Reassure me about my toddler's speech (or lack thereof)

[sent]

My 16 month old was at the same point. She's 19 months and still doesn't say a ton, but we have been working on teaching her things like "where is your nose" or "raise your hand" and she does respond.  Sometimes.  She definitely knows the remote turns the TV on and gets mad if we don't do it.  They're smarter than you think.  I'm not worried about her, she'll talk when she's ready.  

[karinothing]

I am sure he is going to be fine. DS didn't really talk much at 15 months ( I think we had 4 words) but by 18 months he was speaking in full sentences. Anyway as far as encouraging him to talk I would kind of start narrating everything. So when you hand him a cup say "here is your red cup, do you want your red cup". We just kind of always went around naming EVERYTHING.

[Deleted]

Both my kids were like this.

DS moreso.

DD didn't say much until well after 18 months but what she did say came out perfectly clear and there was no guessing what she was saying. She was close to two before she started putting phrases together and then it was full on sentences.

DS had 1 word at his 15 month checkup. My dr. gave me the lecture on 10 words and I ranted here. Then the community health program surveys I fill out each month said he needed to be monitored. I still always felt he was fine as he has very good receptive language, which is in fact more important. He sees and understands so much. Now in the last two weeks he has come out with "llama" "Daddy" "Keey" for kitty and "hello." It's definitely coming. It's not as clear as DDs was but she was also the exception rather than the norm.

It doesn't hurt be aware and get it checked out by all means, but I wouldn't be too worried just yet.

[hopecounts]

It is better to be proactive around speech, ST can do wonders for an NT kid who is just struggling to speak and the earlier you start the shorter the need it often is.
Big Red flags to check/watch for:
does he point? Does he follow a point (you point at the blue truck and he looks)? Does he wave hi & bye?

He's still young and well within the speech explosion age range BUT early intervention is key to long term success if there is a problem. I might self refer to EI since that would put you on the calendar in most places in 3-6 months if all is well and his language takes off in that time frame then you call and cancel IF NOT then he is on the books and you waste no time.

[Deleted]

This is me, but I lean towards early intervention with speech like hopecounts mentioned. At 15 mos the girls didn't have any words other than an attempt at bye bye. Pedi wanted about 5. I had already called Early Intervention before the appointment becaude I knew they were behind. They qualified for services and are seeing an slp.

Now, about a week before they had their first meeting with the slp they had a word explosion and now at 16 mos have probably 25 ish words. That said, she still helps them with articulation and building on that. I definitely don't regret getting them help when I saw it didn't seem to be progressing on their own. I also had the added complication of ID twins though which are known to have inexplicable language delays. Early intervention is key when addressing speech issues though so I don't think it can hurt to have an evaluation with your state's before 3/early intervention program. If he doesn't qualify then you will know he is on track, and if he does, well then you will get the help he needs.

[sporklemotion]

I dont know if it'll help for you, but I found that consistent repetition seems to help. I will use the word over and over (e.g. Saying "arms" when putting on a shirt), and will ask DD what things are called a lot. Eventually, she will start to use the word. I have heard that babies learn to speak by babbling and having the right sounds rewarded, so I tried to praise DD1 when she said the right sound (even if she did it randomly).

We read lots of books, too. DD1 has gone through phases of liking or not liking to read, but that has also helped. We noticed her acting out some of the motions in "From Head to Toe," for example, and that helped her learn some words.

This makes me sound really pedantic and no fun, I know, but I promise that I am not over the top or overbearing with my kid. We make it conversational and I don't drill her on words or anything.

Just stay mindful of it, and don't freak out. My sense is that if your pedi were truly concerned, she wouldn't wait. There is such a huge spectrum at this age, and things can develop really quickly.

[hopecounts]

Jul 28, 2015 9:47:51 GMT -5 @abbycobb said:

hopecounts Interesting points, thank you! I'm not opposed to ST if it's necessary, but I hadn't really thought of the benefits of doing it earlier rather than later. He has followed points for a couple months, and pointed a bit, but we were just noticing his pointing has increased a ton in the last couple weeks.

Also, he's home with H over the summer. We were on vacation last week with family and he was babbling/repeating a lot more while playing with his 2 year old cousin. H plans to start narrating more throughout the day, but I think getting back to daycare with all the other kids this fall might help too.

The pointing sounds right on track for his age which is really good.
he may just be heading into his speech explosion which would be perfectly normal for his age
I recommend starting the EI process because worst case scenario you have an EI eval and he is delayed and he starts getting speech help.
best case scenario you get on the list his speech takes off and you cancel.
Pretty close to a win-win  

[scribellesam]

Just wanted to reassure you that if you do the evaluation for EI, it's super straightforward and easy to do so. Maybe this varies by state, but when I had DS1 evaluated, they sent the evaluators to my house and did it right in my living room! It was great.

[Deleted]

DS2 is 16 months and is pretty similar. The only things he really calls by name are bananas and the dog. Everything else gets a lot of over eager pointing and babbling. DS1 hit a big speech burst around 19 months, so I figure DS2 is probably not far from it.

[mpc]

My anecdote: I don't think DS had any words at 16 months. He picked up a few over time and had the big explosion right before he turned 2. Now at 28 months he has full conversations with us.

[mswax]

DS3 was my latest talker. He was struggling with about 10 words at 21 months. I made an early intervention appointment, and by 2 weeks later at his appointment, he had 50 words (and did not qualify for services). He turns 2 tomorrow and has hundreds, putting 2,3,4+ words together in sentences. The "word explosion" happens quickly, and 16 months is still pretty young. I'd wait to see how things go in the fall and call at the end of September if you're still concerned.

[pescalita]

Mine were late talkers. Both have seen speech therapists and gotten the all-clear. That sounds within normal to me.

We just keep reading, keep talking to/with them, ask questions etc

[cricketwife]

I hope this is helpful....

I feel like a lot of DS's initial language comes from daycare. First he learned animal sounds and the first time he told me "moo" I was like, "omg., I didn't even think to teach you animal sounds yet!" Rinse and repeat with body parts and thank you! The kid says thank you unprompted and that did not come from me. Somewhere along the way, I realized he was ready to learn words before I knew he was ready. So when he said moo, I started talking all about animals and their sounds. When h knew eyes and ears, i started on toe, arm, etc. So it sounds like your child isn't in daycare (not a bad thing!) Is there someone you can ask, hey, what does your kid do/say? And then you can talk those things up? Also, read, read, read. DS loves books and he learns so many words from them, it amazes me. He loves his picture dictionary (which I hate because no plot, yo!) but maybe see if he's interested in you reading that to him? He also learned so many animals and their sounds when I bought the M&D animal mGnets. We looked at them and talked about them all the time. I also think I would go to as many library story times as possible. Hopefully, they are really high quality, but even if not, it its you both around his peers which I think you can both learn a lot from. Basically, I can't tell you if he's behind or not, or if you should worry or shouldn't, but these are all ways that I've seen language develop for my son.

HTH!

[boxerdog]

I have no expertise in this area, but my almost 15mo old is in a very similar place. I worry some, but my instincts tell me he is fine.

I was talking to a family friend and she was also mainly concerned with understanding of words (i.e. you asking for ball,shoes,whatever and he brings it). She also said that if he has his own word for something (i.e. has a name for the dogs, or whatever), then that "counts" too.

Just keep talking, singing, pointing to things in books, etc!

[dcn]

At 16 months I would not worry at all. If he can understand what you are saying, and can follow directions, etc then I think he will get there.

My Ds had like 4-5 words and some signs at 18 months but his receptive language was great. We just kept an eye on it and slowly he gained a word here or there. The day before he turned two he said 8 new words and hasn't looked back since. He will be three in October and speaks in complex sentences etc.

There is a lot more to language than just what is spoken. Some kids have the spoken part click sooner than others.

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2015 11:02:49 GMT -5 mswax said:

DS3 was my latest talker. He was struggling with about 10 words at 21 months. I made an early intervention appointment, and by 2 weeks later at his appointment, he had 50 words (and did not qualify for services). He turns 2 tomorrow and has hundreds, putting 2,3,4+ words together in sentences. The "word explosion" happens quickly, and 16 months is still pretty young. I'd wait to see how things go in the fall and call at the end of September if you're still concerned.

My DS was very similar. I did notice that he had great receptive language (pointing) and had a fairy diverse sign language capacity which made me hesitate on calling EI. He just started his language explosion in the last 2 months (he's almost 23 months) and I've now lost track of how many words he has.

I definitely believe in the power of EI, so I'd call if you're convernd and get on the waiting list. Chances are he will progress by the time of your screening.

[spwspw]

DS didn't have any words at his 15 month well visit, and the bare minimum at his 18 month. Pedi was not really concerned since his receptive speech was very good at that point. She predicted he would have a language explosion closer to 2 yrs, and she was right. Right around 22 months, he started gaining new words on a daily basis such that by his 2 yr visit, we had lost count of how many words he had.

[rugbywife]

My doc's checklist for 15m expected 2 words, didn't have to be clear. I was worried til I heard that. I say give it a few more months.

[Narwhal]

My boys were saying 5-10 words at their 18 month appt (1 month ago) BUT it was only repeating. They didn't independently say anything except our dogs name. Our pedi didn't seem worried at the time because they are identical and were 11 weeks early. However, in the last week or two, they seriously have started talking so much more. They say maybe 5-7 words independently and repeat a new word or two a day. I always have speech EI in the back of my mind, but I think as of right now, I'll wait until they are 2 to see if I want to have them evaluated.

[elocrates]

Anecdote: My DS3 had fewer than 5 words when he turned 2. A month later he had 50ish. Now, at 2.5yo, he speaks in paragraphs and almost everybody can understand what he is saying.

[drloretta]

Hoo boy, we were here at one time.

DD was a late talker. Starting around 9 months I asked her (awesome) doctor about language, and he had zero concerns. Her motor skills were off the charts, she was focusing on that, and her non-verbal language milestones were on track. She continued this way for several months.

We moved, and I went to a whackadoodle pediatrician for DD's 18 month appointment. Almost the first question was, "How many words does she have?" She had one--uh oh. And I knew it was a "real" word, she would drop things just so she could say it. The doctor freaked out, didn't consider that a real world, told me I had to teach my child to talk, we needed to look into EI, etc. I felt blindsided.

I switched doctors when DD was 20 months, and she was up to 10 words. That doctor wasn't typically concerned until age 2. DD hasn't looked back since.

A friend has a son born the same day as DD. He was neither walking nor talking at 16 months, so he was evaluated and did EI for about a year if I remember correctly.

IMO if you feel your LO is on the cusp, it doesn't hurt to wait until the 18-21 month range and see what happens. Name things as you walk around the house or play with him. Read books, etc. If that word explosion doesn't happen by the fall, take advantage of an EI assessment and see what happens.

GL. It sounds to me like he's fine.

[sent]

Anecdote for today - I turned on the ice maker and was making a big deal out of it and suddenly DD said "ishe." I don't really talk about ice very often so it's not like she hears the word all the time.  She won't say "mama" but we can add "ishe" to her 10 word vocab.

[barefootcontessa]

I would not worry at all until at least 18 months and likely closer to age two.

[mae141]

DD had like 2 words at her 18 month appointment, and now at 19 months she's got about 20. The pedi told me to call EI, but we just got dismissed from them for torticollis a few months ago and I really did not want to have to do it all again. I'm not too worried because she seems to understand everything we say, she has ways she communicates her needs, and I can hear new sounds in her babbling all the time.

[lilac05]

I always recommend erring on the side of caution (I'm an SLP). Speech therapy is play for kids, not work. It's fun for them, and usually free (or close to it!) for you. There's no harm in starting early, but you miss out on free help if you wait. You can find research to prove almost anything...except downsides to early intervention. Research is very clear that the best intervention is early intervention. If you have an evaluation done & no therapy is needed, great! If there are delays, it's good to catch them sooner rather than later. Therapy will give you and your H lots of tools to use at home to encourage language development. With early intervention, that's just as big of a part of therapy as 1:1 time with the therapist/child. I understand why parents want to "wait and see"...but I don't recommend it. Yes, most kids hit language explosions between 18&24 months, but you never know who ISN'T going to hit one until they've already missed it.

I don't know whether or not your child will qualify for services, but I think whenever there's a question, it's good to have it checked out by EI. The process can be long, but it's not difficult. Therapists will frequently come to your home, and as long as you have a good SLP, it'll just feel like playing to your child (& probably you, too!)

[formerlyllizzyb]

Anecdote: DS didn't speak a word until 17 months. At 24 months, he had maybe 15-20 words. By 2.5 years, he had probably 250 words and was speaking in sentences.
We did EI speech therapy from 15 months to 3 years. It helped him and us, but I honestly think he would have talked at the same point regardless.