3, one was talking in full sentences before he was 2, one suddenly seemed to explode with language all at once at 2.5 and the third is like yours - at 2.5 he was only just starting to string words together. I'm keeping an eye on it but he is progressing (now nearly 3) which is promising. He's a very physical child, great motor skills, as though his brain's been focusing on that rather than speech development!

2y8mo DS was slow to start talking despite excellent comprehension. These days has three or four new words per day. We read and discuss things a lot.

My DS will be 3 in June and has only been talking for about two months. He got referred for speech and language at his 2 and a half month review. His words are still not particularly clear but he's getting there, and has been saying two or three words together for a few weeks now. I wouldn't worry just yet if I was you. Just keep doing your best to encourage him and mention it at his next HV review if you're still concerned. They'll refer him to SALT if necessary.

This is good to know, thank you.
He does have great motor skills, constantly chatting (just not anything understandable) and he can understand a lot of what I say to him.

He will get his shoes if I say we're going out etc

I've had this with both of mine. They seem fine. Obviously encourage speech but so long as he is making progress I wouldn't worry.

My DD was like this. Had great comprehension from as early as 18months but by her 2nd birthday had only individual words. Then she got to about 2yrs2months and suddenly was chatting away in sentences. Was more or less overnight.

Second daughter now 18months and I see a similar dynamic, if anything her comprehension is even better than her sisters was but she still has only a few individual words at the moment.

With both girls I’ve found reading to them and constantly talking to them as though they can answer has fascilitated their language skills.

If your ds has a good understanding then I wouldn't worry that he isn't talking.
When my DD was 2, her best friend was talking in complete sentences and she only had a few words. We were offered SALT but I decided not to take it up because she understood what people said to her and could use baby signing to communicate.

I can't remember what age she finally started talking, but once she started we couldn't shut her up and she certainly had great speech by the time she started school.

In my case I had two children who were 'behind' with speech and both have caught up and surpassed where they 'should' be. My eldest daughter we did nothing with and she caught up on her own. With my youngest we had lots of speech therapy assessments - private and NHS - and followed their advice and last time she was assessed her grammar and other tests and was about two years ahead of where she 'should' be.

Here is a link to where your dc 'should' be and when to be concerned however I hate these sorts of things because children are so different and develop at their own rates. I find it interesting that they could be at school at 4 or 5, only able to do sentences of 6 to 8 words and still be in the category of 'normal' so I do think we probably expect a lot from them.

www.kentcht.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Childrens-SLT-development-of-expression-norms-chart.pdf

Your 2 year old has more words than my 2 year old They sound similar. My DS also chatters and can understand us and had his own ways of asking for things /communicating. He's also great with gross motor skills, he started walking early for example. So I'd try not to worry yet, just keep an eye on it.

My DS is like this. He is 26 months and I think he's a bit lazy to be honest. He's bilingual (French & English) and understands everything we say to him in both languages but doesn't talk in complete sentences yet. He also mixes the languages, so for example he'll say 'main' for hand but 'dog' instead of chien.

I asked the paediatrician about it recently and he said don't start to worry until he turns 3.

So, if he seems to understand most things then I wouldn't worry OP.

I have 2 year old twins, boy and girl, my daughter has been talking for months and can sing and put sentences together, her brother on the other hand says very little apart from car, me, mom, dad etc I am not concerned has their older brothers were very similar to my son before talking in full sentences from 3 onwards. My son however was taken to the doctor's a couple of months ago and they found he had impacted wax in his ears, we were given drops to put in his ears.

My son was like this, lots and lots of words but not putting them together. He woke up one morning a couple of months after he turned 2 and spoke in sentences.

Sounds well within the range of normal to me.

My DS was three before he said anything. All he would say aside from mama and dada was “I got”. Would literally walk around saying I got, I got. Suddenly after his third birthday this all changed and the words exploded from him. It was as though he’d been listening the whole time but didn’t feel like talking . He’s absolutely fine.

My youngest wasn't using sentences by the age of 2. A Reasonable selection of nouns, no verbs.
A speech therapist friend recommended match +1 as a good technique.

DS2 said fuck all at the age of 2.5 and I was getting properly worried; we took him to an SLT and she basically said he just needed time. He's nearly 6 now and a prolific chatterbox very bright too, if I do say so myself! He makes up the most elaborate stories.... so don't worry.

Does he understand directions? If you asked him to 'get the book', would he? If yes then I don't think you should worry. I know it's not as simple as that, but if he understands what is being said then I think speech will come. My DS hardly said a word up to 2.5 years ... I put him in a nursery for a couple of mornings each week, and he hasn't shut up since!

See I was the same as you.

Dd when she turned 2, wouldn't shut up. She had full sentences and varied speech.

However, Ds turned 2 and it was still the occasional word and lots of babble. This would then turn to temper because he wasn't being understood.

He turned 3 just under a month ago and has speech has come along so much now. He is 95% there.

So don't worry yet

As long as he is making an effort to communicate his needs/wants there is no need to worry. Just carry on talking to him and encouraging his speech and if worst comes to worst and he does end up needing help there are brilliant people who can help you and your family. He will be fine OP

Thank you for all your replies, really puts my mind at ease as he does understand a lot. He will get his cup of you ask him to, he will bring specific books you ask for and runs upstairs when I say bathtime or brush your teeth.

I just want to understand him, he gets very frustrated when I don't pass him what he's pointing at but sometimes I really don't know what it is! 😄

LaContessadePlump, your first sentence made me laugh out loud. I can imagine the conversation with you and the SLT "The problem is he says "fuck all" , no, honestly, whatever you say he only responds with "fuck all", it's getting embarrassing now, his granny won't come round any more and we've been banned from the nice cafe, soft play and the playgroup"

Yes, she's behind typical but that in itself isn't cause for worry. It is cause for investigation.

We often look at communication issues alongside other developmental markers. For example, how is / was her walking and crawling? How are other gross motor skills? Any other causes for concern such as sight or hearing?

There's nothing to worry about but I would schedule an appointment or mention it when you next see someone.

My cousin was like that. Turned out that because pointing and one word got him everything he wanted, he wasn't bothering. Went to kindergarten at 4 and turned out to be able to talk perfectly (4 year old perfectly, obvs).

My aunt still regales us how he took the piss for 2 years :D