My Almost 20 Month Old Still Won't Talk

I also wouldn't wait. We live in WY County and have used Infant and Toddler Services for over 2 years. She is also delayed in speech and has speech therapy once a week....the nice thing is that they come to your house. I believe most counties in KS offer Infant & Toddlers. I'm surprised your pediatrician said not to worry about it. We see a developmental pediatrician who has been great about accessing our daughter and telling us what steps we should take...his name is Dr. Hoffman and he is out of Overland Park. I agree with a previous poster about having her ears checked. I wouldn't wait until your child turned 2...I would be proactive....and I would find another pediatrician. :) Just my opinion.

I understand your concern, and what the others say is probably right, be proactive in getting her checked out. But I also wanted to tell you that my 4 year old didn't really talk until she was almost 3. And when she did, it was full sentences. It was almost like she was waiting to have something to say. And she will talk your ear off now.

When my son was 20 months old, I told his doctor he wasn't talking yet, he would say ba for bye and ha for hi and that was about it. His doctor had his hearing tested and he failed. We were then sent to an ENT where he was tested again and failed again. The doctor said he also had a lot of fluid build up in his ears. Then offered to put tubes in my sons ears. He had them put in at 21 months old and is now learning so many new words. He is talking all the time and always repeating what he hears. He has had an explosion of speech lately. It has been amazing to see the changes. He also receives speech therapy since he is just now able to hear and missed out on the early stages of speech development.
My suggestion would be to see if you can get a hearing test done. There could be something going on that can be fixed. Best of luck to you.

My son was about that age when he really started talking. He would say a word or two, but he was very hard to understand, and mostly pointed and grunted. He'll be two this week, and now he says everything. It just started coming all at once. Don't worry yet!!

S.,

Don't wait! I would contact the Kansas department of health and ervironment ther contact information for infant and toddler services is here Infant-Toddler Services

1000 SW Jackson, Suite 220
Topeka, Kansas 66612-1274
Phone: ###-###-####
FAX: ###-###-####
Toll Free: (800) 332-6262

Tell them what your concerns are and ask for resources in your area. Your daughter may be just fine! However if there is a problem you want to start helping them as early as possible. Good luck!!!

Ask for a hearing test. At my son's 18 mo check up the pediatrician was concerned that he didn't talk more. I figured he was a boy, wasn't around other children much, etc. and wasn't too concerned about it. She suggested a hearing test and I said he can hear fine. I would ask him to get things/do things and he understood perfectly. She said there still could be some disconnect since his receptive vocabulary (hearing) and expressive vocabulary (talking) were so different. Sure enough, he had complete blockage in one ear from fluid build up and 50% in the other. The ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor was SHOCKED he had not had any ear infections. But, he did not have siblings and did not attend day care, so he wasn't really exposed to illness. Anyways, he had tubes put in and the rest is history:) I just couldn't believe he couldn't hear because he understood me. When we moved to Leavenworth, I contacted Tiny-K and he started speech. He's just turned 3 and will start Pre-K 3 this fall and he talks great!

If you live in Johnson County, KS you can call Johnson County Infant Toddler Services. They will assess your child's speech, motor skills, and cognitive ability. Then they determine if your child needs therapy. And it is all free. I was concerned about my son's speech too. He was tested and ended up getting in-home speech therapy until he turned 3. Once the kids turn 3 they then transition to the local school district. So when my son turned 3 he went to our neighborhood school once a week for therapy. Early intervention is so important. There is no need to wait with so many services out there to help you!