Could DS's speech delay be partly down to fussy eating?

[ODearMe]

Hello all

I have posted on here on two occasions about DS (23 months). First of all, regarding his speech delay, and the second - his obsession with fish fingers.

I had a bit of a eureka moment when discussing it with friends last night that the two could possibly be linked.

I was telling my friends what he will eat, and they suggested that he is perhaps not developing the muscles in his mouth with which to speak with because the foods he does eat are not challenging him to chew hard enough.

Also, he still has a bottle of milk morning and evening and they mentioned there are associations with speech delay and bottles.

FYI - I have tried to offer DS what we eat but he will not put this in his mouth and would go to bed hungry if it wasn't for fishfingers.

Do you think there might be some truth in the association? If so, please can you give me suggestions on how to:

1. wean from the bottle (I tried this morning to give him a beaker of milk and he refused it).

1. Get him to eat something to get him chewing and exercising those jaw muscles more!

Thanks for your help

I think you probably need to ask for a referral to a speech therapist to get professional advice tbh. It could be that he has poor muscle tone which makes speaking and eating difficult and that's why he likes to eat fish fingers. He could have sensory issues around food and fish fingers are acceptable to him. He could have other developmental issues that link both delayed speech and obsessional behaviour but have nothing to do with muscle tone. Either way speak to your GP and ask for a referral.

I agree with insanity, in many areas you can self refer to speech therapy.

Go to your nearest sure start/childrens centre and ask them.

Good luck

Thanks to both of you. The health visitor keeps fobbing me off and telling me to wait for his 2 year check. I think I'll go over her head and take DS to GP tomorrow.

Yes I would chat to GP although I have one child who would only eat fish fingers at 2yo and another who didn't start talking til he was over 2, they both caught up in their own time.

HVs are not experts in child development. I would always recommend that any concerns about child development are discussed with a GP at the very least.

Thanks Insanity, will do

It is possible that they are linked in that both fussy eating and speech delay may have a common cause, rather then fussy eating causing the speech delay if you see what I mean.

You should speak to your GP/health visitor.

Agreed with lady; sounds like difficulty with oral motor skills, which makes chewing and swallowing as well as forming speech hard. Push for referral

Your 2yo eats fish fingers?

I profoundly don't think it makes significant difference, OP. It's kids who only eat purees still at 2yo who might have issues. Yours chews a little, at least.

He seems to know how to say words e.g. - he can count to ten but it is not very clear. And for example, he knows a fish is a fish but can only screw his nose up and say 'Fffffffff'.

Thanks lljkk. You are right about being able to chew something. And he does chew - he eats sandwiches, porridge, bananas, grapes, raisins etc but for dinner only wants fish fingers.

Ah, I thought you meant he literally only ate fish fingers & drank only milk!
Please do not worry if he as that varied a diet.
I have fussy eaters & DC with mild speech delay, btw. I can't see a link.

Currently arguing with youngest fussbot about whether he ever liked broccoli (he did, ate loads when he was 1-2yo!).

Ds2 was speech delayed and was a very fussy eater. Got referral to SALT via GP. SALT said if he could eat biscuits and crisps ( which ds2 could) then his oral motor development was probably normal as these are the most difficult textures to manage. dS2 was diagnosed with a speech disorder at 3 years old and had 1 year of intensive speech therapy and whereby his speech really improved and now is absolutely fine though is still a fussy and selective eater

For 23 months, counting to ten isn't bad at all. My four year old, with a severe speech problem, cannot count to ten. He has only just learnt to count to five.

Thank you Mumzy, that is a really useful insight to what the professionals would ask. DS can definitely eat biscuits - no problem there, and crisps. I am glad the speech therapy helped your son and he is fine now. I feel much more reassured.

Thank you Dear Mummies!

Ds has problems with his oro motor skills, and he can still eat biscuits and crisps.

He sounds pretty normal to me but no harm in talking to GP to set your mind at rest.

Tongue tied children can have both speech problems and fussy eating (amongst other things).

Did you breastfeed or try to? If so, how did it go? Often this can give clues about ties too.

Mawbroon - DS was bf for 7 months. I found it very painful to begin with but I dont think DS had any issues. However, he did feed for long periods of time?

What makes you think he has speech delay? Has a professional told you this or do you just think he 'should' be speaking more than he is?

His diet is fine, loads of children his age are very fussy at tea time when they'll eat much better at lunch time - they're small, they're tired.

NLB couldn't count to ten reliably until he was 4yo, I reckon. And certainly not with clear words. He's still "normal". Just not at the brightest end of the spectrum.

I know DS has speech delay because he can only say 10 words and they are unclear.

Am not a SLT, but from my experience with many SLT assessing my DC, That only barely possibly qualifies as speech delay. Ideally you want a SLT to assess him at about 2.5yo and they will give suggestions what to do to help bring his speech on. Formal SLT in Uk doesn't ever seem to start before 3yo, and most of that is homework for you to do together, so getting a proper SLT assessment & advice about what he specifically needs to work on is invaluable.

What is his comprehension like? Does he understand what you say to him? Most SLT starts with improving the child's listening skills.

When DS3 got a speech delay referral he was 2y2months, had 11 words but what really bothered me was his poor understanding of what I said to him. DS2 who had poorer speech development (more words but more unclear) had better understanding at same age.

DS3 now almost 5yo, is being assessed again tomorrow, I expect them to sign him off even though many of his sounds still aren't brilliant. But now age appropriate. He hasn't had a lot of intervention, really, just had to mature.

(I assume the 10 words he says are in addition to the sounds he makes when trying to count to ten?)

How many teeth does he have?

I don't have enough evidence to prove it, but I am convinced there is a correlation with teething and speech development.