2 year old can’t talk properly, am I being unreasonable to be worried?

[User123654123654]

As the title says, bit worried about my 2yr old dd. She started nursery this year and although her 2 year development check went relatively well (over the phone), the nursery have expressed concern about her lack of communication (which obviously has me feeling all kinds of worry and guilt!!)

She can say the odd word when communicating with me, is a chatterbox in regards to constant babbling, understands most of what I tell her, however cannot say sentences yet. She tries to repeat words to me sometimes and often will be able to. But in terms of sentences, there hasn’t been any.

Am I being unreasonable to be worried? Has anyone experienced this? What can I do to help her improve her communication skills?

Thank you in advance.

I'm sure her development is within the range of normal but if you are at all worried then ask your health visitor to refer you to SALT (or self-refer if this is possible in your area) as soon as possible. Referrals are taking a very long time at the moment and if it does turn out that she needs some support you will be glad that you didn't wait.

How old is she exactly? Big difference between 24months and 33months. Either way a call to the hv can't hurt. My boy was referred to s&l when 24 months but by the time the appointment came through a month later he was talking full sentences.

Thank you @BarkminsterBlue will look into this. Hi @whosaidtha, she turned 2 at the beginning of August.

I'd raise it with hv or if theres a self referral for salt. I dodnt pick up on my middle childs language problems - they babble and I understood. HV spotted straight away at 2 year check and referred to salt - I felt like most rubbish parent in world as turns out to be very significant issue where he almost went to school on a language unit.

Hv checks over the phone are useless imo

I will ring the health visitor and get some advice on regards to this. When we had the 2 year check up she didn’t express any concerns when it came to the language and communication, however the nursery have mentioned it a couple of times now and have actually spent a good chunk of time with her so I assume their opinion is more valid.

Always best to push and get it checked out. Early intervention is key with speech and language

@Hankunamatata

I'd raise it with hv or if theres a self referral for salt. I dodnt pick up on my middle childs language problems - they babble and I understood. HV spotted straight away at 2 year check and referred to salt - I felt like most rubbish parent in world as turns out to be very significant issue where he almost went to school on a language unit.

That must have been so worrying, I definitely understand the feeling of guilt! I agree about the over the phone appointments, have also heard that the waiting lists for SALT are over 30 months at the moment…

You could ask nursery of they have a referral system or access to language support.

I will speak more in depth with the nursery and how they think we should move forward in order to help and assist dd.

My two year old is like this, I’m not concerned as they understand everything and are able to repeat words and name objects etc. They are gaining more words every day but not using sentences yet.

You might have to be quite assertive. Be clear that you are concerned (and that nursery have raised concerns - evidence from a setting is very persuasive) and insist on a SALT referral. In my area SALT referrals used to include an automatic referral to audiology for hearing check too but this is no longer routine, so if you have any concerns about hearing explicitly ask for this.

@TempName01 this is comforting. I wasn’t worried until the nursery pointed it out, so much pressure to meet the expected “milestones”… I am aware children will develop at their own pace and that’s okay. But if it is an area of concern then I also understand them mentioning it to me.

@BarkminsterBlue

You might have to be quite assertive. Be clear that you are concerned (and that nursery have raised concerns - evidence from a setting is very persuasive) and insist on a SALT referral. In my area SALT referrals used to include an automatic referral to audiology for hearing check too but this is no longer routine, so if you have any concerns about hearing explicitly ask for this.

Thank you will definitely mention all of this. Will speak to the nursery properly on Monday and let them know too.

Make sure she gets a proper heating test - it's surprisingly easy for even major hearing problems to fly under the radar.

My son was 2.5 or older when he started to speak. And then he learnt 30 words in about a week. By the time he went to nursery at 3 he was leagues ahead of the other kids and still is in his ability to read, spell and write now he’s taking his GCSEs. I wouldn’t worry xx

My DS was 2 in September and he can't speak sentences yet. He's definitely behind in his speech compared to his peers, but he's also gradually improving so I'm not concerned. I think he's just a bit of a slow developer. I'd be more concerned if his progress stalled and I stopped seeing any improvements.

Yes, at 2 years 4 months nursery are right to be getting a little concerned if there's not really any language yet. Nursery might be able to do a SALT referral - it's worth asking for one and if not ask your GP.

It's possible she's just a little delayed, so whilst you are waiting for the SALT (which could take a while) just play lots of communication-based games, interact and model a lot.

It's good to sort of give a running commentary on what she's doing, e.g. "it's a red car!" if she's playing with a red car. Just talk to her a lot and use short phrases and repeat them lots. Always follow her lead and comment on what she is already playing with, rather than pulling her attention away to something else. Try to expand what she is doing, so if she's playing with a car you could introduce some other vehicles and talk about them as well, what noises they make, etc.

You can check her understanding by having a few toys lined up, ask her to point to the red car/ small blue car/ big yellow bus/ small yellow bus etc. and see how her understanding is with two or three words, different colours and sizes of the same things. This is something they might do in a SALT assessment. You might think she's understanding but when you really check like this there might be a problem.

Leapfrog books are also great for that age for interactive language learning.

Hey! Ds1 did not say a word until 2.5- except Mama and glavadibado… he said Puppy one day. Then hello a week after. And then he was on a roll but NOT A SINGLE WORD before 30 month…

The only thing I would add is if the waiting lists are long, go private if you can. It was woeful in the area we lived in at the time but private made such a difference.

Op I had a very similar l.o. and so I know how worrying this is. Definitely delayed as they should be saying two word sentences at 2 and should have 50 words at least.

I would:

1. press for referral to slt. Great idea to speak to hv but what they know about speech and language is IME very variable. Our child was ultimately diagnosed with severe language delay but we were slightly fobbed off. In some areas you can actually self refer to slt so worth googling them locally. Also ask for gp referral.

2. nhs speech therapy has been cut down really extensively to save money. If there is any chance of finding weekly private speech therapy that will really help your dc.

3. hearing issues can be present even when not apparent. Children can sometimes hear some frequencies and not others. My dc could hear dogs bark in the distance so we never considered hearing issues. In fact she was very deaf.

Press for a hearing test with gp. Again if you can afford go private. My dc had glue ear and started speaking 2-3 weeks after having grommets. If you can afford you might need to go private for grommets - the nhs waiting lists are very long for them due to covid. If you are anywhere near London pm me if you want the name of the amazing ENT I used.

3. while you wait for all these things buy the parent speech help book produced by the Canadian speech therapy charity the Hanen Foundation. This is amazing and was recommended to me by the salt. Specific practical evidence based tips on how to speak to / interact with speech delayed children to try to help them acquire language. Called It takes two to talk and expensive on Amazon but cheaper on the Wilmslow Press website. Our dd acquired lots of new words in the few weeks she waited for slt while we used this book

4. try to take care of yourself too - I know it’s so hard when dc don’t develop speech typically. In case it helps my dc took a big part in her school play this week and while still young for her age her speech at 9 is now normal.

PS she sounds a very chatty friendly delight!

If you have any concerns about her development otherwise at all definitely worth doing the toddler MCHAT, just to see if there are any red flags.

It’s not fun to have to consider all these things, but as a pp said early intervention is key and this is EXACTLY the right age to focus on all this.

My very similar dc is a lovely happy child at 9! Quirky but she has friends and can now talk normally.

Do you read stories to her every day? Do you converse with her? At home and out in walks? In the car or on the bus, about the world around her? Do you play with her?

My DS was like it. Until he was about 4. He learned to talk and once he started he didn't stop.
He's 25 now. And very articulate.
By all means OP keep an eye on it.
Some kids listen more than talk.

As an aside. I always chatted and read books to him. He'd smile and interact in some verbal way.
When he was about 2\3 I decided to show him colour cards to teach him his colours. He knew them all.
It was then I realised I was worrying about nothing.