Worrying about 2 year old development

[HarrysMummy17]

Hi, I posted a few months ago but I'm still worrying about my 2yo ds.

He turned 2 last month and still barely has any words. He says:
Oh wow
Oh dear
What's this
There it is
Tractor.
All in the correct context. I've tried naming things, everything with wheels is a tractor. If I say car, over and over he just repeats tractor.
No indication he's ready to say mummy or daddy.

I've tried colour games, find the red bricks etc but he doesn't seem to get it.

Physically his development seems great considering he was 7 weeks early. He runs, climbs, kicks and throws balls, climbs stairs, jumps with both feet off the ground.

He doesn't seem to listen/take in requests. Come here, sit down etc. he doesn't do.

He will go and get his shoes if asked to put his shoes on.

Am I worrying over nothing?

That all seems ok to me. Remember that kids develop at different speeds. You could see your GP if you are worried though.

If you are worried it's always worth getting an assessment. Also his 2 year check should be coming up so you could ask about it then.

Apparently in Scotland he doesn't get a 2 year check, it's at 30 months now

Do you have a speech and language drop in at any of your local children's centres? They can be really helpful in sorting out whether your ds's development is within the normal range or not.

If not, I would speak to either your HV or GPs and ask for a referral to S&LT. Round here, referrals take either 18 or 26 weeks to come through (sorry, I can't remember which!) so it's always worth considering a referral as any support is very slow to start happening, by which time your concerns may have lessened.

That's more than my ds could say at 2, he didn't talk until 2.5, and then all the words tumbled out at once! And turned out he knew all of his colours too.

We did attend a course at the local sure start centre, it was centred round the OWL language technique (Observe, Watch, Listen) it was helpful, but ultimately I think they do it when they're ready

How does he know about tractors? Do you live on or near a farm?

I knew a boy at playgroup was OBSESSED with tractors.

Don't worry about it for now, but take advantage of his 'tractor' interest by getting him a suitable magazine:

www.kelsey.co.uk/tm

If you have child-friendly scissors he can cut out pictures, stick on thin card, and make his own jigsaw puzzle.

or a Duplo tractor:

www.johnlewis.com/lego-duplo-farm-tractor/p931633

or as a special Easter treat:

www.johnlewis.com/lego-duplo-big-farm/p1365347

Thanks for the comments, I have thought about seeing someone for advice although my partner says ds is fine so I guess I'll wait until his hv check.

We live in a farm cottage so tractors go past the window numerous times a day! Ds got 5 different tractor toys for his birthday! I do like the magazine though!

DD was slow to talk, and when I did some reading I found some advice which really helped us:

1. The thing that encourages them to speak isn't how much you say to them (which is what I thought), rather it's how often you respond when they vocalise. When I really concentrated on it, I realised that I often ignored DD's little squawks without realising it You need to really listen, and when they make a vocalised sound (not a grunt or a raspberry) make some kind of appropriate response or just a loving touch. The research involves just touching them, and apparently that hugely increases how much they vocalise.

1. Limit the size of your sentences to a couple of words more than they do. If you use long sentences, it's really hard for them to pick words out and make sense of it.

So if they're not speaking yet or just the odd word, you say something like: 'Cat! Lovely cat! Stroke the cat. Soft.' (pausing between each sentence). Once they are saying lots of single words increase to 'Here' s the cat! Let's stroke her. She's so soft'. Once they're up to combining 2 words, increase it again. 'You found the cat! Shall we stroke her? Her fur is so soft. Beautiful soft, black fur.'

1. You should talk about what they are currently focused on. That works much better than drawing their attention to something new (even if you think the new thing is more interesting and worth talking about than the sock they are playing with!) since it's hard for them to shift attention. So watch to see what they're looking at, name it and comment on it. If they point, or make a sound while looking at something, always name it. Even if it sounds like they are saying something totally different, they will be talking about what they are looking at - so that's what you should name.

1. Name it lots of times in different short sentences so that they know that's the important word, and get more chances to hear it. It's also good to have it in different parts of the sentence: they hear the last word in a sentence best, so if you vary the order they'll hear the different parts. Also using 'it' or 'him/her' as well as the noun helps them understand that structure. It feels a bit strange at first, but it really, really helps them to make sense of the different words.

So, for example 'Ball! The ball is blue. Lovely blue ball. Let's kick the ball. Kick it! You're kicking the ball! Good kick! '

1. Once they start saying words, then always respond. Don't correct what they have said, but echo it back correctly in a friendly way, adding one or two extra words.

Eg baby:' cuu' you (enthusiastically) : 'cup! Yes, that's your cup! Here's your cup. Milk in your cup. ' They may well start enthusiastically saying 'cuu, cu-uu' so keep talking about the cup in short sentences (and don't say 'no, it isn't cuu it's cup. Try to say cup ' That will just discourage them. They might not be able to make the sound yet, but by hearing you, they're internalising the right sound and at some point will just spontaneously start saying it. It's quite strange when that happens!)

1. Finally, don't make too much of a big deal of it when they speak. When they've been a bit slow to speak and then do, it can be hard not to get excited and point it out to whoever is there, or tell your partner later in their hearing. They really do understand what you're saying, and they can get embarrassed and speak less! So be positive, but relaxed and matter of fact.

Hope that all helps. I know that some people do all this instinctively, but I didn't - and when I started consciously applying it, DD's speech came on really quickly.

Oh, and his development doesn't sound worrying to me. I like that the instructions he ignores are the ones where he's required to sit still, and the instruction he goes along with (shoes) is presumably followed by going out to do something interesting

Dds two year check letter asks if she can say 20 words and join two words together

I imagine if I said no they may offer some support. If your concerned do you have a hv?

I just remembered another important one:

1. Don't keep asking them questions to 'test' them. It's tempting, especially when you're a bit anxious, but it isn't helpful. You should comment instead. So 'This ball is blue.','You chose the red crayon. What lovely red lines'. Rather than 'what colour is the ball, what colour is the crayon'

One book I read said that you should give at least 3 pieces of information for every question asked.

Another simply said: don't ask questions you already know the answer to. It annoys them as much as it would annoy us!

Excellent advice from Strawberry, but although his development may be fine, I would still suggest raising it with the HV or speech land language drop in to make sure they are happy to leave things as they are, without intervention.

I meant to say that my dd was slow to speak. At 21 months she only made animal noises and a few invented words but her understanding, and ability to follow instructions was excellent. I spoke to a speech therapist who said that as long as her understanding was good, and regularly demonstrated, then the lack of language did not concern her. Just after her 2nd birthday dd's speech made rapid improvement and began to match her understanding.

it is the fact that you say your ds does not seem to listen/take in requests that made me suggest consulting someone.