Toddler only has a few words, should I speak to HV yet?

[gallicgirl]

DS is 21 months and only has around a dozen words, none of which are said particularly clearly. He has the general shape of the word rather than the edges, if you see what I mean.

He is second child and has a reasonably chatty older sister.

He had his tongue-tie snipped as a baby and I think he still has a partial tt but this doesn't affect breastfeeding now.
He meets all his other development benchmarks and manages to make himself understood and express what he wants quite well through pointing.

He's not due his next health visitor check for at least 6 months.

I know boys can develop a little later but I'm wondering whether I'm being over-anxious and should just see how he is when he sees the HV in the summer. However, I know it can take ages to get a SALT referral so I'm wondering whether to approach the HV sooner about concerns.

Does anyone have a similar experience?

If he doesnt develope normal speech it would be useful to have a paper trail showing when it first became apparent. So yes I would get some input from hv.

He sounds like my second child. He's 2 1/2 and still limited speech, but like yours he makes himself understood and can understand everything we are saying.

I spoke to my HV and she wasn't too concerned as he's met all milestones. She was happy that he is in an environment where he has the opportunity to learn and will check on him again in a couple of months.

If you are very concerned you can always ring for a chat with them but I think they would say the same to you.

He might just be quiet if he has an older sibling and someone who can effectively speak for him? But I have no real experience or good advice. Friends whose DS is around 21 months and a first baby sounds fairly similar though. Not many words, not stringing them together. You might find in the next month or so it all comes flooding out.

My DS is the same and the HV said they don't do anything till they're two, as so much can change in those last few months

I think it used to be that they weren't concerned before the 3rd birthday. I'm not sure what the situation is now.

Pretty much same position as you but my son is delayed in receptive language slightly too. Does your son understand simple tasks? Does he listen to you? If so he will probably catch up. But you can get him assessed by HV if you're concerned, thats what I did a few months ago and he has been referred to SALT.

He's not quiet- he babbles and shouts quite happily, just doesn't say much that's intelligible!

All his words are single syllable and there's no stringing together.

Thanks everyone. I'll perhaps give it a few more weeks to see if it improves and then call the HV. DD took a while to make sentences but once she put her mind to it she was very coherent so this just seems a bit off to me.

DD2 also has slightly delayed speech. She's 2.9 now and only in the last couple of months has her speech become clear. We've had lots of comments from people who've noticed as well, which is reassuring.

GPs can also do referrals for a speech assessment.

Also, check if your local children's centre do a session with a speech specialist, who can give you exercises to do at home and also make a referral if necessary.

Sounds like my ds

Same age too

I'm not concerned. He has some words.

Mummy, daddy, sisters name, nanny, juice, thank you. More of it is babble.

He has an older chatty sister too and she had a language explosion just over 2. So I'm waiting to see if he follows that