Speech development - is he behind?

[Daisychain89]

My DS is going to be 2 in a couple of weeks and I’m getting a bit concerned about his speech development.

He seems to understand a lot and will follow instructions (when he wants to), but doesn’t really say much. There are a few clear words (no, more, mama, please and his sister’s name). There are also sounds that he regularly uses for dad / other relatives, but these are not really clear words. He can do some animal noises (moo, quack, woof etc).

He has no interest in putting words together, if you ask him to say more please he will say more or please, but not both.

He does babble (totally incoherently), especially when he is happy or excited. He will point or gesture to communicate and gets frustrated when you don’t understand (or do understand but say no).

Is this ok at this age? The only other child close to him in age that we know has been talking in phrases or even short sentences for quite a while (they’re a couple of months older but even taking that into consideration there is a huge difference).

He’s not in nursery as he is looked after by family while I work, so no professionals to ask for advice. I’m debating contacting the health visitor but he was a lockdown baby so I’ve only met her once, and can’t even remember her name.

Should I be worried, or am I having unreasonable expectations of him?

We do spend time talking, giving him time to answer, repeating words, encouraging him to try, big fuss and praise, reading stories etc etc. Anything else I should be doing?

Ds1 had no words, no animal noises,and not much noise at all at 2. He saw SALT at a drop in - said he had a significant delay. He saud wrds when he turned 2.5 and within weeks was holding conversations. Like he'd been staring it all up.

Things Salt spoke about - can he follow 2 or 3 stage instruction? (Pleae go into the kitchen, find your drinks bottle and bring it back to me)

Put 6 or 8 small objects on the floor, ask him to find the key/ball/building block etc.

He points, which is good. Does he respond to his name?

The first port of call is usually a hearing test so may be worth getting that done now

Ds is 6 now and amazingly bright, and has superb vocabulary.

You can google the 2 year check questionnaire but from what I
can remember yes it does sound behind.
Singing is very important.
Ask GP for a referral for a hearing test and ask how salt referrals are managed in your area.

He sounds fine to me, especially because he’s able to communicate fine. At 2 there is a lot of variation. I have a 2.5 year old who speaks like a 5 year old but my other 3 children definitely didn’t at this age. They usually catch up.

2 year check questionnaire

www.mkchildrenshealth.cnwl.nhs.uk/media/1057/asq-24-months.pdf

Both my DS have had speech delay, due to hearing loss from glue ear. The older one it sorted itself, my 2 year old DS2 we are in the system and he'll probably need grommits (he's coming up for 3 so older than yours).

With DS1 I was directed to this online progress checker tool ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/progress-checker-home/ . I used it for DS2, then called the health visitors as it suggested there were issues. (This was 15 months ago so no face to face contact).

I think routes after that depend on your area. For us, the HV agreed there were concerns and the next step was a hearing test for glue ear, but couldn't refer him themselves for a hearing test. I had to get a GP appointment for the referral to audiology - but it was worth having gone through the HV as my GP made it clear he was putting the referral in because the HV said so rather than because he really thought it necessary (the hearing test showed it was).

It's worth getting started sooner rather than later as waiting times for everything are long - I spoke to the HV I over a year ago and we've only just had our first ENT appointment...

Should add that just because he understands and seems to hear fine doesn't mean there isn't subtle hearing loss from something like glue ear impacting speech. Glue ear typically takes out higher frequency hearing, so they struggle to hear consonants accurately but can often hear vowels fine. It also fluctuates how badly it impacts them, and so because how they hear things varies over time it's much harder for them to work out how to reproduce it and say things themselves.

That's absolutely normal at 2. By 2.5 they are generally starting to do things like put words together or pick up words like a sponge. But at 2 the only milestone is that they can understand you and are saying a few words themselves.

Thank you for the links. There are some of those things that he’s not doing yet, or that I’m not sure if he can do, so I’ll try and incorporate those into play time.

I think I’ll call the health visitor too. We’ve been joking for a while about him being selectively deaf, thinking that he was just choosing to ignore us, but perhaps that’s not the case.

I second the ican resource PP mentioned (ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/progress-checker-home/2-years/)

The HV should be doing a 2 year development review where they are looking for 2 year olds to understand 200-300 words and use around 50 words. It’s worth seeking advice about a SALT referral and in the meantime stepping up the singing/rhyme time elements of play as you suggest. You might also consider a day/week of childminder or nursery to increase his exposure to that kind of play and socialising with other kids. Appreciate that might not be an option or desirable for you though! Wishing you all the best.

Thanks @LabradorFiasco I’d be quite happy for him to have a bit of time in nursery, I think it would do him a lot of good. Unfortunately we can’t afford it at the moment. I am looking for a playground or similar that may be cheaper, but all the local ones seem to start at 2.5, so will have to wait another six months.

I don't really have any advice as I could have written this post myself. My DS turned 2, 2 weeks ago and he is exactly the same. He understands a lot more than he can say and can communicate in non verbal ways (pointing etc). He is just recently starting to try and say more new words so I'm not massively concerned tbh.

At the same age I didn't think my almost 6 year old said a lot either but I've recently been looking at old videos of him and he was a lot more advanced. His speech got so much better when he started nursery at 2. I'm on maternity leave with DS3 so don't need childcare but have been thinking about sending DS2 to 1- get him a bit more socialized and 2-to help further his speech.

I also found this site useful speechsisters.com/how-many-words-should-my-child-have/ to get a sense of where DS sat versus his peers.

It gives ranges for what children of what a given age, rather than just the commonly quoted milestones which are what most children can do. At age 2, for example, 90% can say 50 words, the average is 300 words.

They can catch up quite quickly though, DS2 had between signs and a few words about 20 words age 2. His pronunciation is still poor due to the glue ear but at almost 3 he is now otherwise caught up to what an 'average' child can do.