Tips for encouraging 23 month old to talk!

[Alicia870]

My dd only has a few words but she doesn't use them very often and is slow in learning them. She's inconsistent in when she will say them and I feel it's been the same for a few months now.
I've heard it's not helpful for them to keep pointing at things and asking 'what's that' so wondered are there any tips to try and encourage speech? I'm not hugely worried about it as she knows what everything means and I know it will come but just wanted to try and help her along

The first thing to do is to remove screens, especially hand held ones if she has them even only from time to time as they cause speech delay.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170504083141.htm

Read to her, a lot, play with her but really read an awful lot

Basic makaton. We used it for both our children (one asd one neurotypical) It was a life changer.
Makaton is not just signing, you must use the spoken language too.

Nursery helps for sure, they are around children adults chattering away all day.
Also being regularly looked after/babysat by others, like a grandparent, means that they hear other people chattering away different to what they hear at home.
And whilst some people hate it, screen time helps, watching cartoons really helps improve speech. Have you got an old iPad or similar she can watch things on?

@LeGrandBleu

The first thing to do is to remove screens, especially hand held ones if she has them even only from time to time as they cause speech delay. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170504083141.htm

Read to her, a lot, play with her but really read an awful lot

That's interesting as I've heard the exact opposite from a few health visitors! That it can help pronunciation and speech development, in some cases. Maybe depends on how much time...

I would have her hearing checked. Maybe she has glue ear?
Apart from that, does she get the opportunity to talk? Makaton (as above) is a good idea as are singing games. There maybe nothing to worry about - my cousin didn’t talk till he was four and went on to earn two degrees

My DD is a late talker - we had about 10 words/noises at 2 despite our best efforts. We've seen a huge improvement over the last three months (now 2.5yo), she's still behind her peers but is developing all the time. I'd speak to your HV as they can usually refer to speech and language from 2yo but it's a big wait time.

The advice we've followed is:
Lots of reading and if she knows a word in a book let her fill in the gap while you pause
Action songs
Narrate your day
Expand on her words/noises so if she sees a dog and attempts a "woof" you can do the same or say "a dog" or "brown dog" or "little dog" so she's getting more information. We might now get "little dog woof woof" from my DD so I'll end up saying "yes, little dog said woof woof and is going for a walk". Constantly trying to give more info and context.
Don't ask too many questions as it causes uncertainty - use a mix of questions and statements.

If you're on Instagram peachy speech is great to follow for info and games.
Sorry this was a mammoth answer!

Another vote here for using makaton. My DS was slow to start talking and makaton was a great tool to allow him to express himself without getting frustrated.

He is now 6.5 yo and never quiet with a rapidly expanding and varied vocabulary.

Read books with her, chat to her, ask questions and wait for her to respond (even if the response is non verbal), sing songs, check things like hearing just in case. Fwiw my first didn't talk much until 2yo then got going. Had a minor plateau at around 2.5yo where he didn't seem to be progressing but then suddenly it all clicked and now he's 3yo he never stops talking!

I know screen time gets vilified, but actually having some helped my little ones speech. Just make sure it's decent stuff they are watching, I found Mr tumble and the twirlywoos helpful.

Just make yourself chatter relentlessly. Every time you hand her something, say what it is. Every time she hands you something say what it is.

If she knows the word for something, don't accept grunts and points from her, remind her to use her words.

If she has a dummy, leave it in her bed, don't allow her to have it during the day.

Good idea to get her hearing checked, and of course to do all the common sense things (singing, getting her to point at things, repeating her words back to her in slightly longer units), but I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. She's not even 2, it's very young. Do you feel confident that she can follow some of what you're saying?

One of my children didn't say anything until he was 2 1/2, and didn't say much until he was over 3. He's 5 now and has read about 20 books (proper chapter books, Doctor Doolittle at the moment) in the last two months. The fact that she's not saying things doesn't mean that she's not developing her language skills. My son would follow quite complicated instructions so I sort of knew he understood. He still has difficult saying some letters clearly, so perhaps there was a oral component, I'm not sure.

The book 'You Choose' is good and it was like an oracle for me. My son used to just point at the things he wanted but it was amazing to be communicating with him at all.

Agree with pp Bernadette you have to talk so much you are sick of the sound of your own voice.
“Look a car, a blue car” “Which cup do you want the little blue one or the big pink one?” “Youve got the ball, the round ball, the blue round ball” etc
They need to get the chance to link the word with the thing

Narrate your life as much as you can, nothing is too boring.

Also when she wants something and makes it known reinforce the words to her. Eg if she points at cup say "you would like a drink. I will get you a drink, here is your drink"

And read stories or get picture books of first words.

My dd barely spoke by 2nd birthday I was starting to look into speach therapy then by our holiday only 3 months later she could speak really well. It was like she had all the information just needed the confidence to try it.

My son’s speech was delayed. A useful tip we were given was to ask open ended questions. Ie. Do you want the blue toy or red? They will then have to give you an answer, rather than ‘do you want the blue toy?’.

We also got a book and read over and over again, and missed out words for dc to fill. Eg. very Hungry caterpillar. It’s quite repetitive, so you can ask questions during it, point to the cake and ask what caterpillar has eaten, ask if they can remember the next food item etc.

If you have any concerns, I think you can self refer to Speech and Language Therapists, so it may be contacting them to see if they can help. My dc has a series of individual and group sessions for a few years.

Peachy Speech and Raising Little Talkers are both very good on Instagram.

They both definitely say not to just constantly ask "what's that?", but talk about things yourself, repeat things back in longer units, basically all the things people are suggesting above. Constant questions makes it too much like a test.

Also, imitate her - if she growls, growl back; if she makes an animal noise, make it back. Model that you can imitate each other, don't just expect her to imitate you.

There is a very good book called Babytalk by Dr Sally Ward which has a programme for helping you develop language, lots of tips and games for various different ages and what they should be doing at certain ages and when you should be concerned.

Loads of great tips thanks so much!
I find she babbles nonsense a lot almost as though it makes sense to her. She's trying to communicate but just can't seem to be able to articulate the words. Randomly she'll point to something like a doll's eyes and say 'eyes' clearly - then it won't be said again for weeks. I'll take you all up on the constant chatter and talking around her and see if it helps

@Alicia870 I could have written your post myself. I'm in the same position with my DS (nearly 23 months). The HCA for the health visitors phoned 6 weeks ago to check in and I raised my concerns. They don't do anything until 2 years however she did suggest this website www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people . I've been doing everything suggested by other posters but it hasn't made much different yet. DS now uses four words. I also raised my concerns at his nursery (only attending two days a weeks until school term starts) but they asked if they can do a speech and language assessment with him. He will be doing it tomorrow. I know that his understanding isn't an issue but I am worried about his speech I know many other who speak in sentences. I think lockdown may have led to a delay as I had to teach my students from home and I'm a single parent so he spent much time playing on his own. I have tried to make up for it but I think he will get there in time. Good luck.

Take the pressure off her - asking her “what’s that” all the time can be quite stressful if she’s not confident with talking - remember she’d have to know it AND be confident of how to produce the sounds, and those two skills don’t always come at the same time. Seconding what several others have said, just focus on YOU saying a lot, but leaving pauses when she Could say something if she wanted e.g. read lots of picture books, and point things out to her, so she gets used to books being part of conversation - she’ll eventually start aping your behaviour.

Nursery rhymes are great - sing the same ones over and over, and then leave a gap at the end of a line and smile at her - see if she fills in the word. It doesn’t matter if she knows the meaning, it’s giving her pronunciation practice.

Scene time - I’m in the camp of keeping this very limited. But when you do use it, make sure it’s something very simple and age appropriate. My DD enjoyed the Bee Bright DVDs, Mr Tumble and Signing Time. Keep it short (no more than 20 minutes), watch it with her and talk about it afterwards. Repeat the concepts you saw later that day e.g. if you watched an episode of Mr Tumble that had particular Makaton signs, try to find an excuse to use those signs (one of the things I enjoyed about Signing Time is that it is nursery rhymes with Makaton, so I’d learn the signs and then sing the songs with her while doing the signs later that day).

Lots of smiling. Not much praise - that can actually increase performance anxiety. LOTS of repetition and reading together. It’ll come.