Should I be worried about toddlers speech?

[minemine1989]

My little one is 20 months and he doesn’t say many words.. he says mama, mum, dada ( although it’s not super clear but we know that’s what he’s trying to say) and he can say Grandad.

he will say other words but just once and not again. He is very vocal and babbles a lot! He will chat away to you but not saying actual words.

he has a great understanding and can follow instructions and has his own way of letting me know what he wants.

but I do worry he should be saying more words?

is there anything you did that helped boost your child’s vocabulary?

thanks in advance

The fact that he is babbling a lot is a good sign, it will soon start to turn into meaningful words so I wouldn’t be worried. Using single words to label objects he points to, reading stories and narrating his play will all help support language development at this age. The early years framework for 20 months suggests they may have around 50 words and be ‘starting to’ combine two words - they will benchmark against this sort of thing at his two year check if that applies where you live.

Mine hardly said anything by 2. And actually wasn't much of a babbler either. But once he started, he progressed rapidly and now has a really good vocabulary for his age. I remember going to pick out a present for him to give a friend when he was 3. I suggested something in the shop and he said "don't be ridiculous". He couldn't talk a few months earlier!

If the understanding is good and those few words are there showing he physically can make the sounds, I wouldn't be worried. Just keep talking/reading/singing and before you know it you'll be willing him to stop and take a breath!

edit- typo

The easiest way to tell of they need some support is to do this progress checker from Speech & Language UK. Let us know what the results are

My DD was similar at that age, and the nursery mentioned it to me. I spoke to the GP who referred her for a hearing test. He said he wasn’t necessarily overly worried at that stage, but that if she didn’t develop her speech over the next few months, the speech and language team would want to see a hearing test before they accepted a referral anyway, so better to get it done now than have it delay things down the line.

She started saying a lot more words within a couple of months and now at 3.5 she’s totally caught up. But I’m glad the nursery mentioned it - SALT referrals here are about an 18 month waiting list, so better to speak to the GP early to see what they say so that if there’s an issue, you’re on the list sooner.

In my area, the SALT team also offer a free helpline that parents can call a couple of times a week. I spent about half an hour on the phone with someone getting really useful tips. So maybe see if that’s an option in your area?

At 22 mo my youngest was saying the grand total of 0 words.

Your DS is doing well for his age. I wouldn't worry.

My son was behind when starting to talk and we ended up with speech therapy and special play group for children with problems. By the time he went to school he rarely stopped talking and he now has a degree in English and runs a business in communications. His daughter was similarly late starting to talk but at 3 is now rapidly starting to talk in sentences. By all means take help if it’s offered but don’t panic yet!!!

Thank you for all your messages, I was going to wait until his 2 year health visitor visit before worrying but now we’re a few months away I was starting to worry. He is desperate to talk but just seems the actual words aren’t forming. Thank you for all your advice

Did you manage to do the progress checker?

My understanding is that "wait and see" isn't a very helpful approach because if there is an issue then early intervention is important (there might not be an issue but you'd want to rule it out. @ eatplaysay on Instagram did a post on this recently - she's a US-based speech and OT

Yes, results were that he needs more support with talking. Will look at the resources they send and go from there. Thanks again!

Mine was like this at 20 months. She's 32 months now and you can't shut her up.
I read to DD a lot, she has books every day and we used to get her to point to things (where's the banana) before she spoke much. That definitely helped.

Now I.try hard with her - use your words not just point and yell! And insist on please and thank you!

Honestly don't fret this young, it'll come together

Did they send you any resources after you had completed the progress checker? If not, you should be able to view some on their website.

Now you know they he does need some support, i would call your HV and ask to see them based on the results of the progress checker.

You can see her now and again at 24 months.

If you fill in the 20 month Ages & Stages and the 18 month Social & Emotional Ages & Stages abd show them to your HV you can them compare them with the results of the 24 month assessment forms and see how he is developing.

I would expect the HV to refer him for a hearing test now to rule out Glue Ear and depending on the results of the assessment forms, either see you again at 24 months or make some referrals now.

It’s probably worth asking her if there are any local groups for DC with Speech Delay as the HVs or SaLTs sometimes run these.

Let us know how you get on.

I agree - especially given waiting times for SALT. You don’t want to be joining that list later if you can help it.

Totally agree. My DC2 had speech delay. I can remember posting about it at the time followed by lots of posts saying not to worry. The HV then adopted the “wait & see” approach. Both of these were very unhelpful.

If Speech & Language UK says that tge DC in question needs support, really they need that now.