Talking toddlers

[gellyb]

At what age do you expect toddlers to talk? My friends little boy is 20 months and she thinks there may be something wrong...

[GuavaHalf]

If she has concerns then she should take him to the doctor in case he has hearing problems.

[undercovers]

have a word with the doc but try not to worry, Einstein didn't talk until he was about 3!

[smudge]

My friend's little boy couldn't talk properly until nearly four years old. Now he drives her potty as he never stops! Try not too worry too much, some are just slower than others, we can't all be the same!

[FP]

If he has had all his medical checks, then I wouldn't worry. My friends son didn't talk at all until he was three and is now studying genetics at University and never stops talking. My own son didn't talk until quite late but when he started he talked in complete articulate sentences. What I am trying to say is that children all differ in when they start to talk, but the vast majority of them are absolutely fine.

[Lindy Loo]

I agree totally with whats been said so far, but does your friends little boy have an older brother of sister...Only ask as my eldest son always spoke the younger one. (They're 17mths apart) Now the eldest hardly says a word and the youngest won't stop!!!

[Lindy Loo]

oops...meant to say the eldest spoke for the youngest one

[MrsCheeks]

Been in this place myself. At my son's 9mth check I said that his babbling had not yet developed and I was concerned and they told me it would happen eventually. 15mths - still very behind in language development .... he will grow into it. At the 2yr check my son's speech was at the level of a really slow learning 1yr old and I was franticly trying to ge the HV to do something .. anything ... to help us, such as hearing tests etc etc. NOTHING DONE!! He will grow into it eventually! We moved 600 miles from Wilts to NE Scotland and I sopke about my worries to the new HV and was told I could self refer my son for speech therapy assessment. I did this and within a month my son was assessed and put into the speech therapy. 3 months later, he was allocated weekly sessions and one year on he has jumped from being 20mths behind in his language development to only 6mths behind! I cannot stress the importance of self referral to a speech therapist enough. If you are being fobbed off by bad HV's and doctors and told "he will grow into it" or "his older siblings are talking for him" then you MUST kick up a fuss and demand proper help. I got told my son was not talking because he has an older brother and sister ... well it was a bit flippin hard for THEM to talk for him when they were at school all day PMSL! The difference even 6 weekly speech therapy sessions can make is staggering ... not just in how my son was finally starting to make clear words but also his confidence and social skills. Self refer. And all the very very best of luck. xxxx

[dirtyharriet]

Firstly tell your friend to try not to worry. I have had 4 boys and they were ALL slow to talk. 20 months is still very young. Boys are notoriously slower than girls to talk - I found this out whilst doing a parenting course. Apparently girls use all of their brain to communicate whereas boys only use certain sections. Is your friend's little boy communicating in other ways, has no hearing problem and is generally babbling in his own way? I would give him until he was at least 2 before she thinks about Health Visitors and assessments. My second eldest son actually did have speech therapy but not until he was 3. But he had a lot of communication problems that were very obvious from a lot earlier. He will probably develop in his own time. BTW Einstein was 6 when he first started to talk.

[Hellion]

Does your friends son have older brothers and sisters? I've noticed that second and third children seem to take longer to start talking than first borns. I think Mum's have learned to 'read' non verbal signals better and older siblings interpret for younger sibs.

[casdac]

My son just went for 18 mos visit. Doctor said average was six words.