Speech for nearly 2 year old

[JoandMax]

Hi everyone,

I think I am probably being silly but am worrying slightly over DS1s speech. He is 2 next month and doesn't really talk, spent the day with NCT friends yesterday and there was an obvious difference between DS and the rest.

He will do animal noises and is starting to repeat words after me (dog, cat, ball, mummy, daddy, more please etc) but needs a bit of prompting. He says bye very clearly and also oh no, whoopsadaisy (very random!!!) and makes similar noises to songs ie he will go seesaw ma door (I sing seesaw majorie dawes to him) and ince ince for Incy Wincy spider. So he is beginnning to copy but it still very unclear and only really DH and I know what it is.

He babbles constantly to himself at home but I noticed when with friends he is silent, very happy and plays and smiles but doesn't utter a noise. I asked at nursery this morning (he goes 2 mornings a week) and they said he never makes a sound there either although again is very happy and smiley.

Is there anything I can do to encourage and help him with his speech? Could it be shyness preventing him talking?

I think I'm probably worrying about nothing, he was very physical early on so it's probably all evening out!! Argghhh, always something with these children isn't there?!!

have you seen a health visitor about this?
quietness at nursery isnt unusual.
do you hve chats the two of you?

if not, i would see a health visitor.

I asked the HV a couple of months ago and she said they only worry if children get to 2.5 with no talking. He understands a lot which she said was more important at this age.

I talk a lot to him but he doesn't really reply, more interested in running off climbing and playing to be honest! I get most of his words out when he's in his highchair and in the bath. He likes to repeat after me so it kind of goes "DS1 can you say Baby" and he will repeat iykwim. He loves books and will happily sit with me reading or looking through himself making his babbling noises.

oh, how aobut singing, do you do much of that together? and counting?

We do counting going up and down the stairs and he is quite good at making the number noises. The singing he likes so we have nursery rhymes after tea most nights before bath - he started this morning saying Or day ong while I was singing wheels on the bus which I think/hope was for 'all day long'.

He is getting there just a bit late and I think seeing his peers yesterday made me a bit paranoid........

Ds1 was like this. It just took him a little longer to get started. Talks plenty now!

JoandMax, my DS1 was a slow starter but my HV said the same - that understanding was more important. If you ask him to fetch something or do something specific does he understand?

I realised he understood perfectly at about 2 when at breakfast time I said in a perfectly normal voice without looking at him "your bowls are in the dishwasher" and he went, opened the dishwasher, found a bowl and gave it to me!

TBH as long as he is a)understanding b)interacting and c)developing there wouldn't seem to be a cause for concern but you can ask your HV to be referred to a language specialist. My DS was monitored by one (she came round every 3 months or so) to make sure he was progressing.

Obvious question, but have you checked that he's hearing properly? Could he have glue ear?

My third child sounds very similar to your son - I was worrying because my first two were very verbal very early, but DS2 was hardly speaking, but understood as you could give him quite complex instructions and he'd do them (ie can you find your shoes from the red box under the stairs and put them by the front door...). I did get his hearing checked and he does have glue ear in one ear - but actually I think he's just incredibly physical and was concentrating on that rather than talking. My mother is a speech therapist so was freaking me out by saying he really should be doing x or y by now and he wasn't. But, he's now 2 yrs 2 months and talks LOADS more - although his pronunciation isn't great - and so I think he was just a bit slower than his siblings/peers but will catch up now.

Merceded519 - yes, he can follow quite specific instructions. I told him earlier he could have some crisps if he went and got his red bowl from the cupboard and he toddled off straightaway. He will also go and get me things (shoes, bags, specific books etc) and if I tell him to go and put his cup by the sink when he's finished he will so I don't have any concerns on that front.

Panicmode - I will ask about glue ear, hadn't thought of that actually. He seems to hear fine but best to be sure. He has definitely concentrated on the physical, out of the toddlers yesterday he was the first crawling/walking/running/climbing by quite a few months so it's only fair he come last in something!!!

Perhaps you could talk to him about the things he likes doing - running, climbing etc. Putting the words to the things he enjoys most may trigger something for him.

You've done lots already so he'll probably suprise you soon with long sentences

My DS1 was similar to this at almost 2. Virtually no comprehensible language to outsiders, lots of funny little sounds that meant something to me. Basically, it was a language that only 2 people could understand.

Suddenly, just after his 2nd birthday he just learned to speak. Really fast.

Now he's 5 and I can't get him to shut up! Witter witter witter. He's got a great vocab and can read pretty well because of it.

Just keep communicating with him, whichever way works. You may find that if you go on holiday with another family or with granny or some such he has to communicate with other people in which case his speech should just suddenly go whoosh.

Both mine are/were the same. DS2 has very little language that anyone apart from me can understand. He says Daddy really well, but mummy is still mumma.
I'd get his hearing checked if you're worried.
like the other poster, DS1 now has verbal diahorrea.

When health visitor came at 2 year check up DD couldn't say many words and wouldn't speak to strangers at all! Shes now 2.5 and never ever stops talking, she puts full sentences together and sings a few songs. I wouldn't worry at this early stage just keep an eye for now.

Thanks for everyones messages, I have made a GP appointment just to double check his hearing.

Hefferlump - brilliant idea re talking about the things he does, we went out into the woods today and did running and he can now say Ready Steady Go!!!

He may well be fine with hearing and speech in the longer term, but why not ask the GP to get a speech assessment referral at the same time - they can either put your mind at rest, or arrange some help for him. If your area is anything like ours then there will be a long wait to be seen anyway - at least you will be on the wait list now and if he does improve a lot in the mean time you can just cancel when they offer appointments.

DS1 was very similar to this although maybe had even less words at 23mo I was really worried as my friends DD who is 6mo younger had about 20-25 words at 17mo! DS is now 2.3yrs and he has come on so much! He copies loads and says words that I wasn't even aware he knew! Sometimes he doesn't pronounce the words brilliantly but it was just such a relief that he was actually saying things that were understandable! At 2 yr check HV said all was fine as he understood loads so try not to worry I'm sure you'll be wishing he had a mute button soon enough!!! Just kidding!

He sounds normal to me.Lots of boys ime seem to be like this at about 2 and then by 2 and a half are chatting away.