When to get help for a possible speech delay?

[MotherOfDragon20]

I have an almost 19 month old daughter who’s speech seems to be very slow. She only has a few words (bye, car, shoe, hat and quack quack) she doesn’t even really say mama, she will babble it and if I say mummy she will point at my and say mama but more labelling me than using it to get my attention. And no dada.

i go back and forwards on if I should be worried about this and not sure if I need to get a professional opinion or give her more time given how young she is. Just wondering if anyone had speech therapy this young and found it helpful?

in every other day she is developing well. Walking and running, great fine motor skills, great sleeper, great eater and good with cutlery and self feeding, very good understanding and can follow quite complex instructions, non verbal
communication is good. Her nursery have absolutely no concerns and look at me as if I’m crazy when I say I’m worried about her being behind but I worry about her falling further behind if I do nothing.

This sounds just like my little boy. He turned 2 in march and says duck duck , oh no, oh wow and just said mama and dada a few weeks ago. Ive spoken to multiple health professionals who have all said nothing will be looked into until they are 2 1/2 at their development review that has been moved from 2yrs to 2 1/2yrs. Theyve just said make sure i say everything to him when he points ask would you like a cup, toy banana etc.

Based on what you said I'd be very encouraged that her language will flourish with no real intervention. It's great that she understands you well as it means she's paying attention and processing language cognitively and it's great she has good non verbal gestures as this means she has the social drive to talk. I don't think you're mad but I think you'll wonder what you were worrying about in a few months when she's literally talking your ear off 🤣 I'd maybe ask the health visitor about getting her hearing checked as this is something that can be easily missed but otherwise I'd just keep talking to her and giving her chance to talk back and give her til she's at least 2 before you worry too much. My own didn't bother much with single words but understood very well like your's and went on to full sentences almost overnight a couple of months before turning 2 and I haven't been able to shut her up since! Don't worry you and your dd are both doing great xx

My son has a speech delay and I have found it so difficult to find the relevant information I needed in order to help him, it took me a long time to understand what we could do at home to help support his speech development. To help others I have been creating a mobile app called Pippin to help parents of speech delayed children access information about how they can help speech development at home and track their child's speech progress. I am working with a few different specialists to create the content, the app is still in development but if you would like to know when it launches then please signup on my website: pippinspeech.com/

Our DD wasn't referred until 4 when she started Reception but I had asked for it before and all the signs were there that she needed it, I just kept getting fobbed off by the HV.

If I'd had my time again I would have instigated she was referred at 2.

This progress checker from ICan might be of some help.

Thanks to everyone for their advice! Just a wee update…

ifs only been just over a month since this post but things have really started to
improve. In the end I did phone my HV who was very helpful but wasn’t concerned by anything I was telling her. She offered to call me back in 3 months just to check how we were doing but didn’t feel that we needed any further referrals et. at the minute. However since then my DD is really doing so well and now has about 30 words and is literally adding new words every day.

i would say she’s still a little bit slower than her peers with speech but we’re seeing so much progress that I’m really not concerned and I’m sure she will catch up!

They really so just do things in their own time!

That is such lovely news to hear!

Have you got any tips? My son is 2yrs 3 months and still no progress at all. I'm trying everything.

@MotherOfDragon20 @abbs1 hi, just wondering how your little ones are getting on now a few months on? X

Hi @Cluelessmum5 my daughter turned two yesterday and is doing wonderful. Her speech exploded between about 19-22 months, she has hundreds and hundreds of words and uses lots and lots of 2,3 and even 4 word sentences. She seems right on track! I really regret spending so much time worrying about her development when she just needed a bit extra time. I’m trying to relax a little more now!

Aww happy 2nd birthday to your baby dragon @MotherOfDragon20 ! Thanks for coming back to update, really appreciate it and glad she's going well x

Thank you so much for posting an update on this! My little girl is 19 months, and as your little one was, is developing well in all areas except her speech. She can only say ‘hiya’ and ‘pop pop’, which have come in the last couple of weeks. Your update has given me hope that she will get there so thank you!