Your two year old child’s speech...

[QueenofmyPrinces]

My son has just turned two and admittedly I am worried about his speech.

Can I ask what your own 2 year old is capable of??

Just turned 2yo DD makes some animal noises.
Says mummy, daddy, hiya, more, bye bye, uh-oh pretty clearly.
Says lots of other single words very unclearly eg says dut-die for butterfly

My dd is 19 months so a fair bit younger than your ds and only really says single words like names of nursery staff or toys or foods or family. She usually repeats after you say 'say ......' but sometimes it sounds nothing like it should lol but sometimes she will refuse when you ask her to say something.
She can't really put 2 words together, has only done this once a day with things like 'who's that?' When the door goes or 'mummy & daddy' when pointing to a picture. Some of my friends babies don't say as much as her- one doesn't talk at all and one says loads more!

I really think it just depends on the child sometimes and I have to say a dummy in a lot DEFINITELY slows the speech down.
Have you spoke to any professionals? What makes you think he's not talking as he should? Kids his age with siblings will probably talk more too.

My ds (now 5)could say nothing at just turned two. No words, no animal sounds, no vehicle noises. He started talking at around 2.8/9 and was discharged from SALT last year having caught up with his peers. He was 19-20 months when I first raised concerns with my hv and just 2 when I first took him to a SALT drop in clinic. My dd could talk in full sentences at 2.

2 years 5 months and only says mama and siblings name. Makes the right noises and intonations but not actual words. I'm not worried, my second child was exactly the same and eventually just started talking in full sentences when he was 3.

I think I’m worried because I know a lot of women with children the same age as my son and when they tell me what their children are saying it paints my son in a bad light.

I think I compare my 2 year old to my first son (who is now 5) as he spoke really well from an early age. He was certainly way ahead than my 2 year old is.

My 2 year old has got his developmental check coming up in about 3-4 months so I can discuss it then I guess if there’s no real improvement.

Ds1 didn't speak until nearly 2.5. No noises or animal sounds. Nothing. Writhing weeks of his first 2 words he was speaking in full sentences.

Ds2 hasn't shut up since he was about 12 months. He's 2.5 now and holds lengthy conversations.

At 2 DS could say a few words. He is now 2.4 and a little chatter box forming sentences. Between about 22 months and 26 months his speech came along really fast. However, it's really hard not to compare to others of a similar age 😔

DS1 spoke well by 1.5

DD1 spoke well by 1.

DS2 barely said anything by 2.5 years. Speech is fab now.

All different. Comparison doesn't help. I spent ages worrying about DS2 when I should have been enjoying the peace

My DD and nephew are practically the same age, and both two.

By their second birthdays, my DD has around 70 words, I'd guess. DN had about four or five. They are now both 2.4 months and much more even.

But my DN was much more advanced in other ways, eg could walk where my DD was barely crawling, and they just pick things up at different times. If you have concerns, raise it at their health check but your child does sound totally normal.

My DD chats away nineteen to the dozen but is completely averse to potty training!

2 years 3 months about 10 words none of them clear, a lot of animal and vehicle noises. I am concerned.

My 2 year old (2y4m) is really good with speech. She talks in long complex sentences and is constantly asking us questions. She knows all her colours and shapes, can count to 30 and has been reciting the alphabet for a good while already. She completely shocked her health visitor and people who see her out and about can’t believe it.

However,

My eldest boy, now 13 was the complete opposite!! He barely said a single word till he was well into reception class so about 4. Speech and language therapist said he will talk when he’s ready to talk. He went from barely speaking to not being far behind his peers pretty much in an instant. I can tell you there is absolutely nothing wrong with his speech now, although we have language problems of another kind sometimes when he’s getting frustrated with his computer game. Where’s that bar of soap lol?

If you’re worried I’d call your health visitor so she can refer you to speech and language therapy.

He said a few single words at 2 - hard to understand and just the usual.dad/mum/ car etc... he is now 2 yrs 3 months and completely taken off in last month. Now say please and thanks And other very clear words like water melon! But he is still way behind what my dd was like at his age. I'm not at all worried as he keeps improving and is communicative in his own language.

My DD (now 2.4) had very few words until coming up to her 2nd birthday. She didn’t even say ‘Mummy / mama’ or anything like that. Out of nowhere her language just exploded and she talks in pretty much full sentences now!

Does he understand words - follow basic verbal instructions etc?

My nephew will turn 2 next month and he says mummy, daddy and relatives names. Says a lot of animals. He tries to string a sentence together and some bits you can work out.
I wouldn't worry to much as my niece wasn't a great speaker but it all kind of hit her at once and she speaks really well now

My son had virtually no speech, even at 3.
From 15 mths I was asking for SPL but absolutely nothing happened until he was 3.5.
I was initially worried as he never babbled. This was a huge red flag to me as I have 5 children all whom began speaking from about 12-13 mths.
The waiting list for Speech and language is really long so if your child is in need of support, get on the list ASAP.
When they finally assessed my son they agreed he was severe in speech delay. No shit Sherlock!!!
At almost 4, my son is speaking sentences now. This is without Soeech and language help. His pronunciation definitely needs improving but he’s working this out.
Go with your instincts if you’re worried.
If your son is perfectly within the guidelines for speech ability, then no harm done

I agree, ask for the development check to be done now since waiting lists are so long.

My husband thinks I’m being silly but by nature he is sooooo relaxed about things whereas I’m the complete opposite.

I did mention it to the HV a few months ago and she did come and see my son but she said he was too young to really make a judgement on whether he has a delay or not and that I needed to leave it until he was about 2.5 before worrying. She is coming out to see me again in a few months but there hasn’t really been any change since she last came.

His understanding is fantastic, I have no concerns there, he is just very limited in what he says. And about 50% of what he says is probably hard to understand by people who don’t know him.

@QueenofmyPrinces my son spoke only a few words at 2 and when he had his 2 year development check with the HV they said if it didn't improve in 6 months he would need speech therapy...

However as soon as he started nursery he seems to of learned to speak over night, he's almost 3 and now he can say a lot of words and can put together a sentence.

My daughter however was so forward and could say most things before she turned 2.

Every child is different, don't be too worried. Does he go to nursery? If he does the staff there will pick up on it if he does need any therapy xx

My dd2 is coming up on 21 months and her speech is limited to hi, mama and nana and granda. She seems to struggle with getting words out.

We can understand a lot of her baby speak but I think we'll have to look at salt for her. My gp said not to stress too much and wait until she's 2 to speak to the hv.

We're in Ireland and there's massive queues to even see the salt in the health centres so we're looking at going privately as it'll be covered by our health insurance.

It is a massive worry for us, but we've been told, once she can understand and respond to what you're asking, it's not a major worry.

My other dd (now 5) could recite the alphabet at 18months, sing songs and had no problems with making herself heard. So every child is different.

How many words does he have op? Animal noises (used correctly and regularly)and things such as 'nee-nar' for fire engine count. It's normal for a toddlers speech to be tricky to understand- my dad struggled to understand my ds for ages.

We had concerns about DS when he was around 2. He dabbled away but it was often nearly incomprehensible. He is getting a LOT better now he is heading for 2.5, although he still remains us of the drunk man in the Fast Show sometimes.

Like your son he had good understanding though and I think that is key. Even with that, he has been referred to the audiology people over the last few months as he has almost constant glue ear. They have given him a temporary hearing aid and it will be interesting to see how that improves his hearing, if it does. So if you continue to be worried, do have him checked out even if he seems to understand well in case there is a hearing issue as we would not have suspected one beforehand.

Babbled not dabbled

He has a lot of singular words but he doesn’t really put any words together, never mind trying to talk in sentences likes a lot of other children his age (according to the women I know which children of similar ages).

At this age my oldest son could chat away and could recognise letters, recite the alphabet and knew his numbers too.

There’s just such a big difference between them and that’s what has got me worried. I guess I assumed that my first son’s abilities were the ‘norm’ and the standard that my second son should be at too, but you have all made me feel SO much better because now I can see there are so many variations of what children this age can do.

It's because the older child always answers for the younger child 😂 well in my house anyway