My son is 21 months old and is not talking. What should I do?

Question

He recoginzes shapes and pictures and can identify them (where is the dog, point to the green ball), but he communicates mostly in grunts (points to what he wants and grunts). My wife and I are around all day, so I am concerned we might be acting as a crutch.

Should we be worried?

Answer 1

if u give him what he wants from those grunts and sounds then he's not gonna talk. he'll stick with what works. try making him use words by not giving him what he wants until he at least TRIES to say the word for it. it doesn't have to sound perfect or pretty, but have him TRY! the important thing is to get him to try, and with practice will come the perfection of pronounciation. he'll get mad, but he'll learn to use words like a 'big boy', and u have to be firm about it too. don't give in or give up. it's difficult cuz he'll probably get very frustrated and mad at first, cuz the grunting isn't working all of a sudden, but trust me, he WILL get over it! don't take it personally! or let it deter u, kids at this age are way too young, innocent, and loving to hold a grudge. also, be sure to make a HUGE fuss and praise him when he does use words in place of grunts, this will go a long way towards getting him to do it all the time. i work with 12-24 month olds, whose language is strongly developing, and their first instinct is to grunt or point also. for example, at snack or lunch, if they need more milk, they will wave the cup at us and grunt or whine. what we do is just calmly say "oh no. excuse me, but i don't understand. those are not words. can u say 'more'? "(or 'more milk' or 'more milk please' or even just 'please' depending on their age and vocabulary skills) this really does work! it usually results in them at least TRYING to say 'more' or 'please' and then we make a big 'ta do' like 'good job! what a big girl/boy!' the others then, too, are more likely to try and 'ask' rather than grunt cuz they wanna be praised too! i had a litle girl in my class that started out waving her cup at me when she wanted more milk. i told her 'i'm not a waitress, can u say 'more milk please'? she began saying just 'more' then it became 'more please' and just before she turned two (24 months) it became the full sentence of 'more milk please' i made a huge fuss, cuz i was sooooooo proud of her! ' good job Abbey! what a big girl!!' the HUGE grin on her face showed she was as proud of herself as i was. good luck! and stay with it!

Answer 2

My son is 18months old and doesn't speak either! Same thing, he understands what I'm saying, bables all the time, and knows animals and their sounds, body parts etc. But he won't actually say "dog" or "nose," instead everything he points to has the same sound. He doesn't even say Mama! I asked my pediatrician and he said that as long as they understand and interact with you, then there isn't really anything to worry about...cognitively. Some kids just take longer to put the sounds together in their heads and/or won't do it until they know exactly how...kinda like an early perfectionist! That being said, he did say that if it's the same situation by 24 months, then we should talk about a speech therapist to help him along. So, I suggest to keep working with him and to not anticipate his need so quickly. I would also recommend a visit to the Dr. at 24 months if he still has no words. Most states have Early Intervention programs that are free for situations like this. Good luck!

Answer 3

I wouldn't be worried. My first boy was talking about 10 months. You couldn't understand most of it, but he was telling you what he wanted. My second one, will be 4 in March, and just started talking a lot within the last year. I was worried about him, and confessed my fears with my husband's grandmother. She told me that my brother in law was the same way. He didn't udder a word until he was about three. She said that he just started talking one day and it was like he'd been talking all along. I would just keep doing what you're doing. Read to him, talk to him about everything. He'll come around. Encourage the grunts, any type of verbal communication is good. Just remember, he's not quite two yet, he still have plenty of time to get talking down. I have 18 month old twins right now. My little girl just started to say....anything really. Her favorite word is "look", so we all say look a lot. My little boy jabbers mostly, nothing anyone can understand. He can say lots of words, but refuses to speak if he thinks someone might be listening. He said "sister about a dozen times one day, and hasn't said it since. All kids are different. Some talk early, and some talk later. Like I said I have a little boy that will be 4 in March and sometimes I can't understand him. But he learns a new word every day.

hope this helps!

Answer 4

No my son is the same age and does a lot of grunting and pointing. I talked to my dr and they all say as long as he is trying to communicate with you and can follow simple two step comands eh is doing fine. i have three older children that do a lot of talking for him so I think that is why my son isn't talking much. I just know anytime now he is start jabbering away and not stop. Good luck.

Answer 5

Although children develop at different speeds the fact that he is saying nothing at 21 months would concern me. I would take him to his doctor and see if he/ she thinks he needs further evaluation. Does he even say mom or dad yet? You may also want to contact a speech therapist to work with him to develop his verbal skills. Also my brother DId not utter a word until he was 27 months old. He is now an MD. I am sure all will be OK. good luck

Answer 6

He may have hearing problems that prevent him from hearing both what you say and what he says. He may not be able to accurately hear the sounds and words and he may not be able to refine his sounds as he can't hear whats coming out. I would take him to the doctor to make sure his hearing is fine.


Also, make sure you aren't just allowing grunts to be communication. If he points and grunts, make him attempt to say the word. Pointing and grunting probably wouldn't get him much in life and you can slowly teach him that.

Answer 7

hey don't be worried, i know being a parent one is always worried about something or the other ,i would rather recommend
1.whenever he points and asks for something don't give it to him , make him feel that you're not understanding
2. talk to him non stop , talk about everything in life when you cook tell him names of veges or breads or whatever when you're dressing him tell him now I'll put on your pants or blah blah
3. plat lot of nursery rhymes around kids love the sounds and words in nursery rhymes so they tend to reciprocate
4. read to him and read allot even if he;s not listening keep talking in anyway possible
5. lastly don't give up if he points out to anything don't let him have that speak to him and say" oh! you mean the green ball you should have spoken instead of pointing" do that with almost everything
you know we tend to blame are kids for a lot of things, my daughter wasn't walking till she was some 19 months i was worried but then i realized somebody is always lifting her that's why she never gets a chance to walk around and that's what is happening with your son first we teach them sign language when they master the skills we expect they'll start talking on their own i think you guys should take it easy overlook whenever he points and demands for things and I'm sure you'll see wonders

Answer 8

well Is something to go and take to evaluate, my son was the same way up until 36 months even he was diagnost with speech problems, have u check his eyes my son has been wearing glases since he was 1 yr old .... but see he goes to speech theraphy and he is sdoing excelent more than the theraphy was getting involved with other kids, they way they teach, also if you are giving him a bath explain everything that u are doing and believe me after that he is going to be teaching you new things I can tell that my son he is four andnow he knows all the colors number up to 20 and shaopes he sis a fast learner and at one point I thought we were goitg to have some kind of problems but now, he has become a very imperactive little boy that loves tolearn new things

Answer 9

My son was 2 before he started to talk. He also would point and grunt at things. When he would grunt and point to his cup. I would say cup untill he said cup and then I would give it to him. Try to make him atempt to talk and if by two he isnt saying anything then maybe he should see a speech therapist to get him talking.

Answer 10

Talk to the doctor about it if you are real concerned. 21 months, they should be saying dada at least. Small words like that. Start making him tell you what he wants. When he grunts, say milk? Is that what you want? Well say milk. Things like that can help.