Toddler behind in speech - should I be worried?

[NicolaSeven]

While reading the play plan DD's (20 mths) nursery have devised for her, I realised that they have put her speech development down in the birth-11 months bracket, which seems like quite a lag.

The nursery are being a bit fishy about it and won't come back to me until Friday and in the meantime, my mind is going into overdrive. Is it a cause for concern?

She is less vocal than DS was at that age, but her comprehension is great (in terms of doing the right thing when you say something like 'pick up the red pen').

Can she say any words? Is she making sounds at all? Pointing?

Yep. She can say words (lots of words, not all of them distinct) but not full sentences. And points, etc.

I just got a leaflet through with the paperwork for my ds 2 yr check. It says by 2 they should have 20 distinct words and be using 2-3 word sentences.

Does that fit?

And thank you for coming back, BTW. I think I'm getting into a bit of a flap as they won't just tell me now if there's a problem and a friend has had a diagnosis on her child's developmental delays and the news was not good.

She has 20 words. No sentences, though, although she isn't yet two.

She sounds fine to me; comprehension is very important. You often find children just suddenly go from not much to loads of chatter around that age anyway. Many 11mo do not have words (beyond perhaps a few) so to put her in that bracket if she has 'lots' of words, even if they aren't all clear, is inaccurate IMO.

Also second children are often cited as being slower talkers than their siblings; they usually focus on the physical to defend themselves.

I think it's probably very hard to say if there is a problem or not. My dd1 didn't say her first word until 18 months. For many children, that is normal and not a problem.

Is she putting two words together?

Perhaps you can start using some simple signs to aid communication?

The thing is she has got 4 months to go until she's 2 and a lot can change in that time! My eldest and most of his friends only started putting words together as they approached their second birthdays.

I was told they are expected to say something like 6-20 words at 18mo.

I think the fact that her comprehension is good is a great thing and you should be reassured by that. Definitely speak to the nursery but try not to panic in the meantime (easier said than done I know). Perhaps she is quieter at nursery? My middle ds was pretty advanced with his speech but quiet as a mouse at toddler groups etc - I'm sure lots of people thought he barely spoke.

Tell us a bit more about her. What words can she say? Does she respond if you call her from another room?

I just wanted to pop on and say I have a 20 mo and was worried about his speach so saw the hv. He has 20 words but no sentences, and a lot of those words aren't the clearest either. Hv wasn't worried, said that they can have massive leaps and at this point (before the 2 year check) not to worry about it as his understanding was good.

I felt loads better for having spoken to her, and it sounds like our Dc are at a similar level

I've read on mumsnet that the minimum is two words together at the age of two, and short sentances age three. My dd1 missed those goal posts and it turned out she had a hearing problem. She is now nine and bilingual.

20 words at 20 months sounds about ok.

That's another point, keep an eye on her hearing.

Cross posted. 20 words not yet in sentences sounds fairly typical to me for 20mo.

20 months is very very young.

Does she babble and point ?

Can she follow instructions that are random for example 'go and get your shoes and put them behind the curtain '

If she is doing that then try not to worry too much (I know its hard)

That sounds pretty normal to me. 22mo has just started putting sort of sentences together, but it's been quite recent. I found that she showed no sign of doing it - but then once she'd done it, it was an overnight change and she put everything together.

As far as I understand it, I thought comprehension was more important? So if she can get the red pen, take a cup back to the kitchen etc than she's doing absolutely fine?

If nursery have concerns, it is worth listening to them - there may well be a problem, but for what its worth, at his 2 yr check, DS1 had maybe 3 words, no sentances, but brilliant understanding (like your pick up the red pen example).

Lots of words sounds like they have ticked the wrong box (and words mean if she consistantly points to a dog and says woof, thats a word)
About 3-4 months later, he just got it, and started spouting sentances way beyond his peers.
I might be biased, but I think he still (in reception) has much clearer speach than many of his compatriates.

His little brother, on the other hand, met the 2 yr check guidance, but is MUCH harder to understand than I remember his older brother being.

It may be the way they develop - Ds1 was also very physical, hitting most of those milestones several months early. Communication definitly was a secondary interest to him.

Thank you everyone for coming back. Very reassuring to hear from real people (rather than listening to my own paranoia!)

She definitely responds to instructions when I'm in the same room as her. When she gets up from her nap, I'll try calling something out from another room to see if there's anything up hearing-wise.

DS had to be hearing tested at 3yo (although it turned out he can hear perfectly, he just chose not to )

Maybe that's it (re wrong box ticked), nextphase - they said it was a 'training issue' when I asked for more info from the nursery. But is that a training issue, as in she was incorrectly assessed, or a training issue in that the assessment was correct, but it was flagged with me wrongly (ie not verbally, but in the play plan)?

Like I say, she does talk less than her brother did at this age, but going on what people have said on here, it's not an inappropriate amount. So I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for nursery cock-up!

Hi,

Just to add to others and hopefully provide more reassurance. DD (now 33 months, or less awkwardly, will be 3 in Feb) had only a handful of words at her 2nd birthday, from memory it was only just 20, because I kind of did a 'phew' when she hit 20! She wasn't putting them together and seemed to be way behind her peers. Over the following six months (and sometimes literally overnight), she just started coming out with complete sentences, and now loves chattering away.

So I would say you probably have no reason to panic just yet. See what they say when you see them. One of the things I noticed in the learning journey we get from nursery, is that there are quite specific criteria for each element, and DD's is littered with things on a range from 12-20 months range to the 3-4 yrs range. I don't fully understand how it works, but if there is something in there that is 12-20 months, it doesn't mean that she is behind on that 'skill', but that the specific piece of evidence relates to an earlier milestone. I haven't seen a play plan but there may be similar very specific things they use to grade children that don't necessarily reflect their everyday activities.

Hope the discussion goes well. Try and think about what you want to get out of it, and write some notes if you think it might help. I would approach it in a ...tell me more about this, what does this mean, what are you doing to support, what should I do to support...

Incidentally, when DD was 'behind' with speech, she was already streets ahead with climbing, jumping, running, throwing and catching etc. They can't all do everything at exactly the same time!

D

Also, dh was nearly 3.5 by the time he started to properly talk. Mil reckon he could always do it but couldn't be bothered. Lazy arse :)