26 month old delayed talking?

[carmancita]

Hello all, its been a while since i posted on here but i am needed some assurance about my DS. He only says a handful of words (dada, juice, more, go, jack (our dog), car, truck and a handful of others) He doesnt call me mama yet :( we talk to him all the time and read to him every night. Is this normal? He understands alot so i dont think it is a hearing issue, he can follow commands and has reached other developmental milestones such as crawling and walking with no problems. As the months go on I get more and more anxious has any one else had experience with this and when should i really start to worry?

Ds has a speech delay (he is 3.5), His is based partially on hearing problems he had as an infant, which in a sense put him behind. He is now catching up rapidly with intense support from speech therapists. If you havnt already make contact with speech and language therapy, either directly or through your health visitor. We were lucky and they had drop in sessions, but I still had to push really hard to get him the assessment and support he needs.

I've been taking him to 'chattertime' a speech based play session at my local children centre, and the staff haven't felt need for a refferal, im not so sure myself...thanks for the reply

It is good that he understands, and he is saying quite a good selection of words, so I don't think there is any problem.

I will try and come back sometime with more info on what to expect from 2 yr old speech.

DS2 has just turned 26 months and says about the same or possibly fewer words than you describe for you DS. The "words" he does say are only the first sound so I am "ma", dad is "da" and bag is "ba" etc. His new word this week is no and we have been hearing that A LOT! We are not concerned however as he understands everything we say and manages to communicate well without speech (plenty of sign language). We also have the benefit of experience with DS1 who was much the same and was even older before he started to speak but then very quickly used whole sentences and an extensive vocabulary. If you feel there might be an underlying issue with your DS then certainly get that investigated but if not then I would try not worry, I'm sure he'll be chatting away before you know it.

I think there is no harm in speaking to your GP about it, lots of toddlers get fluid in the inner ear (glue ear) which is relatively easy to check and can cause some speech delay. GP can also ask for a referral to a speech therapist for assessment, but the waiting lists are long, and your DS might be speaking in sentences before he gets the initial appointment. Children with glue ear can hear lots of sounds and voice, but can also make it harder to hear some sounds. Otherwise, try to speak in short sentences and enphasise on key words and repeat them many times. Encourage games when he has to repeat what you do - or say. So if you sit him on your lap, say 'lalala' and try to encourage him/praise him to do the same. Then sat boo boo boo, etc. Just to encourage him to try and repeat single sounds or consonant/vowel sounds. IT's a fun game to do even if he can't repeat, I think that children just enjoy the eye contact, the silly voices and sounds.

Have you had a 2 year check up? Our HV picked up on DS speech delay and he was referred for a hearing test and speech therapy. Like you I was convinced that his hearing was ok because he understood everything but it turns out he's got glue ear in both ears so he's not hearing things clearly. Not a big deal and very treatable. Rather than worrying why not ask your HV or GP for a referral ?

My ds didn't start talking until he was 2.5...then it all just came at once pretty much!

We did a short course at our local sure start centre, it was kind of useful (Google OWL speech therapy techniques) but really I think he just started once he was ready.

The words & things he knew once he spoke astounded me, so all the reading and talking you're doing will be doing him good.

thank you so much for your replies, its very reassuring to hear other encounters, anxiety can be a lonely place sometimes! I will take him to the GP about the hearing just to rule it out if nothing else. I know there is long waiting lists for speech therapy, will have a look at the OWL technique in the meantime and just wait it out. He has begun to attempt 'on' and 'off' just saying 'oo' for both, but i know what he means!

thanks again

My 5 year old boy has very bad speech delay, he's even behind his sister who's 3. He speaks in sentences but no one except my oh and his sisters understand him, he sees a therapist once a week at school but I'm not sure if there's really been any progress. He gets regular ear infections in the winter and was referred for a hearing test, they said all was ok but at the time he hadn't had an infection in a while, I still think it might be something to do with that, like maybe he hears stuff differently so repeats it the way he hears it, like the dog in the Simpson (has anyone seen the episode I mean, where they all talk to the dog but he just hears babbling lol)

My DS2 was exactly the same. Very few people could understand him. We were referred for Speech Therapy at his two year check with the HV and I did some research and read up about omega fish oils and decided to change his usual multi vitamin for one that also contained omega 3 and 6 vitamins, the change was amazing within a few weeks the clarity of his speech and vocabulary had improved massively. By the time his speech appointment came through 5 months later he was exactly where he needed to be speech wise.

It is possibly coincidence but it might be worth googling about the benefits of fish oils with speech. It opened my eyes. This is obviously my personal experience and I would definitely see a Gp etc if you are really concerned, just thought I'd share my experience.

Wow takeitonthegin, that's interesting and amazing. Will Google it shortly, thanks

Must stress, before someone shoots me down, that the improvement may have been coincidental and the GP is probably the best start but I am convinced. DS took the Smart Vitamin (Boots own) with omega fish oils, suitable from 6 months old. (silver box) It's tropical flavour and it was honestly the best thing I ever did. Without getting hopes up or upsetting anyone who doesn't believe vitamins could make the difference I remember having a discussion with Dh after just a fortnight of introducing fish oils and I remember crying because the change was so significant. Definitely worth a Google and a try, nothing to lose.

I'm always amazed on here when people talk about a speech delay at the 2 year stage.
Not one of my kids talked before two, then around the 26 month stage they started saying a bit more and at 2.5 they are chatting away. Maybe not everyone can understand them, but doing well.
My HV says this is totally normal. I thought it was too? I know plenty of my friends had kids that didn't talk much before two but were talking by 2.5. Not every kid following some exact timetable. If they understand, and are giving it a go I'd wait a bit, personally.

I actually agree 123jump, when my 3rd went for her 2 year check they referred her to a SALT, anyway then we moved and started seeing another health visitor who also had the same view, at this point I was getting slightly annoyed with them as I felt she was spot on for her age, she started at pre school and has been talking properly since 2.5 years, even then that pesky health visitor kept on til a SALT went into her nursery to observe her and ask her teachers opinions- who all agreed with me! When I told the effing h.v she was so surprised
Now she's 3 and is so much more advanced than her 5 year old brother, I think pre school helps them a lot. My ds is a different matter unfortunately, at 5 he can't be understood at all, his therapist predicts it'll be a long road. 2 is definitely too young to be considered to have to see a therapist for speech

I agree too. I asked the health visitor to delay the referral because I wanted to give the fish oils a chance and more importantly DS some time to build his confidence up, but she wouldn't. She said it took months anyway for the appointment and was very insistent. We have a lovely new Hv now but the one I had with DS thought she knew more about the children than their parents.

I do agree that 2 is very young and many children suddenly start stalking around two and a half. I think your mothers instinct has a lot to do with it, you know your child better than anyone. We were worried about DS at age two, at his two year check we raised it and were told not to worry send to wait and see. However for us there wasn't an improvement, by three his speech was still very unclear, and so we set about getting a referral, he was four by the time he managed to get an appointment and by this stage very behind. I wish we had pushed for it sooner becuase we knew that something didn't seem right. He is now six and has been discharged from SALT and has caught up with his peers.
What annoys me now though is everything w he mispronounces a new word (big words that he hadn't heard before etc) the teachers assume it's because he still has a problem rather than just being something normal that children do!

Oh we also tried the fish oils and again it may be a coincidence but weeks after starting them, our private SALT was ready to discharge him (and this was a a lot earlier than we had anticipated he would be discharged).