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??

DS has a pretty big vocabulary and has spoken in sentences for quite a while. He does have older siblings though and I think that has helped massively. You have to remember though that children all develop at different rates and while his speech might not be forward I'd hazard a guess that something else is his thing, like fine motor skills, gross motor skills or another cognitive development. It doesn't do any good to compare them because they're all so different

He’s been going to a childminder for the last 12 months but is with children all his own age or a little younger so I guess there isn’t much opportunity for conversations

He was competently walking by 10 months so he’s, his motor/fine skills came along very early whereas my first son didn’t walk well until he was about 18 months old.

My oldest DC had delayed speech because of glue ear. In our area, we had to self assess using this online speech progress checker www.talkingpoint.org.uk/progress-checker . We could then self refer to SALT based on what it said. You could have a look and see if the tool flags up any concerns?

You'll worry yourself sick asking this question and comparing him to others, OP.

But since you did ask, my DS had very few words at 2. My daughters had been speaking in full sentences at age 2, actually one of them was 18 months and you could hold a full blown conversation with her.

HV wasn't concerned about my DS, said that it's not unusual and that many 2 YOs are just beginning to put 2 words together.
She referred him to SALT anyway, and in his case, the vocabulary did come, but speech was extremely unclear until age 4. He had weekly SLT and fortnightly blocks, with some 6/12 weeks breaks in between.

Meanwhile, friends boys' suddenly began to talk suddenly at 2/2.5, in full, clear sentences. So you just never know.
Your DS might be the very same.

I would never wait around. If you're worried, act on it. The waiting lists are long and the earlier you intervene, the better.
DS made phenomenal improvement with each session. I would never have believed just how effective the therapy sessions are and the 'work' and 'tricks' the therapist will give you to do

Stop comparing. Your youngest is different to your eldest just the same as he's different to every other 2yr old you know.

He's speaking some words and comprehending so it doesn't sound that there's anything to worry about.

My DD is 23 months. Speaks in (admittedly short) sentences, at least 3 words long. Hundreds of words. Can sing whole songs and is very clear to understand. I have no concerns.

However my DS (now 4) was no where near that level of speech at 2. I’d say he really took off about 2.5. He literally never stops talking now and his teachers have commented on how good his vocabulary is

I’m not sure there is a normal, but if you’re concerned then definitely ask for advice

My DS turns two next week. He can form basic sentences, eg. “Daddy work” (Daddy is at work), “more ‘nana peees” (more banana please), “shoes on now”, and I’d say most of what he says is intelligible to other people, except the words he has difficulty pronouncing (which unfortunately includes both his sister’s name and his own!)

He also repeats a lot of what I say, so for example I might say “let’s get Daddy from train station now” and he’ll say “Daddy train station”. He understands a lot more than he says, though.

His language development has really come on over the past month or two, and there’s so much variation at this age. I think the key thing is whether he’s understanding you (as if he isn’t that might be an indication of a hearing problem) - can he follow simple instructions like “can you bring me your shoes?” or answer simple questions you ask him, eg. what he wants for breakfast?