When do toddlers start putting 2 or 3 words together usually?

[TattooedGrrrl]

DS1 is 2yrs and 4mths- he has quite a wide vocabulary, but all single words. Very rarely does he put 2 words together. My CM pointed this out to us this week, as if she was worried.

We do try and encourage him, like asking him to say 'biscuit please' instead of just 'biscuit', or when i take him out i say things like 'look at that blue car, can you say blue car?' but he just points and says car.

Is there really any cause for concern?

Hi TG, have you ruled out any hearing problems? Something like glue ear can affect speech.

Anyway, my ds is 2.8 & has seen a SALT a couple of times this year for this reason.

The SALT suggested a couple of things to us which may help you. Adding a word on is a good thing to do, so if your ds says 'car', you say 'yes, a blue car' etc. When you sit down to play with him, follow what he does rather than trying to lead him. Eg, if he's having a tea party and making the tea you could say 'stir the tea', 'add the milk' etc.

Also, singing his favourite songs, miss a word off the end of the sentence and encourage him to say it.

The SALT also said not to ask general questions (eg, what did we do today?) or questions that have just a yes or no answer. Always offer a choice so they have to state what they want (do you want to wear the red tshirt or blue tshirt?).

Sorry for the long post, but these tips have really helped ds's speech.

I would say if you are really concerned then go speak to your HV or GP and see if you can get a referral to a SALT. But definitely get any ear problems ruled out.

Hth

I'd be really surprised if there was a hearing problem, he can tell when DH is home from work from the sound of the handbrake going on outside

But i do think other kids his age seem to be structuring words more than he does, so maybe more encouragement is needed.

very good advice from Rosmerta. The very basic rule of thumb is you would expect toddlers to say one word when they are one, two words when they are 2 etc. So try not to panic too much, but I think you are right to consider this as a potential issue atm, as NHS help doesn't exactly happen overnight. don't get him to repeat what you are saying just for the sake of it - I know it's oh so tempting! Also try and demonstrate more verbs, and get him to combine with verbs - eat is a good one, as he will see you doing it all the time! verbs are the building blocks of sentences.

Do you have any concerns about his understanding at all?

no, he understands way too much if anything!

If i'm honest, i think he's just lazy. He knows so many single words he gets by fine with getting things / asking for things etc.

He refuses point blank to say please or thankyou aswell, but i think it's willfullness on his part.

It was just when the CM asked about it i wondered if he was really so behind.

on average? between 1 and 3?
My ds2 didn't speak at all at 2, said a handful words in late Aug (2y7m) just before we went on holiday and had put 2 together less than 5 times, and now 6 weeks later can't be stopped.

there's a general support thread for late talkers here.

[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/behaviour_development/618768-top-tips-for-late-talkers-general-supp ort-thread]

but he's only a teeny bit late!

Still worth getting hearing checked - we had no idea DD#1 had hearing issues but was routinely checked re speech delay when 2yrs old, and failed due to glue ear. 6 mth follow up hearing test we fully expected her to pass as she seemed fine to us - but she failed with quite a moderate to severe loss of hearing. She had grommets put in several weeks later and the difference was amazing.
Of course his hearing may be fine, but in our case we were so wrong in our assumption.

My DS is 22 months old, and I was beginning to worry he wasn't speaking as much as he should be, but over the week we were on holiday (2 weeks ago) all of a sudden he started chatting away!

We now get "blue tactor, way-sing (racing) car" and "I uv u"....keep talking to him and what I've learned is if he says a word wrong, but I can understand him, I say clever boy, and repeat the word the way it should be said.

All children are different - my boy walked much sooner (4 months sooner) than his friend who's 2 days younger, and talked later than him!

well he randomly said 'ironing board' yesterday! But refuses to say it again- if i pretend i don't know what it's called and ask him he just smirks at me.

Ds2 is 2.5, not speaking a huge amount yet. But on Saturday he said 'Dad - Ho'. for Daddy - Home. Which is a HUGE step forward!

I should add, he has been referred for a hearing check - it absolutely doesn't hurt, and just rules it out if there isn't a problem.