My daughter was born 12 weeks early and spent 61 days in the NICU. Thankfully she has no major health problems :) Other than being early she has developed late. I was told she would/should be caught up with children her own age when she was 2. She will be 3 in January and still can't hardly talk. She only has 1 full "sentence" that she can say (Bye dad, Love you). She babbles off others but you cannot understand them. She sat unassisted at 12 months and crawled shortly after. She walked sometime last summer. Other than that she can't talk. She has a few words she can say, mom, dad, nini(her brother Anthony), mine, no, yep, drink, eat, bye, dog, baby, phone ring, mawmaw, but thats about it and she doesn't show signs of trying to string them together. So I think my question is how do I get her to talk or should I seek therapy for her?
Yes, please seek services now. Felinestroller's advice is on target. Please don't hesitate. An evaluation will give you the baseline you need to be eligible for services. I'm so glad your daughter's motor development is age-appropriate, but language and conversation are the foundations of success in school, so now's a great time to address this apparent developmental delay. All my best.
What does her pediatrician say?
Also - are you requesting she speak in sentences? For example, "Susie - it's bath time now. Can you say "let's take a bath"?. Then have her repeat. Do that with everything you guys say during the day and start really interacting with her constantly. How much talking goes on around her?
I would definitely look into getting her evaluated. I think you can call the local public school and ask about "First Steps" or "early intervention programs" - not sure what it's called where you are, but the public school can direct you to the correct resource.
Google child find.
It will give you resources in your area for early intervention.
Resources in your area will schedule an evaluation...and hook you into services available.
Best
Have you voiced your concerns to her pediatrician? If your daughter is more delayed than she should be, a good doctor would've said something. You should contact her pediatrician and talk to him/her about this. In the meantime, also contact your local resource center for early intervention evaluation.
Definitely get her evaluated -- it can't hurt, and can only help. But, there is huge variance in the normal development of talking, and she may well be within normal, especially given that she was a premie. I've known several kids who barely said a word until after age 3 ... some then developed normally, others had mild forms of autism.
Go thru your Early Intervention Program now, before she is three. Call your school district today. You may need a referral from pediatrician. The district will give you all info.
I would find the local version of Child Find and get her evaluated. It may not have anything to do with her premie birth, or it might. But getting a kid in before they are 4 or so is generally the cut off for county services. After that you wait for the school to notice. You might also have her hearing evaluated.
