Worried about speech delay

[WelshJoB]

My lovely DS is nearly 25 months and is still not talking. He's been saying Mama and Dada for over a year, makes animal noises, brrrmmm, choochoo etc, but nothing more. He babbles constantly, and is very assertive when he does so. I'm sure he's convinced he's chatting! He also says "mama oh", "dada oh" a lot, as if getting our attention. I keep being told not to worry, but it's breaking my heart at the moment. He has great understanding, but answers all questions by pointing! Waiting for a SALT referral. DH didn't speak until 2.5yrs. Starting nursery for 1 day a week in Sept. Just need to know whats going on really so I can deal with it, and stop crying myself to sleep ...

Took DS to the Speech & Language drop-in today.
Lovely lady did exactly what I hoped she would - reassured me that DS's speech is probably developing normally, but agreed to refer to audiology just to be sure, and also invited us to go to their weekly play sessions (starting in Nov) to keep an eye on him.
Feeling less worried now, so we can enjoy our holiday in Centre Parcs (going tomorrow) :)

Just wanted to update again as DS2 had his first SALT session following on from his assessment in August. The SALT was really pleased & impressed with how much he'd progressed in a short space of time. A couple of her concerns from the assessment were no longer concerns eg eye contact, which before he gave only for requesting something, he was giving loads this time. Also, last time he did not feed dolly/teddy, this time he did happily with a little encouragement.

She said it's positive that he has a few animal/vehicle/general sounds & so she wants to try & build on those. I am trying to encourage this by playing animal puzzles, singing Old McDonald, but am a bit stuck on what else to do. She also asked me to encourage him to request things, whether by gesture or sounds. Eg, blow some bubbles, put lid back on pot, don't do any more until he asks in some way.

She also said that him mimicking phrases in a singsong tone could be him thinking that that phrase is one whole word & that is his way of saying it.

Finally she said that the fact he is pointing to things of interest a lot now is great as it is communication instigated by him & is a foundation for talking.

So, I know he is still way behind where he should be, but it seems like my DS is going in the right direction

Thanks Blackberry I was really encouraged Also, his keyworker at nursery has been saying that she feels he's really come on in the past few weeks, in lots of areas. I myself have noticed that now, all of a sudden, he is pretty much able to do/undo zips on his bodywarmer & take it off himself, which is great. I also told the nursery workers what the SALT wanted to focus on & when I picked him up yesterday, after a morning at nursery, they said he was saying 'br' like he was trying to say 'brm' for cars. Baby steps, but he is getting there, I feel

I didn't buy the Hanen book but have borrowed it from my local library & will scan any relevant pages into my laptop

How is your little one doing? My son is the same at 25 months now with limited speech and I am consumed with worry.