Speech worries in 21mo: can you reassure me?

[LaTristesse]

DS is 21mo and only says Dadda and Mamma. He babbles incessantly but struggles with all the consonants: basically he doesn't move his mouth to form shapes. This is obvious because he can't do things like blowing which also reequire some mouth muscle movement. Also his 'Mamma' sounds like it's a huge effort with the kind of tone to it you'd expect from a deaf speaker.
His hearing and comprehension are perfect and he communicates well using signs, but we're worried about the lack of words! Whenever we encourage him to say things he hides his face and seems embarrassed.
Am I worrying needlessly? And what can I do to encourage him without him being embarrassed?
Any tips etc gratefully received! Thanks

i would go and see your health visitor.

ds2 didn't say much at that age, but communicated in other ways with us and could follow instructions.
by 2.5 he still wasn't saying much so I saw the HV and got him referred to audiology and the speech therapist.

turns out he had glue ear in both ears and his hearing was affected, so although he had learned to cope with that, and could understand enough of what i was saying to follow instructions he couldn't actually hear well enough to speak himself.

the waiting list for SALT and audiology is really long in most places, so the sooner you get a referral the better.
it might be nothing and you might find that by the time an appointment comes aroudn he is talking non-stop
but if there is a problem then the sooner it's picked up the better IMO

I agree that you should seek a referral. my DD was/is similar, at 21mo she could understand perfectly well, and make herself understaood, although she had few clear words. Her hearing was tested and was fine, she was referred to SALT; now at 2.3 she has many clear sngle words but we are trying to get ehr to add them together to make 2 word phrases. Progress is slow but her confidence has really come on.

Many children have their language burst later on, but it is wise to get yourselves 'on the books' should you need it later. GOod luck!

I agree with those suggesting referrals to SALT and audiology.

I would also say that all the SALT advice at this stage would be to avoid asking your child to talk. It's really hard to do as an anxious parent but it will stop him getting embarrassed and maybe getting a bit of a complex about it.

What they will tell you instead is praise him when he does talk. "Good talking DS, I love it when you say my name!" for example when he says mama.

I think the SALT advice will be to practice blowing bubbles :)

Thanks ladies. When I've mentioned it to the health visitor before she said to reduce the language I use when I speak to him, which I do anyway, and we do practise blowing (bubbles, feathers, kazoos!), so will continue with this. I like the bit about not asking him to talk - I'll definitely try this, thanks!
Apparently his dad was a late talker so maybe he just has DH's lazy gene, but I will ask for a referral to be on the safe side. Thanks for the advice everyone.

DS did this at 21mo He is now 2y 5mo and we cant shut him up!

Hopefully you will have the same but why dont you wait until the two year check at the HV? My friend is a SALT and although she had hers talking at 1yo (hardly surprising really) she did say that they consider age 2 to be an average age to start talking.

HTH