2 yr old not pronouncing his words properly

[luciemule]

My 2 year old has been mispronouncing his words for ages (ca/do/hor/hea -instead of cat/dog/horse/head) and asked HV if she had concerns. She said it could be that he has a hearing problem, like glue ear, and has said she'd book him into hospital for a hearing check. Just wondered if anyone else had experienced this problem and what was the treatment. I've been reading all about glue ear and grommets etc and thought it all sounds a bit traumatic.Did anyone else's child begin speaking like this but go on to develop their speech normally with no ear probs?

My two year old is just the same. He was two at the end of Jan. I'm not worried at this stage. He seems fine and I think I'd notice if there were anything to worry about with his hearing.

My brother was a poor speaker as a toddler, didn't speak a lot and when he did he mispronounced things. It wasn't until he went to school that he was sent for hearing tests and diagnosed with ear problems - had grommets put in and had no further problems. Speach developed normally and quickly after that.

It's a positive step that he's having tests and it could be something simple like blocked ears.

You can 'test' his hearing by sitting him on your lap facing away from you and giving him something that will totally absorb him.

Then lift your hand without him seeing and rub your fingers together to make a 'rustling' sound near one side of his head.

He should turn to look.

Then repeat the other side.

2 is very young for them to worry about speech but it is worth being in the system so to speak in case it is persistent glue ear.

thank you - he has always had very orange ear wax and I soon as I clean around the shell of his ears, it appears the next morning. It does worry me though that now they've stopped the 18-24 development check, they're going to miss things like this. I'm a pretty switched on mummy but I didn't even consider it could be his hearing until she said and that was only as she was visiting about my worries over DS' eating. So it could have been completely missed.
Will wait and see what test shows and try not to worry.

Forgot to say she said it is only probably the end frequency of the word he's not hearing.

Im deaf but got an excellent speech and my dd is hearing. My dd who turned 2 last october, had her 2 yrs development check in jan and i asked about my daughters speech as its not clear. She told me if not improved in 6m time - she may get transferred to a specialist. so ive got till june this year for my dd to improve her speech and in the last month she is alot more clearer but is getting there as there are days where i or anyone else cannot understand what she had said. i do asked my dd to look at my mouth to pronounce the words and i do remind my dp to do it too.

I would say that it's relatively normal. My ds is 2.5 and can't pronounce all his words properly. Kids develop at different rates. I know I virtually had my own language at 3 and hv's were concerned then at 4 i just chose to speak normally. What exposure does he have to other kids/adults etc? It can't hurt to at least have some tests done, then you'll know if he has got any hearing issues and can have them looked at right away.

He has a 5 year old sister, who never stops talking! Perhaps he's never actually had the chance to finish his words!!!

luciemule ~ normal. Especially if he has an older sibling doing all the talking! Used to take a mindee to a speach therypist when she was 3 because she didn't say all of her words and she said that it was more common than we thought. Why don't you book a session with your local authority if you are worried?