In worrying that my 17 month old has a speech delay - posting for traffic

[AlwaysWantedToBeATenenbaum]

My DS is 17 months old and at the moment he's only saying mum - no other words at all. I talk to him all the time and try and get him to copy me but he dosen't. He also hasn't clapped, waved or pointed yet. The only thing he does is put both hand soap in the air when we say "yaaay". Has anyone else had an experience like this with their little one's that can re-assure me? I'm going to phone the health visitor in the morning- it's just upsetting me so much when I see other toddlers saying lots of words and phrases. Feel like a failure of a mum.

Please don’t feel a failure OP. My DS didn’t really talk until he was 2, a year later there was no shutting him up! Apparently Einstein didn’t talk till he was 3, when asked why later he said “because I had nothing to say before then”!

the speaking wouldn't worry me, but not being able to clap or point would set alarm bells for me.

I think your doing the right thing talking to your hv, you'll be able to get advise and moniter.

my ds2 was like this, and was diagnosed as developmently delayed at 2, he had speech theory and caught up with in the the next couple of years.
I'm not saying this is what it is at all, just there certain things that would raise alarm enough to warrant extra monitoring

My middle son didn't talk until he was 3, about to be referred to speech therapist and I came in from work and he came up to me and said Mummy can I have drink?. My grandson is about the same age and has really only just started pointing, at everything...

@AlwaysWantedToBeATenenbaum - my ds1 was slow to start talking - when he was nearly 2, I made a list of all his words, and there were only 30 - and a number of them were not proper words that anyone other than his doting parents would understand.

Like you, I was worried, but he was just learning to talk a little slower than most of his contemporaries, and once he started talking, he didn’t stop! Honestly - he used to talk trains to any adult who stood still long enough, until their eyes glazed over.

He went on to do a law degree - and you have to be able to talk fluently and confidently to do that.

All children develop at different speeds - but they usually all catch up. But if you are worried, I’m sure your HV would be happy to see you, and hopefully reassure you.

I've had two experiences. First child was slightly speech delayed but suddenly picked it up and became very fluent very quickly.

My other child seems to be generally a bit delayed. Didn't walk until 18m, didn't say anything until 2 etc. She didn't clap or point either until 18m ish.
She is now 3 and speech is still quite poor compared to her peers and often unintelligible. We have been referred to SALT twice but discharged. Her motor skills are now completely normal. I think she might eventually catch up.

I think your child sounds normal, on the slightly wider end of the normal spectrum for speech development but I wouldn't be too worried.

My daughter will be 2 in august. At 17 months she was saying nothing, she can now say bye bye, ba ba for baby (her brother), ba for bath and eya for hello and my for mine.
A month back so at 20 months she was only doing bye bye and eya.

shes seeing a speech therapist, but like you said with your DC her understanding is there and improving, and she plays and interacts nicely shes just taking a bit longer to get the hang of forming words. I wouldn't worry.

Also it's nothing to do with parenting! My DS is 12 months younger than DD and he can copy 'dada' which DD can't yet, its down to their individual development not anything you have or haven't done.

DD didn’t speak more than a few words til she was 22 months; however, it was always clear that she had good understanding. She is 22 years old now and is an extremely articulate graduate. The link below gives you “normal” speech development

www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/363847/tct_univspeak_0-5.pdf

My DS is 15 months, he says "Ta" & "Mum".

He used to wave, he claps all the time.

He doesn't do anything else.

If he's saying "Mum" then he must be able to articulate - he just doesn't have much he wants to say at the moment. Before you know it he'll be shouting "Have you washed my PE kit?" and asking to borrow the car.

Don't panic. My nephew just pointed and grunted until he was two and a half. Can't shut him up now.

Have you had his hearing tested? Does he understand what you say?

Dd was a it of a late speaker. At 2 she could say a handful of words but understood everything. She's now 2years 3 months and in the last month her speech has improved so much - she doesn't stop talking now! They all get there in their own time x

You will worry OP, because that’s what we do. But you mustn’t worry that you have done anything wrong. The very fact that you are worried shows what a great mum you are.

Most children who aren’t saying much at his age will catch up, esp if his understanding is good. I have several friends whose children had speech therapists at 2-3, but who caught up pretty quickly after that. But there will be a few who don’t catch up, so it’s worth speaking to your health care team so that you’re in the system. Hopefully you won’t then need the appointment by the time it comes around 🤞🏻

My DD barely said a word until she was 3 then started talking in complete sentences. Waiting for her to talk drove me crazy but everyone kept telling me that her understanding was much more important than her speech.

There’s a milestone checker at Talking Point which might help when you talk to the GP

Get his toys get him to pint to toy or pick it up, where is buzz, show me horse, ask questions.. Milk or water, show him both..

Red cup or blue cup etc

Put horse under chair. Definitely get checked.. If there are issues early intervention is best

Don't worry too much.

I know 8 common/garden 17 month olds and none of them are saying a huge amount yet.

I consider my own 17mo be pretty advanced generally but even she's pretty limited to 'drink', 'shoes', 'hat', 'shitshit (biscuit)' and generic animal noises.

If you think he is understanding what is going on it suggests he is picking stuff up and will speak in his own time. Start asking him more questions and using pointing etc yourself and see where it takes you both.

I think if he isn’t stringing a few words together by 2.5 years I’d ask for a SALT referral and yes check ears for listening now

My DS1 only started saying a few words when he was 2, 2.5 maybe. He’s nearly 3.5 now and never stops!!!

Oh and I should also mention that at my DS2’s 6 week check the HV commented on how amazing his speech and pronunciation was

Same as other posters, my DS at nearly 2 only had two words- dog and car. He's just fine and doing above average at school age 8. Still obsessed with dogs and cars though!!

Have you tried teaching any sign language? My DS is 20 Months and has very little spoken words but can sign lots of animals, food, drink, banana, please, more, all gone. It has made communication much easier for him and he seeks to tell me things now rather than get frustrated. His only spoke words are car, digger, our pets name and sticker.

Try not to worry too much. My son did not say more than a few words until he was 3. My twin daughters spoke full sentences from about 18 months, all kids are different

My son didn’t really use intelligible words till he was about 3. He went through speech therapy (who said he was fine) his hearing was fine.. there was no real cause. He started nursery at 2 and we used makaton sign language which helped a lot. His brother was born not long before his second birthday.. so having a sibling to chatter to also helped massively.

He also didn’t walk until 18 months, had senco work in nursery, and play therapy throughout primary school. He has anxiety and a few other issues but academically he is above average.

DD is 19 months, nearly 20 and only has 2 clear words - hiya and dada. But is getting a couple more, goggy for doggy and golly for dolly.

She understands instructions and nods her head when you ask her if she wants a drink etc.

But i am getting worried as she's only 4 months away from being 2 and not talking much but she babbles away in her own wee language and sings etc

Hi OP - you could literally be describing my son at that age. I burst into tears looking at videos of other children talking/clapping etc too! My son had almost no words until he was 2 and a half, then suddenly came out with sentences. He still has quite poor pronunciation (he is now 4) which i think is because he never practiced making sounds, but other than that has a great vocab and never stops talking! Though if someone had told me that 2 years ago i wouldn't have believed it. My HV told me the main thing was his understanding and that he was doing all the right things physically (exploring surroundings etc). I hope all works out for you x