AIBU to worry that my 4 year old can't say her rs?

[BarbaraVineFan]

My 4 year old still can't say the r sound, and I am starting to worry about it. Is this something I need to be concerned about or is this normal for her age? She was 4 in October and can pronounce all other sounds correctly (or should I say cowwectly ;))

im sure it’s fine. My daughter said her first word a month before her third birthday . Before that she was pretty much silent. When she started school she was still missing a lot of key sounds, couldn’t say L or R. She’s nearly 18 now and speaks perfectly ok. I think by year 2 her speech was clear.

3 of my dc needed speech therapy, R is the last sound they get apparently (can be as late as 7 or 8 i was told), so if everything else is OK I wouldn't worry at all.

Nothing to worry about ...

"the hardest sounds for children to learn are often the l, r, s, th, and z is probably not surprising to many parents, who regularly observe their children mispronouncing these sounds or avoiding words that use these letters. Typically, such behavior is completely normal for children. Most children do not display mastery of l, r, s, th, or z sounds until ages 6-8."

Taken from:

https://www.thespeechlanguagecenter.com/learning-how-to-pronounce-difficult-sounds-l-r-s-th-z/

Thanks everyone. Mumsnet is always great when you have little concerns and need a quick reality check!

Jonathan Ross is over 60 and he can’t say his Rs either. Doesn’t seem to have help him back.

My son still struggles a bit with his R's, he is 18 this week. Its no issue though. He took a long time to speak too.

DS couldn't either at that age. He's nearly 16 now and says R's just fine 😁

Just what i was about to say. If you can be a prime time talk show host and radio presenter without your r's I think your child will be fine, even if they never say them. Which they will I'm sure.

Ds can't say his R's... And his name starts with R! Only problem has been when he was cast as a wise man who bought the fwankincense... I know I'm terrible but I laughed so hard

My nephew at 4 couldn't say his Rs. I remember him telling me "I can't say my Ws" 😂. He's 25 now and says his Rs perfectly fine.