24-month-old doesn't say Mummy

[Fazerina]

He says Daddy though .. His speech is delayed I think as well so have made an appointment with HV to get a referral to SALT. He is trilingual (well, so far only has words in two languages). Just hoping to hear others have also had this..?

I don't have personal experience but my mum works in childcare, ran a nursery for many years, and I heard about this many times. Usually because the parents were worried but my mum never was, as she had seen it so often in multilingual children, and she was/is very relaxed about timetables for children's development.

Hey, thanks! That's reassuring. Do you mean specifically that multilingual children didn't say mummy, or that their speech was delayed?

Same age here with youngest and he doesn't say much. Billingual also. He understands everything though, and I'm not at all worried. His brother now 3 was the same and a year on is speaking fluently and beginning to read in two languages.

It just takes longer for them to process

Yes that's what I would have thought as well, although a SALT I once spoke with briefly said they no longer think so.. She said children learn words in the beginning and they are not really aware of the fact that these words may be in different languages..

Anyway, when people say their toddlers understand everything it always puzzles me. I'm not convinced mine understands everything. For instance, he will not point to the thing he wants when presented with two different things, e.g. water and juice. He does follow some 'commands' though. Like when I change his nappy on a changing mat on the floor, he will will out the chaging mat back behind the wardrobe where we keep it when I ask him to. If he throws the sofa cushions on the floor he will put them back when I ask. Sometimes I think he understands, but just won't do things or doesn't want to say something, like he will often refuse to point to my nose/eyes/mouth if I ask, but sometimes I think he just doesn't understand what I'm saying..

put not out and changing not chaging

We have a large proportion of bilingual children at my nursery and some are slightly behind with their speech development however some children who have only one language also have speech delay.

I could be wrong in this but I thought only 2 languages should be introduced before the child reached 5 (or 3) and the third later.

Hm I've never heard that.. Well, DS hardly gets a chance to learn DH's language anyway, as he works late and only gets home to do bath every night, so I would be surprised if DS suddenly started picking up his dad's language. I try to speak my language to him most of the time, but English does dominate and most of his words are in English.

My dd (not bilingual) didn't say any recognisable words until 2 1/4 - we did get a referral to a speech and language therapist but in the end she just started talking - and progressed very quickly once she had started. We were told that this is completely within the normal range (albeit at the later end) and dd is now very articulate and is in the top groups for reading and maths in her Yr 1 class. I've heard that it is very common for bilingual children to be later to talk.

Just to add, I consider myself bilingual and I also speak a third language to a near native level and DH is the same. We don't really consider ourselves too confused most of the time despite having learned these languages from very early on . I must admit though that I only learned my other two languages when I must have been about 5 or 6, but DH has been exposed to all his three languages since birth.

Fazerina - he def understands everything! If I say we need to get ready for swimming he will mime swimming with arms, and head off to find a towel. If I ask what he wants for breakfast he will open the cupboard and choose. If I say granny is visiting he will now try and say it too or will go and find her photo. We have to be careful what we say now when he is listening!
He will also find and pick out objects in books/ numbers and letters etc..
I would say he he now picking up a new word daily but only in the last few weeks.

newlark that's reassuring and glad to hear your DD is doing well now.

I anyone able to comment on the understanding bit? I know it's probably difficult to say really anything based on the few examples I gave on my DS, but does this sound normal?

forevergreek, hm I don't think my DS' understanding is at that level. He wouldn't understand if I ask him what he wants for breakfast or for any other meal, which is really frustrating. He will go to the kitchen and say 'Um, um, um' (which is the sound he makes when he wants something) and point to the cupboards and fridge etc. but there is no telling what it is he wants:(.

Well, he does understand when I say daddy is coming home and will often run to the door and when DH says 'DS is going to take a bath' he will go the bathroom and say 'bubbles-s' and he does ask for water sometimes..

But in terms of having to be careful about what we say around him, I wouldn't think so no..

I think I'm talking to myself by now:).. But I've just written down DS's words and he has roughly 50-60, I know I'm forgetting some. Only about 10 are in my language, the rest is English and none in DH's language:(.. Does this sound like a delay? He also doesn't string words together. Well he kind of says 'It' in my language and then adds a word in English, i.e. It car. I think he's trying to say it's a car, IYSWM..

You generally don't say 'Mummy' throughout the day. If you think about your conversations, you probably say 'we need to get x ready for Daddy.' Ohh Daddy will be home soon....

etc.

Yeah that's true. I was thinking about it that way as well.. But surely he should say it sometimes when I'm not there..? He is with me all day every day, granted, but weekends DH takes him to the park sometimes etc. to have some special time with him and I don't think he ever talks about me..

here is an interesting article about raising children bilingually

DS (28 mo) is also raised trilingual and only last month started saying mummy....as you I was concerned and went to the GP with him, who however said that whilst there was a slight speech delay, referral to SALT was not necessary. Since Last month things have really picked up and he is now chatting happily in all three languages

cookielove thanks for the link. I actually found that very interesting and informative, although I'm usually a bit sceptical about babycenter.

SanneSannes that's encouraging, thanks for sharing that and good to hear from others going through similar issues.. I actually went to the GP, but he basically refused to comment insisting I see the HV . I'm now actually a bit about the SALT as well, as having read that article, I feel she shouldn't have told me multilingual children don't know the difference between the languages they learn !

I think children Definatley know te difference between languages. 2 year old obv doesnt show this as well, but 3 year old will switch over in an instance depending on who he is talking to
He knows that pretty much all speak English but won't speak it to relatives he knows he should use the other language for

My nephew is 3.5 and is bilingual but mostly speaks and hears English. He went to Europe to visit his grandmother, when he was about 3, as soon as he got there he just starting speaking to her in her native language. His parents and grandparents were so shocked, because they knew he could understand grandmas language and speak some words be cos his dad speaks to him in his mother tongue, but his level of comprehension and ability to hold a complete conversation was a complete surprise!

Op, good idea to get him seen by a Salt.

be prepared that the HV tries to fob you off (with the trilingual children speak later
nonsense). if she does not refer, just self refer (you don't need s referal for salt, jusz get the number and ring them).

might be a good idea to get a referral for a hearing test just to make sure your DS has no underlying hearing problem.

the main thing right now is that is is understanding well. if the understanding is fine, the talking will come.

i have 2 DC. DC1 has autism and a massive speech & language delay which wsd blamed for a long time on our trilingual upbringing. DC2 is also growingbup trilingually and speech and language wise very advanced despite the 3 languages.

just follow your gut and don't let people fob you off. bi/multilingual upbringing does not delay speech development - there is a lot research about it.

sorry for the typos

madhousequeen thanks for your comments. Yes I have zero trust in the HVs in my area in general so wouldn't be too surprised if I was met with the comments you describe. I was actually thinking to visit the children's centre this week with DS, as I know they do a singing session for toddlers with a SALT so I could maybe have a quick chat there and make an appointment as well.

In terms of a hearing test, do you know if the HV can refer DS for this or is it done via the GP? If the HV can refer, then I'll maybe keep the appointment I have, but otherwise if I get the SALT appointment directly, I think I'll just cancel the HV.. Just because I don't generally like going there, as I've always found them utterly useless.

Another thing I was wondering about is how do they do the hearing test on toddlers? Just curious to find out how it works that's all :)..