Nursery and speech

[HP2020]

My 2.5 yo is starting nursery on Tuesday for 15 hours a week. Mornings every day. Currently he babbles loads and has about 5-10 words. Everyone says nursery will bring on his speech so was just interested to hear from ppl who have been in my position in the past, how long were they at nursery for before the words started flowing?

TBH if they are two and ahalf and only has ten words I would be talking to hv about getting support. You may find nursery can help you get this.

My nursery are aware of this and tbh that's not what I asked

Anyone else?

Bumping for you OP as DD is only 9 months but I'm hoping the childminder and other children will help with napping on her own 😁 also a lot of people I know have told anecdotal stories about children who only speak a few words and then come out with sentences after being around other children and picking stuff up from them! Hope someone comes along soon with better help than me 😊

@HP2020 I've been to a childminders' about a month and half ago, she had a girl that did not speak a word (of English). I went again 2 weeks ago and she was perfectly following commands and even saying words, naming things and so on. Not speaking fluently, but it was a huge improvement. She is 20m.

@ZooKeeper19 ok so an improvement in about 4-6 weeks time then? Was she at childminders all day? My son will only be going 3 hours a day which I hope is enough

@zaffa thank u

I’m sure it has already been done but just to make sure he has had his hearing and eyes tested.

It will be hard to tell, it really depends on the root of the speech delay, however, If the nursery is aware then they might try to incorporate simple speech therapy techniques into his play routines as 5-10 words at 2.5Y is a fairly severe speech delay (the average 2.5Y old would have hundreds of words and start putting 2/3 words together).

@AladdinMum go away

@HP2020 why are you being so rude to people trying to help you? People are trying to tell you in the nicest way possible that you're describing a significant speech delay here and you absolutely cannot expect nursery to improve that. If you don't actually want to hear what is in your child's best interest then perhaps you should 'go away' and shouldn't have bothered to post on a public forum. Get a grip!

The amount of words your child will get willl depend on why they are not speaking. How is your childs understanding?
Do they use speech sounds?
Do they make there own words?
I think you may be having unrealistic expectations.

@Jannt86 u have no idea how annoying Aladdin mum is. She thinks everything must be autism related and I have heard sooooo many stories of ppl my sons age being late talkers and then going to nursery and suddenly taking off but I just wondered does it happen quickly in weeks or in months

@june2007 yes he has lots of speech sounds and tries to make his own words

Oh and he understands everything

@HP2020 I see nothing on anyone's posts telling you your child has ASD just that there's a significant delay which is textbook truth. Maybe he will catch up on his own maybe he won't. Just because you might get told by a complete stranger that their child miraculously caught up doesnt mean your's will. They don't follow a rule book. If they did then he'd be talking already. There may well be nothing wrong but if it was my kid I'd be demanding a speech tx assessment not relying on random strangers online and then having a go at them when they tell you a truth that you don't like and not relying on a nursery (a community service in which you won't even see most of the interactions your son is receiving) to improve his speech. If it was known for a fact that nursery improves children's speech and that there was a specific timeline for this improvement then it would be prescribed for any child who's speech is delayed wouldn't it? But every child is different and as stated above it depends entirely on why his speech is delayed

AlaadinMum makes really good points but I find the comments sometimes too text book on to the dot as every child develops differently and just because they are late with some milestones doesn't necessarily mean that child is autistic. I think nursery may help if your dc hasn't been in that environment before. I only know because a friend of mine was also concerned and sending her dc to nursery did really help with the speech. We seem to get sucked into looking after the dc with other errands so much that for myself, I find that that I don't really spend that much time talking and engaging as much as I would like as.

Yes but such is the problem with relying on advice online from people who don't know your child. All anyone can go on is a balance of probabilities and I think that at age 2.5 saying not much the chances are higher that there's something going on than not. For every person telling you their child just talked one day there's another who didn't. I'm happy to reassure of a child is younger and even offer my own anecdotes about my own child but I think in this case based on the info we have all that anyone can responsibly do is advise that this parent gets help from a specialist. There's a limit to how much help a total stranger on the net who probably has no qualifications can give so just be kind and take responsibility for your own child whatever advice you're getting is all I'm saying ...

My nephew hardly said anything at 2 years 9 months and went to nursery and now doesn't stop talking. He's 6 now

My child had severe speech and language delay, nursery requested input from a speech therapist and worked him every day to build his pre verbal skills and later on his speech sounds and words. It wasn't through the magic of being around other children it was bloody hard work on everyones part. Some child do just catch up by themselves, others need help from a speech therapist particularly those with a speech disorder.

@essexmum777 thanks for your story

Also I don't think my sons is severe Cos he babbles non stop and does say a few words

my ds had no words at all until 3 so yes more on the severe end than your ds

@essexmum777 when he started talking did he suddenly take off in full sentences? How is speech now and how old is he now?

I don't think my sons is severe Cos he babbles non stop and does say a few words

I'm not sure that the "bury your head in the sand" technique is valid here, you need to put his long term interests at the heart of this. And hoping for a boost by being in nursery 3hrs a day isn't what I'd be doing only. Have you had him assessed by the HV /referred to specialists? E.g. double checked hearing, that sort of thing? There's a lot of delays getting the right support in place at the best of times nevermind the disruption of covid, I'd seriously suggest you start pushing for help via health visitor refers ASAP so he gets assistance. Don't rely on anecdotes that say well mine was fine... Many other children are not, and need us as parents to advocate on their behalf for more help.

@1304togo I've had his hearing checked yes and he's on the waiting list with SALT so no I'm not just relying on the nursery