Nearly 2y/o - speech, counting, colours, letters and drawing - behind?

[TwittleBee]

DS is fast approaching 2 and still cannot speak beyond "mama" and "dada".

I am very aware when we meet up with other children his age how far behind he is in his speech but now also in counting, colour recognition, drawing/writing and sorting/matching.

When we meet up, often other children his age will be happy to sit there reading books, colouring in and will want to play counting games etc. Their speech amazes me too.

Meanwhile, DS is crazily climbing and breaking into things and appears to be unable to communicate or play alongside his peers.

I find myself constantly worrying about meeting up in these groups now as DS seems like a total wild child in comparison to the other children and it really has me wondering what I have done wrong!

Any advice on how I can encourage him with his learning? I know every child is different but it really feels like actually he is the only one now that doesnt know his colours, numbers, letters etc.

YoloTF it is reassuring that your HV isnt too worried either. I guess as long as they are meeting their other markers?

I have no idea.... He loved watching little baby bum nursery rhymes and just took an interest in shape jigsaws that we did together. Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t sit still and is an absolute loon. I stopped going to playgroups because all the other children seemed to sit and sing songs and I was just running around after him. It sounds like you’re doing a great job with him and all the right things. Communication isn’t just verbal and his understanding of commands is really important too!

notsomumsymum thank you very much! Yes he does have brilliant understanding! Maybe I have made it too easy for him in communicating without speech.

I read somewhere that children's brains can only process so much at a time so if the child is particularly good at one thing, they might present in the early years as a bit behind because their brain processing power is being focused elsewhere. That's certainly been the case for many of my friends where they've been worried by certain skills being quite behind but when they think about it, they realise their DC are really good at other things.

The fact that he understands a lot is a great sign I'd think so I can understand why the HV is less concerned than they might otherwise be.

The challenge with children who communicate later IME is that they're harder to parent - they can't express themselves and leads to frustration for everyone. Had it with DS and now seeing similar with nephew. While DD, who communicated easily and early, took much longer to master skills like stair climbing, jumping etc.

He's not yet 2! Comparing development to his peers at this age is insane because children develop very differently. I had one child speaking two word sentences before she was one. Then she developed glue ear and lost it all, speaking gobbledegook until she was 3 1/2. Then catching up again once at school. She's perfectly lucid now. My other one followed a very 'average' development in terms of speaking, and has also turned out perfectly lucid. If the developmental checks don't raise any red flags, just let him be!

I had some friends with quiet children who would sit and colour/do puzzles etc and mine were much more boisterous, just not into books and puzzles! I spent many hours in the playpark..... My nearly 2 year old doesn't know any colours or letters, he can say some numbers but doesn't understand what they mean. I agree with others though to consider getting in the system if you have any concerns - if you don't need any intervention it won't have done any harm, if he does need it you will have less of a wait. I would focus on the speech aspect rather than any of the other things you mentioned. My school age child still has zero interest in puzzles!

Ps school age child is also still not interested in colouring or drawing either....

Mine were both like this at that age. Both completely normal. Apparently my husband didn’t really speak until three and he’s turned out to be a genius so I guess it’s just some kind of genetic quirk.

My nephew was under occupational therapy for various issues at 2. She taught us to massage his face which really helped him to start talking. Literally in 2/3 days we saw improvements:
www.agesandstages.net/qadetail.php?id=60

My DS knew numbers before 2, but the nursery staff said that was quite unusual and certainly most of his friends were 2.5-3, he's 3 now and doesn't know all of the letters either, so what you describe doesn't sound unusual.

My son was almost 3 and was still saying less than 10 words. I spoke yo him constantly. Sang, and talked, and explained and so on. He didnt start to really form words until he got the actual confidemve and understanding of what it was he wanted to say.
He's 6 now and verbose little guy who talks and talks and asks questions and doesn't stop lol. He had to go for speech therapy but it all came with time (there were no underlying issues, he was just delayed).My middle was speaking by 2.5, and my youngest in full sentences by 1.5. Some kids just develop later, but I wouldn't worry too much right now.you can always seek help, but if they're 2.5 etc and still not speaking then go see your gp.