Should I be conserned that my 2yr. 9mth. old doesn't talk that well yet?

Question

He talks but not too clearly. He doesn't say any of his first sylables to any words. People that don't see him everyday dont even know what he's saying most of the time. Should I be worried?

Answer 1

I wouldn't be worried, as long as he says some words. Like others said, children all develop at their own rate. If you are worried I would talk to your pediatrician and see what they say. He or she can recommend a program where they screen children for different delays. Usually the screening/evaluation is free and if your son would need some help they usually provide some financial assistance. It's better to catch it earlier than later.
I have a 14 month old that still is not saying mama or dada. We had her screened and she has the speech of a 7 month old. While she qualified for speech therapy, we chose to wait another few months in hopes of her "starting to speak" on her own. Just because your son might qualify for help, doesn't mean that you have to take it. Good Luck!

Answer 2

u don't have to be worried if he is only 2 almost 3 and he is not talking good. i have a friend who has a 5 year old and he can't say the last sylable of every word he says. the doctor said it was normal and he would grow out of it with in a year of school

Answer 3

my son was a little over 3 years old. I had his hearing tested just to be sure. When they said that that was ok, I took him to the elementary school where my other son went. I spoke to the speech teacher there. She said that since my older son was in the school already she would work with him. He apparently had made up his own language. He didn't speak much cause it wasn't the same as ours. And she found that people spoke for him. Instead of him asking for a cookie everybody would say, do you want a cookie? Or they would say, do you want this? or this? or this? She told me that HE had to ASK for things. Not to let people cut him off while speaking. Don't offer him things. Make him ASK for things. If people cut him off then he wasn't allowed to have what was there. It frustrated him and he would then ask for it again. But this way it made him speak. The teacher taught him the basics of the language over again. It was strange. He could say the words but when it came down to having conversation of any sort he just wouldn't do it. After a lot of waiting and waiting for him to ask for things, eventually he did start talking. Be patient. But maybe you could seek out a speech teacher just to get him started. It was the best thing I ever did.

Answer 4

Although I agree that many children develop at different rates - you are the best guage for your child.

I was concerned when my daughter was not speaking clearly at 2, and voiced my concerns to the doctor. He claimed that since she was part of a bi-lingual home, that it would be natural for her to have some confusion - and to give it time. At 2 and 1/2 it had not gotten any better and I called him and questioned him again regarding her delay in speaking. He said the same thing a lot of people had said in these posts about how some of the greatest minds spoke later in life - but if it would make me feel better that he would send me to a speech therapist for evaluation.

The speech therapist said that at that point she should have had a 1500 word vocabulary - even if it were divided between the two languages - that were recognizeable by a person who did not know her. (For example - if she says bobo for a bottle that really doesn't count - she should know that a bottle is a bottle)

The speech therapist was so concerned that she sent me to an occupational therapist. My daughter at 2 and 1/2 was solving puzzles for 5-7 year olds, and way ahead in everything except for the speech.

They told me she might have what is now called "sensory integration disorder". Where the mind does not process information it receives properly.

Well, my insurance company claimed that since it was developmental they would not cover her therapy. That's right - had she lost her speech due to illness or accident - they would cover it, but developmentally - we're on our own.

I was talking about it with some people at work, and one of my co-workers, whose wife is a teacher of developmentally disabled children, gave me the phone # to a state agency that would evaluate her and if she was delayed they would provide the therapy for free.

We went there - they ran a few diagnostic tests - and guess what - SHE WAS DEAF!!!! - That's right folks - severely deaf in one ear and moderately deaf in the other. We immediately took her to a pediatric ear/nose/throught doctor - and found out that her adnoids were so enlarged they were blocking her esteuchian tubes (ear tubes) and they were filling up with liquid - so it created a lot of negative pressure in her ears. (Try to think of hearing someone talk when your head is under water) The funny thing is she never had an ear infection in her life!

We did some adnoid therapy - and thankfully did not have to operate to remove them. She was given a mild decongestant to help drain her ears and with in 3 months here hearing came back. - with in another 3 months - she was speaking at her level.

Just think - a simple test, that could have been done at the doctor's office when I first brought up my concerns, could have saved us months of grief and frustration.

Needless to say I switched doctors.

Answer 5

I would say, no, don't be worried...be proactive.
If you are asking the question, you should seek a professional opinion. Child Development Services in your area should offer a free speech/developmental screening for your son (no cost to your or you insurance) however, they may prefer to wait until your son has turned three. If the service feels your son could benefit from speech therapy, this is also offered at no cost.

You said he doesn't pronounce any first syllables to any words...did you really mean first sounds? Even so, if this is a consistent "error" on your sons part, repeating back to him what you believe he is saying, and really enunciating that sound, and asking him to say it back to you may help.
I believe parents should err on the side of caution...with this free service, why wait until the child reaches school age. I believe it is better to have your child totally ready to learn, with no hindrances, especially in the form of communication.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

No. He's literally just learning to talk and at this age it's not unusual for others to not understand, but parents and siblings often can as they're around him and get used to him and have deciphered his "speech".

Keep talking to him, encourage him to talk to you, tell you stories. Encourage him to describe his emotions, thoughts, experiences for you. Coach him by offering new vocabulary words to use--reasonable ones for his age.

Coach him on diction/pronunciation periodically and ask him to repeat after you. Make it fun by giggling a little when you do it--he doesn't need to feel bad, wrong, hesitant, or apprehensive about speaking (or having mispoken) in front of you or anyone else. Do this ONLY periodically when he stumbles or has a hard time pronouncing something.

Overdoing it will cause problems in the opposite direction, as well as subvert the real and most important meaning of talking/speech, which is wanting to talk, wanting to be heard and understood, and wanting to communicate with others.

Read, read, read to him, and then read some more. With favorite books that he knows by heart, read most of a fun or favorite sentence and then encourage him to fill in the rest:

--And then the bird ran into and hit the biggest, fattest, hugest, redest balloon you ever saw and the balloon went (your son's turn) _____!

--And the papa bear said...____, and the mama bear said...____, and the baby bear said ____.


Also, offer fun (to him), silly words for him to learn and apply to his experiences:

--You went down the slide the wrong way and got all discombobulated...(explain the meaning as relates to his experience). He may have another "discombobulating experience" and try out his new word--just enjoy the moment, enjoy him trying, enjoy him learning.

--You got some new candy? We call that supercalifragilicisticexpialidocious.

--You mean a big, fat, ugly, drooling, hairy monster like ____ was in your dream? Explain or mimic what "drooling" is.

--Was that a goofy-silly cartoon or a goofy-funny cartoon?

Remeber your child is still a toddler--and that literally means he's still learning to walk well/steadily (gross motor skills), learning to talk well/clearly (fine motor skills).

Fine motor skills almost always come into better development after gross motor skills are honed, and toddler-hood is one of THE MOST explosive periods of a child's growth. That's a lot of competing energy, time, and effort application, as well as brain cell allocation--above and beyond all the new stimulation that he's now taking IN--forget about what he's
trying to put out, much less improve on.

There may be some children (especially girls, which is totally unsurprising and often to be expected), who are farther along on the development scale and some who are behind him. Don't be upset or alarmed. He "sounds" right on track to me.

Answer 7

Absolutely not, There is no scale on where a child should be during development. If I may ask, is there another child in the house thats older? That sometimes slows down the speech because he feels he doesnt need to repeat an answer that was already given. My Daughter was around 3 yrs 2mnts before she really spoke clear, no worries, he'll be just fine.
Not to scare you but you may want to get his ears checked as just a precaution.

Answer 8

My son has a speech postpone to boot. At 2, he wasn't even affirming the few issues your nephew is affirming. i'm there with you and understand the effort. First, understand that boys have a tendency to have speech delays more suitable than females for some reason. also, besides the speech, you want to consider different issues too. Is he social, does he get alongside with different babies, what strategies does he at the moment use to talk, etc. those different questions can help you you perceive if that is more suitable than a normal speech postpone which could properly desirable itself. I advise that your nephew's father and mom take him to make certain a speech and listening to pathologist. they can diagnose him and furnish some ideas. the problem is, even as my son became 2, easily everyone kept telling me "do not take him to speech remedy. He would not desire that. he will restore himself." nonetheless, I took him and enrolled him in speech remedy at 2 years and now he's only about 4. he continues to be critically in the back of for his age, yet a minimum of i understand it truly is largely a speech postpone and in no way Autism or something like that. Plus, could you imagine how in the back of he could be now without the previous 2 years of remedy?? aspect is, you only in no way understand. And with babies, it truly is no longer worth affirming "wait and see." reliable luck.

Answer 9

i think that is within normal range but if you are truly concerned - talk to your pediatrician. My son didn't say his 1st words at all until almost 3. I live in NY and even though i had good insurance - the state paid for a speech therapist to come to my house to get him up to snuff before he started school. I can't get him to shut up now. He was with the therapist for about a year. Once they strated things just moved right along.

Answer 10

My son will be 3 in may and he is the same way. My first son is four and he was talking at a year. So don't worry about it every child is different. He will talk more and more just be patient with him. You are his mom so you probably know what he wants without him talking very well.