2.5 year old speech

[MrsBill1985]

hi all,
this is my first post on mumsnet and just looking for some help or reassurance I guess.
my 28 month old son is a very affectionate, smiley happy boy. he is extremely communicative with his gestures (pointing, taking me to things and demonstrates his emotions with appropriate facial expressions etc) however he only has about 50 words. some of these are clear such as mama, dada, car etc. some are not clear to outsiders such as wah wah (for the dog!) or he says egger instead of other for example. he often misses the ends off of words so cake is ca or cone is co... he doesnt say animal names instead he makes the noises. so ooh ooh for monkey... for example.
until he was 2 he probably only had about 15-20 words so he is gaining new words each day at the moment. some of them are spontaneous and some are after I ask him to repeat a word I've said. he gets his b and m mixed up so more is bore and even when I mouth m to him it sometimes still comes out b...
also he seems to have a lisp so tree comes out the same and sea. shoe and choo choo often sound the same too! he does tend to breathe through his mouth as its constantly open with his tongue resting between his lips... he is also still quite dribbling although not nearly enough to still need a bib. I wondered if this may be an issue with his adenoids but didn't think that would delay speech...
I guess I'm most worried that he doesnt combine any words yet nor does he have any verbs apart from go... if I ask him to say eat it comes out eeeee or if i ask him to say come he just says co.....
hes such a gorgeous happy boy who plays well with other children, he especially likes to play with cars and trains(he plays appropriately I think- he pushes them round the tracks saying brmmmmm!) he also likes chasing games where he pretends to be a dinosaur.
sorry for the very long post... does anyone have any experience or insight please?.. I'm pregnant with number 2 at the mo and pregnancy hormones are making me more emotional and worried I think... I'm just worried about speech disorders and my son struggling...
I should add hes on waiting list for SALT although HV didn't think there was an issue at his 2 year check and said he was slower because he was a boy... so I self referred. I will also speak to a private SALT for an appointment when we are out of lock down. for now I'm just hoping for advice and any experience of similar from other mums. I'd be keen to know how your little ones got on if they were similar to my boy at 2.5
thank you so much

Well done you for self referring, it does sound as though he could benefit from an assessment. And yes, if you can afford it, definitely go private. One of my DFs did this with her DS around this age and he improved tremendously.

I would also self refer for a hearing test though as they will want to make sure there are no underlying hearing issues.

And really don’t worry. My DD wasn’t even speaking at that age and when she did, she got a bit mixed up with some of the sounds. Six sessions with an SLT sorted her out and we’ve never had a problem since.

Congratulations on your PG too

thanks so much for the response. It's good to know others have been in similar situations. it's such a worry when you're going through it!
I have him down for a private hearing test too once everything reopens!
anyone else got any insight?

My daughter was very similar to your LO. Had NHS SALT assessment at 2.4 (at my insistence) with a review at 2.9 and some private sessions inbetween as we didn’t feel comfortable waiting so long for her to be seen again. There was no concern with her social skills/instruction following/understanding and imaginative play, but she was, and still is most definitely shy. I think that’s just her personality though. We self referred for a hearing test which she failed spectacularly, and had failed every subsequent one (repeated every three months) has glue ear; large adenoids and mahoosive tonsils. All of which has taken a massive toll on her speech development. BUT just before she turned three she seemed to have some kind of massive surge and her language has just rocketed! She is now 3.4 and never shuts up, is hilarious, nosey, interrogates me about everything to the point I’m seriously considering asking the private SALT for a refund as she drives me crackers with her constant chatting 😂😂😂

Her speech itself is still dodgy as she struggles to pronounce certain sounds and so her speech is quite unclear to those that don’t know her, but I’m hopeful that once SALT can start seeing her again, and her cancelled ENT appointment gets rescheduled (hopefully before she starts uni!) and we can see if they can intervene to help the glue ear/adenoid/tonsil situation, she will improve further.

I honestly despaired this time last year, thought she would never talk meaningfully, spent all my time thinking she had ASD and would never have believed that she would make such a turnaround. I’m currently trying to work from home and was on a video call with my boss earlier when she ran in, and yelled as clear as anything “quick mummy I done a massive poo, come with me mummy and watch my poo, it’s swimming in the toilet water!! Quick mummy, hurry up!!!!” My boss was in hysterics, and there was no lack of clarity in anything she said there at all 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️😂😂

As I said, she is a little shy around other kids but I think that’s partly her temperament and partly down to her hearing loss. She is fine on a play date with just a couple of kids but finds large groups such as pre school harder because of the amount of background noise, she struggles to hear what other kids are saying, but she has made friends there and enjoyed going (until lockdown was imposed. Afterwards could be a whole other matter!)
I’m glad I trusted my instincts and I think you should too, but the chances are it could be a hearing problem or him just being a bit slower In getting there. Try not to worry and enjoy your lovely son, he sounds wonderful xxx

@hartleyhare1206 thank you so so much for your message. I honestly could have cried reading it. I feel very reassured by this and am so pleased your little girl is doing so well now. she sounds absolutely brilliant! I am dreaming of the day when my LO is chewing my ear off with hilarious stories etc!!
hopefully once I can get his speech and hearing assessed we can move forward with any help he needs, if he does. Once lockdown is over I am hoping to get the ball rolling asap.
it is so heartening to hear a positive story

@MrsBill1985 no worries, I’m pleased I could offer you some reassurance. It’s a lonely place when you’re worried about your children, isn’t it?

Do you have any thoughts on whether his hearing is ok or not? I realised my DD was struggling to hear things I know she could previously. Things like she stopped hearing when her dad had gotten home from work...she used to hear his key in the lock and the door open etc and go running to see him...then I realised he was getting all the way in to the house without her realising, and when he appeared in the room she would cry because he made her jump. She also went from being quite socially confident to being clingy at playgroups etc...I realised she was struggling to hear which makes sense as to why her language was slow to develop, but especially that her actual speech was questionable as she couldn’t hear the words properly to replicate them.

As I say, she still has issues now - R, Y, L, F sounds are all hard for her so finger is pronounced “winger” And yellow is pronounced “nannow” etc. But it’s a massive improvement considering she only used to say the start or end of words and had no sentences. She now talks in paragraphs not sentences!!! SALT did say that the sounds she struggles with are sounds that are common problems because children aren’t expected to make them until perhaps 4-5 years old rather than when they are younger, so basically sometimes I think it’s realigning you’re expectations. Your son might not be able to say certain sounds at 28months but some of that will be normal as he shouldn’t be able to say them yet if that makes sense? That was quite a revelation to me but made utter sense when I thought about it and it helped me to relax. By contrast my friends child who is the same age was talking in freakishly clear and full sentences at 15 months (which only made me despair more and feel more rubbish about it all) but at almost 3 and a half still can’t say her own name properly because there are L’s and R’s in it....
They are all different! Both of her speech therapists went from being concerned that she had something severe like oral dyspraxia to laughing that they even thought it within the space of 5 months! That’s how quickly things can change when it comes to their speech. The first time she was seen she called herself “baba” because she couldn’t say her own name, and said “uh” when she wanted to say yes. Within three sessions she could confidently say “my name is ” and “ooh yes please!” When she wanted something. Her private speech therapist even said she doesn’t think she can really take credit for the improvement, it was more a case of her just being developmentally ready to start talking and perhaps some occasional clearing of her glue ear during summer months that allowed it all to just “come”
I understand why you feel you’re dreaming of a time when he can talk. I distinctly remember bursting in to tears at DDs 2 year development check, and saying I can’t imagine me and DD ever having a conversation with one another!! But of course, we did, still do, and now even argue with each other for good measure 😂😂 god help me when she is a teenager!
Hang on in there, you sound like a wonderful mummy doing everything you can to support your lovely son xxx

@hartleyhare1206 it so interesting to said about hearing because I although i think his understanding is very good (he follows fairly complicated instructions and knows all his body parts when asked etc) i did an experiment yesterday where I mouthed an instruction to him and he replied appropriately so I dont know if hes been lip reading a bit. I know for sure he can hear, he points at aeroplanes before he sees them, he answer when I shout for him, but perhaps its not as good as it should be. I for sure want to get his tonsils and adenoids looked at as he is definitely a mouth breather and a bit of a dribbler! maybe that has affected things or perhaps he isnt ready yet...
it's also interesting you mention the sounds your daughter has trouble with as my LO wont even attempt words with an F, L or R in them... he also currently just says beginning of words like your daughter did except for the 30 or so words which are very clear. mama and no being his loudest two!
I have had sleepless nights worrying about oral dyspraxia although he doesnt fit a lot of the criteria... I do really worry and am desperate to see a SALT to see what their thoughts are. hopefully lockdown ends soon.
I just want to help him anyway I can. it's so wonderful to hear stories like yours and I hope my son comes on in such leaps and bounds.
thank you so much again for your kind words and advice. xxx

@MrsBill1985 hello! My son is at the same
level and age as your child was and I was just wondering how your child is doing now in terms of speech and when did it improve? Thank you!

@Lily0719 hi there, my son is 5 now and he is a tremendous talker! Honestly I could kick myself for worrying so much. He now says the names of very obscure dinosaurs with perfect pronunciation and is thriving at school with his reading! He improved hugely around 3 I would say. This is when sentences started coming and words became clearer. He also started nursery at 3 which I think really helped. He did have some private SALT which helped him see how he had to finish the ends of words.... I do think he did have a speech delay in terms of being behind other children his age at 2 and 3 but honestly by the time he started school you'd never have known. The only thing he struggles with now is getting his L pronounced properly. This is normal I'm told though.
If you are at all worried do look in to SALT (and a hearing test) but at 2 I honestly do think there is a much border range of normal than we are told by HVs etc. Good luck with everything.

@MrsBill1985 That is SO helpful, thank you very much for replying! I’m so happy you son is doing so well and thank you for your suggestions too. I can’t wait for mine to start speaking properly too, as it’s concerning when they are not, but I’ll take your lead and try to worry less and get him seeing SALT. Thanks again!

@Lily0719 bless you. I remember the worry well. I was convinced he had verbal dyspraxia for the longest time. I feel sad looking back how much I worried. I do think it's best to seek help if there are concerns but at 2-3 so much changes! At this age i think hearing and understanding are the most important things. If your child can hear and can follow simple instructions (without you gesturing) then I'm sure the speech will follow. My understanding is SALT on the NHS is a long process with long wait lists so if u want to go down that route, seek a referral now. Then you can always cancel the appointment if he no longer needs it ( I bet he won't 🙂) best of luck to you and your little one. Xx