2Yr Old Not Talking

My son didn't start talking until he was nearly 3 1/2. Nothing was wrong with him. He didn't have to talk...we all knew what he wanted. I knew his hearing was fine.

Like was said before, children all develope differently.

Hi,

I dont think you should worry. All children are very different. I am a childbirth educator and also teach parenting classes. I have a 3 yr.old and a 2 year old. Yes 8 days less than a year apart, and what I have noticed is how different they can be. My 3 yr. old could say many words by the age of 2 and my now 2 yr. old does not say even close to as many. But my 2 yr. old can do things in other areas my 3 yr. old could not. So they master things in their own time. One child might be more constructive and another more interactive. They both will learn to speak just at differnt times. Be Blessed, N.

Hi C.,

Just wanted to tell you not to worry...
My brother and I both started to talk around that age. We are from Russia , by the way. So...as you can see, not only had I been able to learn my native language and speak it, but I also can converse in English and Spanish.
As long as she DOES say words, hence , she is not mute, is probably fine.

Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
O..

My son was slow with his speach, he had fluid in his ears which hendered his ability to understand speach and slowed his developement, to which all was needed was alergy medicine. My advice is that your brother should definatly take his daughter to the doctor.

I have a 3 1/2 year son old and a 21 month old girl. My son talked so much better than my daughter at this age. My daughter barly says mama right. but, I see that she is trying to jibber jabber to keep up, I did ask the doctor he said that every kid had to go at there own pace and if she wasn't talking better at 2 1/2-3 then we would look more into it. my nephew also didn't talk until he was 3. I think it depends on the kid. The next time they take her to the doctor for a well baby check I would definatly mention it. It could have to do with her hearing. Hope this helps

its not normal. I actually have a friend whos daughter just turned 2 1/2 and she was the same way. just a couple of months ago, she finally took her to the doctor and found out she couldn't hear because she had scar tissue in her ears from an apparent ear infection or something of the sort that no one ever knew she had. they put tubes in her ears, and within two weeks, she was talking like crazy. she definatly needs to be seen by a doctor asap, the longer you wait, the more damage that will be done.

I hope that there is nothing wrong. A trip the dr. is always a good way to put the mind at ease....do they read to her alot? that is a such a huge thing in the development of their vocab.
good luck!

My daughter did this, also. She didn't really start talking until she was almost three. And she hasn't shut up since. :) I was worried about it, too for a while. My fist daughter started using sentences at a VERY young age. But seriously, I wouldn't worry about it. More than likely, she is just taking it all in. She'll be fine. Parents tend to compare their kids to eachother, (and other people's kids!) far too much, forgetting that it's not really a contest.

has she had a lot of ear infections? the reason i am asking is because my son was like that until he turned 2 then all of a sudden he just started talking up a storm, he had a lot of ear infections under the age of 2, which caused him unable to hear very well.so he didnt talk much until he finally got a relief from the infections. if she hasnt talked much, its ok i wouldnt do anything about it right now, but when she gets closer to 3yrs old i would check to see whats going on, she might not be hearing all that good. hope i helped. if not i am sorry..lol

I'm very sorry to say that you should get your child checked by a doctor.The good news is that some children develope at very different rates in each area of developement. Your child may excell almost to an autistic level in another area if speach is a problem. Some children are just too busy learning motor skills or problem solving ect.to slow down enough or bother to learn the spoken language. On the flip side it may be a very simple problem, have her hearing checked. If she can't hear very well she may be reading expression, gestures,or body language to understand you. If she is pointing or expressing in other ways what she wants the chances are that she is very smart and just lives a very quiet life. Some of us would trade her for a day. Keep your hopes up and remember that it may be that she is just a late bloomer in the verbal department. You will then thank her for all the quiet times later while you wish for their return.

i was right there with my son who is now two and a half. we just started a program offered by the state to help him talking. we were really concerned when he could only really say "no" and "endo" (our dogs name) but not even mom and dad. This program was suggest by a friend of a friend and i think it might be worth a shot for what your looking for or thinking about. WE have our speech person come out every wednsday and help us learn the tricks to make our litttle guy talk and so far its amazing!! its done thru multnomah education services and the office we use number is ###-###-####. if your not in the area im sure if you call they can direct you to places closer, we had to go thru another branch to find the one closest to us but it was very much worth it. they had us come in and evaluated thru play where justin was at and what we were kinda looking for and it qualified him right away and right away they got us in touch with a preson who started helping. It has made a tremendus differance in our life. hope this helps!

Dear C.,
No, it is not uncommon for children to talk at dufferent ages, and for some, not to talk well until they are 3-4 years old. I have 5 children. The first talked at 5-6 months, the second talked at about a year and a half as she did not like the representation she was getting from her older brother and decided to speak for herself. The third was a boy, 4 years younger than the first, and he didn't talk till he was over 3 as his older brother said everything for him. The last of 5 was born 10 years after the fourth, and she spoke at 5-6 months because everyone in the house spoke already.
My guess would be that the little girl is not getting prompted to talk much. Have them try holding out an object she wants and not give it till she says the name. Try talking with her all the time, asking questions, naming items or processes and she will start to mimic. A lot of times an only child has no need to speak when her parents anticipate her needs and fill them without her having to ask. Being around only grown humans delays the speech process in some, while encourages it in others. It all comes down to the interaction between the child and the grown-ups. If it makes you feel any better, I have 2 grandchildren that are 5 months apart. One cannot recognize his numbers or letters and barely writes his name. The other can read and write and fully uses phonics to sound out long words, making even advanced material comprehendable to her. Recognizing and taking measures to correct what may become a problem is nine tenths of the solution. Invest time and caring with the little girl and she will reward your efforts with beautiful speeches and expression. The bad part is that once you get her started she will never shut up! Trust me on that one. About me, I am a 50 year old mother of 5, grandmother of 7, with a 4.0 in my major of psychology, earned less than 10 years ago. Good luck with your neice.

Hello C., My son, who will be 3 in four months, also is a slow learner when it comes to speech. At his 2yr. well check I spoke to the doctor about it since he was only speaking a handful of words at that time. She said to count all the different words for the following 30 days and that he should have around 50 words and should be able to put a few words together to speak 2 word sentences. She said if he didn't accomplish that in 30 days that I should bring him back in to be checked. She wasn't raising a big flag in the area, but she did feel the need to watch him a bit. She said that girls usually tend to learn social skills earlier (go figure) and that boys accomplish physical skills earlier, but that each child will do things at their own pace.

I would definitely have the issue brought to the doctors attention, so that they can make a better evaluation and monitor this little girls speech.

By the way, My son did reach 50 words within 30 days and seems to know a new word everyday. He even sings along with commercials and TV programs now. I think he was just working at his own pace.

My 2.5 yo dd doesn't talk a lot either. At 2 yo they are suppose to have a vocabulary of at least 50 words. I don't think my dd has that many words that she says but she is VERY BRIGHT. I thought by being a 2nd child she would have spoke earlier and more words. My dds know sign language and uses that and 'grunts' :( But when she wants to talk she talks too. You could suggest they talk to their physician/and a specialist but I think you need to look at the WHOLE picture and evaluate the WHOLE picture and not that he just isn't talking or with a small vocabulary.

I wouldn't worry sometimes kids do things at there own pace. I have six children and my last daughter who is 3 years old is talking but to me she is not talking as well as my other children were talking when they were her age.

Hi C.,

My sons were early talkers, but I know several children who really didn't start talking until 3. But, to be on the safe side, your brother should should speak with his daughter's pediatrician about this. It could be a hearing problem or something like autism which could be helped by an early intervention program. I have two friends with children in these programs whose children had the above issues and are thriving now.
B.
(good luck with conceiving!)

all kids are different but I would definatly bring it up at her 2 year checkup.

My daughter isnt talking wonderfully yet either and my sisters son didnt really start talkin till he hit 3.. Some kids just decide to be behind i guess.. My sister put her son in speak theropy at 3 to start helping and it did wonders! Just tell them to hang in there and keep workin with her.. I found that Dora the explorer and Diego and shows like that help alot too..!

It is completley normal, kids start talking at different times, having three girls myself, they all started talking at different times and my sisters daughter started talking alot later than my daughter and they were the same age. If she isnt speaking a few word sentences closer to age three, they may want to have her hearing checked just for good measure.
Merry Christmas, P.

I had a friend who was worried about her son not speaking. I used to babysit him and he would talk just fine for me, but would never talk around his family. They got him into one of those sign language classes for children. They also had him checked out by a doctor and his hearing was fine. But he started his speaking by using sign lauguage and then when he was ready he started talking with his signing. Now he is alot older and doesnt use the sign language much anymore but he still knows it.

Hey C. my son who is now ten didn't talk until he was 3 up until then he only said a couple of words like mamma or dada and would point at everything he needed or wanted then after he started headstart they did a hearing test on him and found out that he had a hard time hearing out of his right ear so I took him to the doctor and found out that he had some water behind the ear drum and some scaring from repeat ear infections my son never showed any signs of having an ear infection no crying or tugging at his ears ect. so you may want to have her ears checked also my brother just went through this with his daughter who is 3 they thought she might be autistic but she had water behind her ear drums they wanted to do surgery to put tubes in and he said no lets treat it another way not really sure how I will have to ask but now about a year later she is talking up a storm so have that checked hope it helps some kids just develop later than others too

Tell your brother to have her evaluated by a developmental pediatrician and/or a neuropsychologist immediately. If there is a problem early intervention is so very important! Tell him not to take advice from any doctor who says to "wait and see." She does need to have her ears checked as well to make sure she is hearing O.K. Have your brother take her to an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor to evaluated her ears. There are usually wait lists for developmental pediatricians and neuropsychologists so have him call them right away and in the meantime her ears can be evaluated. Make him do this for the sake of his daughter. Most states have an early intervention program and I believe they are free or next to no cost. Your a wonderful Aunt. Best of luck to your brother.

B.

My son when thur this. He had a speech delay. I didn't notice it because some other children his age were not talking that much either. But when asked by my doctor she said to get him enrolled with a Speech Therapist. I know that children develop at their own speed and maybe she doesn't have much to say but it is better to find out. Now my son is 5 and in kindergarden. For me it was a good choice.

Whenever you have any worries, take them to the doctor. It can't hurt. We thought my son's talking was a bit behind, so we talked to the doc at his 18-month appointment. I hear a lot about first children tending not to talk as fast. The first thing they do is test their hearing. Get it done! It can't hurt! Wouldn't you rather know than to keep worrying? Get that child help now, IF she needs it. My son has been doing speech therapy and is doing great. He's still a little behind in speech, but we really believe because he has his own agenda and there's something in his personality that he's just not ready to.

Why worry? Discuss it with the doctor. Let them test her hearing. Go from there. But, for some kids, it's a personality thing and others it's more than that.

Good luck with number 2!

I know it's a little late to respond to this but I had the same concern with my now four year old. My son Bobby didn't talk much and when he was 2 1/2 I started to get really concerned considering his older siblings had a much bigger vocabulary at his age. Anyway I decided to take him to see his pediatrician and got the must devastating news... Bobby had signs of autism. I set him up an evaluation at UCLA and it was confirmed that he indeed had autism. I don't mean to scare you but early intervention is crucial. I now have him in a special day preschool and I am happy to say he has increased his vocabulary by 95%. This hopefully is not the case with your niece. I couldn't hurt to have her checked out. I wish you well.

D.:)

Hi. I inderstand your concern. I have a friend who's daughter is less than 2 months behind mine and she don't talk either. She had taken her to see a doctor and he said that because she had an older son, he was doing the talking for her, but that she gestures and understands everything and not to worry. My daughter is a motor mouth so i thought something was wrong with her daughters vocals, but I guess it's normal for a lot of children.