Speech

[Victoria1124]

My 20month old can say a couple of words such as mama, dada,car , moo,hiya and that and a few others but that’s it. He understands instructions very well and points and waves all the time but I’m just worried he’s not speaking enough. I narrate all day and but he doesn’t seem to be picking anything up, is there anything else I can do to help encourage his speech and when should I contact my health visitor. He was born at 35 weeks due to placenta abruption.

My ds was also born at 35 weeks. He has older siblings so didn't need to chat much.. He had Minions who catered for his every need... Try not to worry and just enjoy your baby.

Bump

That sounds just about ok for age (19 months adjusted?). My son is very similar, also premature (31 weeks though) and is currently 22 months adjusted. I had similar concerns - but suspected hearing issues - and he recently had an audiology appointment and has glue ear and moderate hearing loss so he will get grommets soon. It was a relief in a way to know he is currently hearing impaired. I understand it’s one of the first things that’s checked with speech issues. So perhaps check hearing. I’d also be reassured the building blocks of language are there - pointing, sharing attention, gesturing, following instructions etc. good luck!

I would say that at 20 months my youngest was similar, he’s now babbling away at 27 months. It worried me only because my eldest was an extremely chatty toddler and saying 3 word sentences by then, but my second son is just different. If you’re really worried try looking at the health visitor checklist for his age group. By two they’re supposed to be on about 50 words, but 4 months away is a long time away in the life of a 20 month old.

Thank you everyone, I definitely don’t think there’s any hearing issues but will bring it up with health visitor, he has said a new word today so hoping he starts chatting more!!

Great news on the new word

If you do this progress checker it will tell you if your LO needs some support. They also have some really good resources on their website for encouraging speech.