Hi all,
Sorry in advance for the long post, but I’m after some advice please as I keep swinging between being concerned and then thinking I’m just being neurotic.
My 24 month old has always been a snuffly, noisy breather. As a newborn I thought he might have had a CMPA allergy as he was full of mucus and had bad reflux. He had a tongue tie corrected at 5 weeks which did settle his reflux, but he’s still a noisy breather and sounds like Darth Vader most of the time.
He’s constantly congested/snotty (which at first I put down to nursery germs), which makes him a mouth breather. He’s always thirsty as a result and drinks a lot, I assume because he has a dry mouth/sore throat. He’s become a bit of a fussy eater and tends to graze on ‘softer’ food like grated cheese, toast, fruit, yoghurt etc. He refuses to eat anything that requires chewing (possibly laziness?!)
He’s always got a bit of a cough, which naturally is always worse at night, and he only sleeps ok if he has a dummy in. I’m constantly woken at night by him snuffling/snoring/coughing even if he doesn’t fully wake himself up. He also seems quite tired in the day perhaps because his sleep is so restless. His cot sheets are often wet in the morning with dribble and snot.
My biggest concern is his speech though, he only has a handful of words and shows no motivation for speaking. He does have great understanding though, and will follow instructions very well (when he wants to…) but just seems so reluctant to speak. Nursery aren’t concerned as his development in all other areas is fine, I just wish he’d start speaking more and have read mouth breathing can have a big impact on speech development.
He’s had his ears checked for glue ear, and there’s no sign, although we have family history of ear problems and his older sister had grommets and an adenoidectomy last year. I’m considering getting his hearing checked but not sure how reliable these tests are on a stubborn, uncooperative two year old? He failed his first newborn hearing test but then passed the next one he had out of hospital.
I’m also considering a private ENT consultation (judging on how long it took my daughter to be seen on the NHS and she didn’t have any speech problems) but then think I’m being neurotic as he’s still only young and is generally doing ok. What would you do in this situation? I’m quite happy to be told I’m being neurotic, but equally I want to make sure any issues, particularly around his speech, are addressed early to give him the best possible start!
Thank you!