Toddler Son Not Talking

Hi there, my daughter was pretty slow talking at that age as well. At 18 months old she had about the same word count as your son does. However, I knew she knew what things were because if I asked her to get a shoe, for example, she'd retrieve it. I reported this to my pediatritian group and they said to wait a bit (they seem to be a more relaxed group than most), and by 22 months her language drastically improved within a couple of weeks. Then after that she spoke more and more. She's 3 years and 2 months old now, and her language capabilities are right on track. In fact, she used the word patient tonight in it's proper syntax and pronounced it perfectly. I am by no means urging you to second guess your pediatritians advice. I'm just sharing my experience. My opinion is that there is just too much pressure on young ones to perform that any perceived slowness is just jumped on. However, if your son seems to not know words or not understand most of what you're saying, that would be a different situation. I knew my daughter knew the words, she just didn't talk. I also used signing with her to get key needs expressed. It was really easy to teach. Just keep on talking to him, keep labeling things and it'll come around.

Hope it helps.

My daughter (now 4 1/2) didn't say much at all until she was 22 months. She's perfectly fine now. My neighbor's son didn't talk much until he turned 2 and he talks all the time now.

Having said that, it couldn't hurt to get an evaluation. It's free (if you use gov't services). Neither my neighbor nor I did so, but if you're concerned it can't hurt.

Best of luck!

Hi Beth,

My son did not even have 5 words at his 18 month checkup and was also referred for speech therapy services. We got him a therapist at about 19 months. It was probably coincidence, but he began talking immediately! He will be 3 this month and has a wonderful vocabulary and never stops talking! I think if I had it to do over again, I might wait just a little longer (22 months or so) and then see how he's doing. However, he LOVED his therapist and looked forward to her weekly visits and maybe that is what did it for him (added motivation). From what I hear, this is much more common in boys. Hope that helps.

J.

My advice would be definitely do it... Why? Well the eval is free, then if you qualify you get in home speech service and whatever else they/you feel your child needs based on where your child is. There is no "labeling" at this age really. bot of my boys received speech services and it was a blessing.. they come to your home and they work with a speech therapist who is traineed with toddlers... the biggest bonus is I learned how to play and teach too... there are little tricks that help so much!! SEriously it can't hurt all it will do is help and if you don't want services you simply quit and say no thank you!! Please email a private message to me if you would like to chat some more.. I totally understand this can be scarey there is nothing wrong with oyur child and will one day be talking a storm however it is nice to get help for you!! :)

My friend's son had about 5 words at 21 months and now, he just turned 2, and is having a speech explosion. My pediatrician said that 10-25 words is average for 18 months of age, meaning that there are a large percentage of kids who do not have that many by then. The fact that he is talking at all is a good sign. If you're ok with waiting and giving it more time, I don't think you necessarily have to worry at this point.

Dear, he is 19 MONTHS! That is still so young! Why are we all so bent on making sure our children beat the age to walk, talk, potty train, etc?? Even doctors go by "statistics" but our children aren't numbers, they are people. As a mom you have to use your common sense alot. Look at him, is he doing what other kids his age are doing? Is he quiet normally? Well, maybe he is thoughtful and observant and NOT verbal. How about his ears? Has he had alot of ear infections? Does he seem to "ignore" you when call him from across the room? When he does talk does he do it at full volume?
Read to him, point out pictures and ask "what's that?" if he doesn't answer give it to him and move on. Same thing in the car..."ooohh look what is that on the water? It's a goose!" Give him a chance to answer the question. He may answer with HIS word, not yours. Eventually he may use the right one but give him time. My daughter is 4 and still says ephelant instead of elephant. It is cute, endearing and will be gone before we know it when she goes to school.
BE PATIENT, don't always anticipate the worst and cherish each stage that your child is at, it will never come again. Believe me once he starts talking you will wish he hadn't learned, "why, no, MOM!!"
And trust your gutt. =) We rely more on books and doctors (who if they are men don't raise kids day to day, no offense) then we do on our own instincts.
Kiss your son, play with him and relax.

my 3 boys all have not talked until they were much older. My oldest did not talk until 3.5 and now you would never know. He never need any speech thearpy. Now my second son did not talk until around the same age and he is in his second year of speech thearpy because he is not pronuncing different sounds properaly. His vocab is at age level but his letter sounds are a couple of years behind. Also he is having trouble with "today" and "yesterday" "she" "her" and adding "ed's" to the end of words. he is improving very fast this year in Kindergaten, and will not need speech for more than a couple more years. Now my youngest is 24months and his ped wants to see him at 2.5 to evaluate his speech and enroll him in a speech program. I moved to Illinios recently from Wisconsin and they do treat speech difficutlties at a much younger age here and a lot more aggesively. All I can tell you from my experience is that my middle son did not improve in Wisconsin and is improving a lot here. If my 24 month old is not talking by 2.5 I will enroll him in a speech program. What will it hurt? If nothing else he will be more prepared for school and may not need at IEP and will not have to be pulled out of class to work on his Speech. Also if after in a program you are not happy or you child just doesn't seem to need it then stop, you never have to continue doing these programs if you don't want to, even once they are in school, they can not force you to put your child in any special ed classes. So go with your insticts and remember every child learns at a different pace and that is niether right or wrong. My husband did not talk until he was 4 and now he is an engineer and has two bs from one of the top engineering schools in the country.

Hope this helps!!

You can give it a little more time. My son is 3 1/2 and goes to Hopewall and is special needs. He just started really talking the last couple months, but he also signs too and now that he is talking he does both because that is what his teacher does when she talks to the kids.

S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com

If you are truly concerned about your son's speech development, there is absolutely no harm in getting a speech screening done on him. These are done free through your school district if you can get on their schedule or a lot of private practices also provide them free as well. I am a stay at home mom...and a speech pathologist. I had my own daughter screened just to have an unbiased opinion. A lot of times after the kids turn 2...their language explodes as my did. Now she won't shut up!! Not sure where you live, but you may search out a pediatric speech pathologist. There are great resources on-line at www.asha.org (american speeh-language-hearing association). If you go there, it will be very user friendly. I may be able to direct you depending on where you live.

Beth,

My son is 29 months now and just recently started talking because I put him in speech therapy. I tried to teach him simple words like up since the time he was 11 months and after his second birthday I decided maybe he needed help. He is so good in other areas. He is very smart and has very good fine and large motor skills so I felt that he just may be lacking in talking because he was excelling in the other areas. I figured I should wait, but when is daycare teacher started to question his speach I knew he needed help. Speech therapy is amazing. He went from saying only a few words to speaking 3 word sentences after only 12 sessions of therapy. It would be a good idea to enroll you son now and give him a head start. The thearpist are great and your son will have a lot of fun with them.

Hi Beth,

I have 4 children, 3 of them boys. I have to say that boys, in general, develop their speech later. At least in my case. My youngest son is 23 months old and says, mama, daddy, no, bye, hi and his sibs names. Thats all. He still points and grunts as a way of communicating. This is normal. My daughter, on the other hand was speaking in full sentences by this age. I would say that speech therapy is not completely necessary, but then again, it couldnt hurt. I also have insight to developmental problems as my 7 year old son has Aspergers. His speech was about the same as my other children at that age, but he seemed to not make eye contact as much. All in all, I would bite the bullet and take him in for an evaluation. It will put your mind at rest and if he needs help, he will get it. Good luck and feel free to email me with any questions. ____@____.com

I would say therapy is ok if that is what you want to do but kids do different things at different times. My friend's son would not say a word until he was about 2 and one day out the blue he spoke very clearly in complete sentences. It was wierd because he was very articulate and talked about things in a manner far beyond his age. He is very smart now, very! I think he was just observing and absorbing his surroundings. Who knows your son maybe a little genius too?

Beth:
We had our son tested through the Early Intervention (EI) system in DuPage County. The girls were wonderful and I was very happy with their professionalism. It doesn't hurt to have the testing done; it's painless, takes place in your home, quick and will put your mind at ease. Had we not done it we would not have realized that our son had a significant hearing loss which eventually, after months of illnesses,led to tubes put in last week. I can already see a difference in his hearing which has a dramatic change in the sounds he hears.

Dear Beth:

I am a daycare provider and I have a little boy who was not talking as soon as many of my other children at his age, he was about the same age as your don. Myself and his grandparents were a little concerned. Then all of a sudden one day he started talking and has not stopped since. He was closer to two. All children are different in when they start to do things. I would give it a little while, at least until your son turns two and see where he is at.
One question I do have would be, is he around other children? The interaction with other children I think really helps also but I'm sure he will do fine either way. Good Luck.