To be very worried about the fact my child doesn’t speak?

[Gettp]

Ds is nearly 19 months. He can say ‘mama’ and ‘dads’ and ‘feet.’ That’s it.

I am very worried I am doing something wrong. I’ve tried to encourage him to say words or point to animals etc in a book and repeat the word but he just will not.

In terms of what he knows… if I say we need to put socks on he will lift his feet before I’ve even got the socks. He knows what a biscuit is, what his milk is etc as when I ask if he wants either of those things then he will smile excitedly or reach out his hands. He will also point to things that he wants or to the cupboard where his food is etc. But I can’t get him to say ‘milk,’ even if I said do you want milk or biscuit it’s like he can’t tell me which. I’ve tried all sorts to get him to speak more and I’m really worried. The GP said it didn’t matter and was no help and health centre/place where you can drop in just said to keep an eye but it was unusual?! Anyone got any experience?

He also knows what shoes are as he will go to them when I say shoes on. And he will take instruction like clapping or pointing to his head or nose etc. But he won’t actually repeat words.

He's still really little

Nothing to worry about yet, honestly

My son is very similar and he's almost two. He only says daddy. And I'm not even sure he knows what it means. He doesn't point or anything like yours does. He gets his shoes if I tell him to but tbh it sounds like your child is ahead of mine and mines older. I wouldnt sorry perhaps until he's a few months older. Sounds like he's making good progress to me. Again, I'm only comparing to my boy so I could be wrong.

I can remember worrying about DD when she was little, she didn't really say much until she was 2. She's 8 now and very articulate! Don't worry! x

Sounds within normal expectations for 18 months. My DS was saying only a handful of words at 2, and I did worry a bit then, but the HV said it wasn’t uncommon. By 2.5 he’d come on loads and was chatting a lot more. He’s 5 now and doesn’t stop chatting.

Sounds similar to my son who is two years three months. He can understand perfectly a lot of what you say but doesn't say many words at the moment although he has managed to copy some of the signs from Mr Tumble recently! We are waiting for a hearing appointment at the moment.

Far, far too young to be worrying.
They're all different.
Give him time.

When you look at this, he's pretty spot on 🙂

hi op. first of all you are not doing anything wrong so please don't go down that road of blaming yourself, you sound like a terrific mum who wants the best for her little boy. you are already doing lots to encourage his speech, keep doing those things cos it can't hurt. he is still so young and language is such a funny thing some kids speak very early and others it takes a little bit longer..my son was practically non verbal til he was almost 3 I now can not shut him Up lol. sounds like your son has really good receptive language skills too as he understands and responds to what you say. does he babble or make sounds with his mouth ? keep an eye but try not to worry I'm sure the words will come when he's ready. x

I was going to suggest some Makaton signs to help him to communicate. Definitely not unusual at all sounds perfectly normal to me.

No need to worry until he’s two.

also, has he had his hearing checked ?

My Dd was really similar I read up at the time and the consensus seemed to be if their understanding was good don’t sweat it.
at 20m my Dd had mama dada and arghhhh and that was about it.

But my Dd could follow simple instructions and understand what we were saying (low level/ age appropriate stuff)

her language exploded at about 23-25m and now she loves chatting

it’s too early to be concerned but I understand why and was there myself

Thanks for that. Makes me feel even more aware my son is behind. 😬

What is his understanding like generally? Does he understand a lot of what you say? Does he show joint attention - point to show you interesting items, bring you toys just so you can see them rather than do something with them?

Sounds the same as my 18 month old. He's just learnt dinosaur (sasar) and can say mama, dummy and sisters name and ta. But most of the day he just babbles happily.
But he understands much more. Sister asked to go in the garden and he threw his toys down and ran to the back door. Can also point to nose, head and tummy when asked. He also knows lay down and shoes.

He's super cute and I think on lower end of average. He also goes and hides in the corner when doing something he knows he shouldn't be. 🤣

This is really normal. All of my children suddenly began to speak much more around the 2 year mark. They've gone on to have really good speech.

Language development isn't linear. There's very little progress for many months and then suddenly they "explode" with a burst of new language. I wouldn't be worried about a lack of speech until at least about 2.5 years old.

The use of gestures and pointing and also having a good understanding of what is spoken to them, is also reassuring and linked to speech development. For example, autistic children whose speech is severely affected often do not point or gesture at all, and may completely ignore instructions.

You can help your child's speech to develop even faster with things like speech routines / phrases which you repeat, which might encourage your child to step in and finish the phrase. Eg "ready steady go". You say this lots of times and you might find when you say "ready steady..." And leave a pause, your child will say "go". So you can use this for all sorts "here comes the spoon! Here comes the spoon! Here comes the... " Don't put too much pressure on it, just keep it fun! Another thing would be to consider use of hand gestures or even sign language to accompany some words.

But you don't have to do any of that because really your child sounds v v normal and not behind at all.

I had one very early talker and one late talker. DS was over two before he said his first word but once he started speaking it all came at once. They all get there in their own time. I wouldn't worry. My mum tells me I didn't start speaking until I was three!

One of mine barely said a word until 2.5.

Another one was talking constantly by 18 months, with a vocabulary many years ahead of expectations...except his pronunciation was so poor no one could understand him and he had extensive speech therapy until age 6.

Third dc was talking beautifully by 2 in full, understandable sentences.

They're all now equally 'vocal' and equal in intelligence/academic ability. All NT.

Dc are just different, it usually evens out in the end. Definitely far too young to be worrying.

My son was similar at that age. His speech didn't really come on until he was about 2. He's 3 next week and constantly rabbiting on now!

My LO is 18 months and has only really started saying a few other words from mama and Daddy. What I found helped is when she said a word that sounded like another I'd really go OTT and congratulate her for saying the word and then repeat it back. It somehow worked and really built her confidence to give it a go again. For example; sue could say 'up' so I then said cup well done this is your CUP. So using similar sounds but learning new words. I also try and use words in context so if we're going to the car, i say it as much as I can within my sentences and really exaggerate it.
Don't worry yourself kids are all so different. Apparently I didn't speak until past 2 and I don't stop now 😂 We all get there. If you are worried, keep an eye out though and go to your HV. They are so young at this point I don't think they'd do much but suggest a hearing test.
I made it my mission to read 1 story a day to my LO and we're still going strong. Reading can help understanding and vocabulary immensely. Even if it's not being said now it's being stored to use later. Xx

He sounds like a clever wee fellow. He knows what socks are and what you want to do with them. He'll talk at his own pace.

I remember having those worries.
What got my ds talking was a kitchen roll inner tube. If you talk into it, it makes a nice sound. He loved that and used to copy me. Then never stopped talking.
It might be worth a try!

sounds pretty normal. Talk to him all the time - running commentary. Interpret his communication with speech and repeat it back eg if he point at his water saying ‘you would like your water bottle.. water please mummy’. Very likely language will explode at some point

It sounds fine, but it would be worth checking that he has directional hearing. Go into the garden or park or street. Wait until you can both hear the sound of a bird or car that is out of sight. Say "can you point to the bird/car?"

If he can do this reliably, it means that both his ears are working well. If he can't, then he might have glue ear and it's worth getting it checked by an audiologist. You wouldn't actually do anything about that, but it's useful to know. Glue ear is really common in kids. They grow out of it. You work differently to teach them to speak if there is hearing difficulty, so it's useful to know.