My nearly 2 year old doesn't say hardly anything

[mamaandthegirls]

Hi,
My daughter is coming up for 2 and only says the basic: "hiya, mama, dada, no and yes" I am feeling so pressured right now by my health visitor, my nan and my in laws. All of them have asked me "why isn't she talking?!" Well hell on earth do I know?
My nan has also commented that "my children were talking at __ age" like it's some kind of competition. I'm feeling so upset by comments all the time. Even my own dad has told me he thinks she doesn't say a lot because I don't interact with her enough. This is not true.
She understands so much like when I ask her "can you pass me your coat?" Or "where is mummy's keys?" She knows exactly what I've said and will pick them straight up!
She definitely is not hard of hearing because she can hear things so clearly. I'm just worried that something is wrong, a friend suggested autism to me, but I take her to a toddler group 3 times a week and each time she loves socialising with the other children and is far from shy!
I'm wondering if anyone else has gone through something similar?
She also does not say sentences like "where mummy gone?" Etc...
She just tends to talk in a made up language that makes no sense and basically babbles with the odd word here and there.

[gower4]

When is she 2, OP? If her understanding is good then it doesn't sound worrying at this stage.

[mamaandthegirls]

@gower4 thanks for your reply. She is 2 in August. I'm constantly worried about her speech but yes her understanding of things is fantastic.

[GoBigOrange]

Oh, I remember this. The unfavorable comparisons and comments from people whose children met their milestones and your child hasn't, so clearly you are doing something wrong are so bloody exasperating.

My son had maybe 10 words by his 2nd birthday, and didn't really use them much either, preferring to communicate with pointing and grunts. Like your daughter, his comprehension was very good, so we didn't worry about him too much.

Then at about 2.5, he just started talking. He went from minimal words to sentences in the space of about a week. He will be 3 at the end of July and some days I wish he came with a mute button! He never stops talking, has an excellent vocabulary and enunciates well enough to be understood most of the time - even by strangers. If anything he now talks 'better' than some of his peers who started talking at the 'correct' time.

I don't think my experience is that uncommon either, as I've talked to quite a few mothers who had a child who was slow to start to talk compared to their peers, but rapidly caught up and did not turn out to have any additional needs.

I don't know your daughter, so for all I know there might be a reason for you to worry about her speech. But I also know that limited speech at her age definitely isn't always a sign that something is 'wrong' either.

That said, if they offer you speech and language therapy for her, take it. It won't do her any harm, and just might help.

[Nsbgsyebebdnd]

My dd was a late talker and I recall the comments and how sick with worry I was. It took her a long time to get there but she's amazingly now one of the brightest kids in her class. It's hard not to
Compare with other children but don't start self doubting, I'm sure you're doing an amazing job. 2 is still very young. We did speech therapy when my dd was 2.5 and it really worked wonders for us. I understand what you're going through. Always best to keep an eye on things but they often do just take their own time with these things- or that's what happened with my dd

[ReyofLight]

She may be an introvert. I'm an introvert and grew up with everyone telling me I was so quiet and I needed to come out of my shell and why don't I talk more? Introverts are quiet children and people. They observe a lot and talk little. There is nothing wrong whatsoever. Ignore them all. There is too much expectation for all children to be the same and do things at the same time. Everyone is different. That doesn't mean anything is wrong.

[PaulMorel]

Try to do speech therapy. It might help her. If she understands well when you are talking, then there is nothing to worry.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

She just tends to talk in a made up language that makes no sense

Are you sure? Record some, and listen back to it with an ear to finding a whole sentence that it's likely she might've been using in the situation.

[Emmafh3]

She understands so I wouldn't worry.
My dh barely said anything until he was 4 years old. He said everybody was shocked that he 'started' talking in full sentences.
He remembers that he knew how to talk but just didn't feel the need to.