Positive stories about toddlers with only a few words at 21 months? Remaining hopeful! ✨

[dibbledobbley]

Hi all,

I would love to hear any positive stories about language development if your toddler only had a handful of words at 21 months or thereabouts.

I’m still waiting for the ‘language explosion’ to come and I’m really hoping there is still time for it to happen? Receptive understanding, social skills, gross/fine motor all appear to be broadly okay.

I would love to hear some positive stories of your child similarly only had a few words but then they did eventually come, as I am so worried about it - it feels like the rest of the NCT group all have mini Shakespeares! Thank you 😊

(Please - no links to progress checkers, or info about referrals - thank you!)

My DS at age 2 had the speech development of a 9 month old. Fast forward a year and he had caught up. Fast forward to age 6 and he’s in the top group for phonics

I paid for a speech therapist privately and also his nursery put in place additional support

My youngest barely spoke until he was two and a half. His main word up until then was "dooooo!" By which he meant dog but would apply to any creature that crossed his field of vision. Having had two verbose daughters, I was genuinely convinced that he was developmentally delayed. Turns out he just saw little point in speaking when his sisters anticipated his every need and by the time he was three he was on a par with the rest of his peers.

I had to pay for a speech therapist privately too for ds as the NHS help was too sporadic and they kept losing their speech therapists. He was severely speech delayed (also ASD) and it did cause some problems at school with bullying etc. My proudest moments were him giving a speech at dd2's wedding and his distinction in his grade 8 Lamda exam. He's now 23 and doesn't shut up!
(I had initially thought he was like dd2 who let dd1 do all the talking so she didn't bother until she was about 3 and was talking in sentences)

My son could only say a few words at that age. He had a Speech and language referral from nursery and was put on a playplan. Speech and language said he was fine, we changed nurseries when he was 29 months and it was like an explosion! He started speaking in sentences and a further assessment said he is ahead of where he should be.

My oldest said very little until almost 3. Put two or three words together, very little conversation. Then she started talking and now she’s a doctor.
sge did discover she’s got a tongue tie when she started medical school and they checked each others mouths. That may be why or it could be total coincidence.

DD was an early walker, at 9 months, and was late to talk. Her language explosion happened at about 2.5. She is mildly dyslexic but this doesn’t cause issues her any major issues beyond terrible spelling in that she’s at or above expectations for everything in school, average CAT scores and has loads of friends. Interesting that other posters are also saying their early walkers/late talkers are also dyslexic. I wonder if there’s a link there somewhere or if it’s pure coincidence?

Einstein didn’t talk till he was 5 x

Massive sign of neurodiversity. Also case for many autistic kids

Oh god mine only had a few at 24 months even! She’s an absolute chatterbox now at 4 and will give anyone a run for their money. I do remember worrying but honestly 21 months is definitely well within normal range

All mine had their language explosion at 2 years old. They were too busy trying to get around to stop and chat! Now I cannot shut them up.

Yeah this was my son. Everyone was pathologising him behind our backs but it turned out not soon after his 2nd birthday he basically started talking in full sentences. He went from almost nothing to having more language than his peers (not that it’s a contest).
I know it’s easy to say and hard to do but try not to worry - unless he is missing lots of milestones.

Look at whole picture. Motor skills hearing play understanding. Does he pick up signs understand photos? Get on wait list for a slt review assessment...you can cancel it if no longer needed in three or six months time
But if needs input then you get it

At 2 we had very few words, by 2yr 9months we now have varied sentences. He still babbles when excited but he knows the names of most things and can communicate very well. Does your little one understand what you’re saying to them? We were told that’s much more important than actual speech at the 2yr mark.

My son barely spoke at 2 and then started talking in full sentences a few weeks later. I had a similar NCT group-he was last to walk and last to talk….I think he was too busy climbing things and absorbing the world to talk sooner!! He is now 12, thriving at a super selective grammar school and loves languages/drama. I think if understanding is good, I wouldn't worry too much-it is likely to come.

My brother barely spoke around that age and went on to be exceptionally bright, and speaks multiple languages fluently! He works as a translator ☺️

I have spoken to a SaLT who advised that while my toddler’s receptive understanding and social communication appear to be good or even strong, and while there is communicative intent, there is an expressive delay at this stage in terms of what they would expect to see vocabulary-wise.

She said that it isn’t possible to tell at this age if it’s just a delay that will eventually resolve or if there could be something more going on. I said I might book an audiologist appointment prior to the 24mo check but she said that it is ‘so rarely a hearing thing.’

I suppose my question, to all you lovely posters who have so kindly shared your experiences, is - how do I stop the constant worrying? At nursery pick up I am constantly looking at what the other children are doing and comparing. Every day I feel as though I am always monitoring and assessing, even doing little ‘tests,’ instead of just enjoying my toddler.

I feel as though I can’t relax - I’m always on the alert for sounds and babbling. I’m reading old MN and Reddit threads and searching for posters’ updates etc. I’m monitoring the checklists and Googling. I feel as though we only have this summer to go before I really have to start worrying at 24mo and I just cannot relax because I just cannot see any new words coming.

Did anyone else experience this and find anything that helped or worked?! Maybe nothing will?!

It is early days to worry but Work on signs e.g makaton so he can express by other means. Speech is only one form to express wants and needs. You can boost his expressive language with other forms of communication.
Does he use objects eg brings shoes to say go out?
Look at some ipad communication apps like gridforipad is he interested in photos to tell you about family members?
Look at ican site and hanen.
If he ultimately has eg apraxia of speech you will go back to SLt and get support

How do you know what he wants? Does he point? Grunt? Choose from 2 photos? Dont anticipate his needs or wants allow him to communicate . Does he have a clear "yes" and "no" gesture?

I could have written this about DS1. I'm sure I spent the first 2 years of his life down a Google scroll hole instead of enjoying him. He had 6 words age 2. Never got the hang of signing. His speech really took off around age 4 and now aged 8 we are trying to work on knowing when to stop talking!

I'm afraid the only thing that really helped me was time, the more DS has achieved (in his own time) the less I worry about him. This will sound a bit blunt, either your DC will suddenly start speaking or they won't. And you will deal with that as it comes. The amount you worry won't change the outcome so worrying is such a terrible waste of energy.

I would speak to your health visitor about getting a hearing test though, amongst other things DS had quite bad glue ear which can affect speech. I'm surprised the SaLT was so dismissive of that.