50+ words at 2?

[TheSinglePringle]

I was at a friend's house seeing her new born when the health visitor came round. My friend has a daughter who went 2 in January. The health visitor said at 2 they should know 50+ words and be able to say 2/3 word sentences.

My son is 2 years and 4 month old and he doesn't day 50 words and I'm lucky if he puts 2 words together. Should I be worried?

Say using phone

If your son is saying several words (how many do you think? 20-30?) and is sometimes putting 2 words together then I would say he is on the late side but still within a normal range.

Maybe chat to your HV if you are worried though.

My ds had his 2 year check and I told her I was concerned as he only says about 2 words. Most of those aren't full or proper words. For example, he says ba for ball, da for down. He's not putting words together either unless you could oh no. She said she'd see us again to monitor him but she's not concerned as he is sociable and he follows instructions. I've just looked through his red book and HV has written 'no concerns'!
What rubbish. I said I was concerned! He is my 3rd child and he's definitely far behind the previous two. I know it's wrong to compare!
He I potty trained but this is difficult as he only says pooh. He will just get his winky out if he needs a wee!

Can we self refer to a speech therapist or does a Health practitioner need to do this? Getting worried now as ds is due to start nursery in September but I can't see how he'll be able to with his limited vocabulary.
(sorry for crashing thread OP)

That should be 20 words.

My 3rd child did not have anything like 50 word, and did not put words together until he was 3.
He is 8 now and has no speech problems at all.
Not all 2 year old, fall into expected patterns, it does not always mean there is a problems.

My ds is 21 mo currently and says no words at all. He seems bright enough, makes himself understood and understands everything I say. Sometimes I worry - but mostly I think he will get there in the end. I am more concerned he will have bad terrible twos as he won't be able to express himself when he wants to say more complex things and will get frustration.

Was reading Michael Macintyres biography recently and apparently at age 4 (I think) all he could say was shoes, but now he talks for a living.

There are always the outliers of the normal range.

my 21mo dd knows about 7 words, they are: poo, car, yeah, na(no) baba's(bed) ju(juice but means any drink really) and yuk, im sure there are more but i can't think at the mo.

i'm not worried, she understands everything we say.

ds does have speech problems and very few people can understand him, he has come on in leaps and bounds since starting nursery.

i think you can self refer to speech therapy, i did it through the HV for ds.

DS1 is 4 years old and had a speech delay. He's been seeing a SALT since 2 and a half. He just didn't talk until he was about 3. He now chats non stop, although his pronounciation is still not quite there, he is a right little chatterbox.

First thing a SALT will do is do a hearing test, check their language comprehension (understanding will come before expressive language) and how they interact socially.

DS2 has just turned 2 and says about 20 words, at most. His pronounciation is very poor. He doesn't put two words together. I've asked HV to refer him for a hearing test, as SALT processes take sooooooooo long! They are always overbooked and it takes ages to get an appointment. I'd rather get him in the system and hopefully his language will come on in the meantime. Once I can rule out any hearing problems, I'll push for a SALT referral.

I don't think you will get a SALT referral until 2 and a half though, but it is worth getting the wheels in motion.

A SALT will guide you with how to communicate with your son - short 2 - 3 word sentences, no questions, talk about what's going on around him etc etc.

Hope this ramble helps!

He understands everything that is said to him. I wasn't worried until the health visitor mentioned it. I also haven't had a 2 year check for him yet but I will be taking him Thursday.

my ds4 was like this and then at about 2 and a half he suddenly 'got it' he already understood everything but suddenly he started talking and you couldnt stop him, over the space of 6wks he went from barely talking to not shutting up!

one of mine was talking in sentences by 18mths they all do things differently, if he understands and attemptes to communicate with gestures, simple sounds etc i wouldnt worry, just see how it goes and have a chat with the hv. lots of toddlers are nearer to 3 before they speak a lot, depends on the child :)

Sounds like he's just not as bothered to talk that much yet!

When we first saw the SALT, she gave DS1 a big teddy and a small teddy, a bed and a chair (toys) and she said to him "put the big teddy on the bed". He did what she asked. She explained to us that that is more important than ability to express language at that age.

With the benefit of hindsight though, it is worth trying to get his hearing checked and in the system for SALT. It can take 6 months for an appointment and in that time, you can always cancel if he starts jabbering away! If you leave it another 6 months and then decide to ask for SALT, you'll be another few months away for an appointment.

And SALTS are great for helping you work out the best ways to encourage his language. Naturally, I think people ask questions of 'quieter' children and that is the worst thing to do (i.e. putting pressure on them to speak). It gave me a bit of oomph to say to MIL (who always insisted on Skype with him "why aren't you saying anything sheepboy? Come on, say hello to nan") to ask her not to put him on some sort of language 'test' with her.

I'm blabbering on myself. Sorry!

He know 20+ words. I have an appointment on Thursday for his 2 year check so will find ou more then

My son turned 2 on Friday and his words are finally starting to come. No sentences yet but he went from about 15 words in January to 40+ on Friday.

I started keeping track of his words, as I was getting a bit concerned. The good thing about keeping track is that it's great to pay attention to progress (I add new words to his list every 2 weeks or so with a note of the date).

I also bought It Takes Two To Talk, after seeing it recommended on threads on here, and it's great. Really helped in how we communicate with him (short sentences etc) and his words definitely started to come along faster once we improved how we speak to him but I think he's just at the slow end of normal. But it's also a great way of understanding communication styles - it's very simply written but informative!

Also check out Talking Point as it's a good reference.

I've decided not to bother with a SALT reference yet, as his words are really coming along now and his comprehension is great. I'm not concerned about his hearing. He can follow instructions without elaborate gestures and he gets his point across .

My ds was the same at two. He's now 2.6 and it's only in the last two months that his speech has drastically improved. In february, after a spell of being low level unwell for a month, he pretty much changed overnight to talking in three or four word sentences from barely saying single words at all. After 6 weeks at nursery, two mornings a week, his key person surprised me by saying he appears ahead of most dcs at the same age stage.

He must have been soaking up words but not saying them for a long time because when we went out in the garden for the first time since last September to play last week,he identified things like the hose pipe, wheel barrow and other, quite unusual, tools which he wouldn't have come across anywhere else since.

Basically, I wouldn't worry. My sil didn't speak until she was 3 and she's a uni professor now.