To be concerned?

[Gettingtoomuch1]

Hi all,

I have a DD(7) and a DS(17 months)

I’m concerned that he isn’t talking as much as he should be. I remember with my first, she was a chatter box and talking loads when she was 2 years - we went on holiday and she was asking to go to the hotel and play in the pool, need to eat etc.

My son only says a few words ‘da da’ ‘mummum’ and when trying to prompt, just stares. He will try and say ‘bubbles’ or ‘digger’ etc but only when prompted. He knows what we are saying eg ‘bed time’, ‘milk’, ‘where’s the cat’, ‘play/go out’ etc but his vocabulary is very, very limited and just seems to make noises for things he wants.

We say the thing he wants and hand it to him etc.

We read books with pictures on, play games etc just like we did with our DD.

Are we doing something wrong? Will he learn in his own time? Or should I speak with the health visitor?

I know he’s very young still but I see customers all the time and their children seem to be saying ‘bye bye’ and ‘car’ etc on their own.

I’m not at the panicking stage yet but should I be?

Thanks

It will come, try not to worry. Does your older child tend to speak for him? All children are different and some take longer to speak than others. I have worked in a private nursery for 13 years, and one thing I have learnt is you never get two the same, but they all get there In the end. Hope this helps.

I had similar with my LG who's now 21MO. Her receptive language has always been amazing and she's a little smarty pants but her expressive language has always lagged behind. However, she's starting to catch up big time. She was probably only saying a similar amount of words to your's at 17MO but now is saying avout 70-80 words and I'm starting to lose count and she's joined a few words together and although she's still very babbly I feel like we're really starting to have actual conversations now. She's still got a long way to go but I'm much more chilled now than I was. You said it yourself, you're remembering your older one as a 2 year old but your youngest is nowhere near that yet and in this time a few days can be huge never mind several months. Bare in mind that most of my LO's language has occured over the last couple of weeks. Does your LO seem to understand things? Does he do other social things such as shared play, pointing, clapping etc? If so I'd just enjoy him and chances are something will click in the next few months and you'll wish you could shut him up If there are additional concerns then you may want to seek professional opinion but I think most would agree that a handful of words by 18MO would be perfectly adequate. We have to be vigilant but we also have to accept that they're all different. My LO has taken her time with speech for example but she is pretty good physically and has been able to do small jigsaws and her shape sorter and her stacking cups for months. I think most kids do level themselves out by the time they're school age but seek help if you're concerned. Good luck