2 Year-old Delayed Speech

It is not uncommon for kids of bilingual households to speak late. Often when they do they speak well, but they frequently start later than normal.

My youngest daughter also had delayed speech, never went through a babbling stage, etc. One of the biggest clues we had was that she had difficulty eating/swallowing things like rice cereal and applesauce, etc. She missed some developmental milestones for development of muscles in her mouth which are also muscles used in speech. We ended up getting some feeding therapy a few times, followed by speech therapy for about 1.5 yrs, and by the time she was in Kindergarten, she was chatting away. One of the first things we did was model making noises for her toys (car engine sound, toy animal sounds, etc) since they are language independent.

It is common for children of a bilingual family to be language delayed. They are learning two languages and have to organize both. Additionally, German is very complex. Two years old is not that late in acquiring a language. My son was 3 1/2 to 4 be for the whole sentences came out.

Some kids are late bloomers because they are thinking so hard about the world around them and don't have time to tell you about what they are learning. I call them sponges. They just keep learning until they are so full, and then they tell you what they have been learning.

It wonderful that your son will be bilingual.

Hi!
Wow, your situation sounds very similar to mine! When my first son was two, he was speaking very little. I also worked with him on using sign since he was born, but he only used it once in awhile. He would often cry and become frustrated when we couldn't understand what he was trying to communicate. After advice from our doctor, we took him to a speech therapist for a full evaluation. He turned out to be just fine, but was most likely delayed because of his bilingualism. My parents are both German, and I was born in the States. I speak only German to my children and my parents live close by. My husband only speaks English. Although it may seem like your child is behind at the moment, I am sure it will get better with time. I spoke no English when I entered school and I ended up being very good in academics. I even learned Spanish in high school which was a breeze. No matter what some people might say, knowing more than one language is special and a great opportunity to have! Best of luck to you and feel free to email me anytime! Aufwiedersehen!

I agree with all the moms who say that children raised in bi- or tri-lingual situations need more time to sort it all out in their heads before it comes out of their mouths. Your son sounds bright and not frustrated by an inability to communicate, which suggests to me that you are pretty attentive and intuitive of his needs.

We have neighbors who raised their son in a German/English speaking household. He took somewhere upward of two years to start speaking, but when he did, he spoke complete, fluent sentences in both languages.

I know it's hard not to worry, but your son's delay is probably only because of the additional language.

It's really hard for me to give really specific advice since I haven't seen your son, but I have a few thoughts.

First of all, breathe! I know this is a hard thing to do, especially for mamas to do when they are worried about their kids! :) It's really good that you are geting him checked by a specialist, good for you!

The first thing that you should ask the specialist about is bilingualism. This is a fairly commom thing to have happen in situations like yours where there are multiple languages spoken in the home. Sometimes kids are late talkers when they are learning multiple languages because they get a little confused about what words belong to what languge and what language belongs to what parent.

Don't worry, with a little help, kids DO grow out of it with absolutely NO lasting problems whatsoever. My neice and nephew both had this problem since my brother married a Saudi woman. He speaks English to them and she speaks both Farsi and Arabic to them. Now at ages 6 and 9 they are completly tri-lingual with no problems, although they were late talkers and didn't talk much until almost 3 years old.

If it's not bilingualism, it may be something else that can be easily fixed. Be sure to ask about hearing. Even though he may seem to be understanding everything that is going on around him, he may have a low level hearing loss and not picking up all the verbal cues necessary for speech development.

Be sure to ask a lot of questions, and remember...breathe! Good luck!

C.

Zere oft kinder dat habe zwei sprokker ken die beide.

I grew up in a trilingual household. I spoke at an early age choosing to speak English and listen carefully in the other languages until I felt secure in them.
Your child is a boy and they take longer than girls to speak.
It is a snake pit in Switzerland to get a diagnosis that is accurate about speech. I know some Swiss people who have been through the mill with incorrect diagnosis. No matter what they tell you do not panic.
It is not an emergency that he speak if he seems normal in all other ways.
One conclusion I have reached watching is that Kinesealogy helps to connect both sides of the brain.

Swiss German has a completely different cantalization than English. Your son may just be one of those kids who speak in full sentences once they begin. If he seems to understand what is being said to him don't worry. Kein Sorgen!

Try to remember that Einstein did not speak until he was four years old.

C.,
I wouldn't worry too much. Often kids growing up in bi/trilingual environments take longer to speak. When they do speak I've often heard that they begin to say several language simultaneously. Every child is different and there is really no template for when one should do what.
My son is also 2 years old and we are a tri-lingual household. My husband speaks German with him, I speak Bengali (not as often as my husband speaks German. It is difficult to speak to a child a foreign language when he is not responding back), and then we speak in English with him when we're together. He also goes to a Montessori where he hears English. What we've found with our son is that he is speaking and picking up English much faster than the other two languages. When my husband goes on his daily stroll with him he speaks with him in German pointing out various objects outside. He is beginning to say some German words now. I guess patience is the key here and I wouldn't worry.
Again, just remember, just kids are just early talkers, and some (specially boys) talk late. Boys are really active and the brain can only process one thing at a time.

Hi C.,

I just want to speak out in favor of bilingualism. I'm sure you have a lot of people telling you two languages are confusing and are causing the delay, but there has actually been a good amount of recent research that disproves that.

We are a Dutch/English bilingual household and our son spoke his first word right around 18 months. He was very slow to get started, just using a few words for a long time. Then all of a sudden he hit a spoken language explosion and immediately knew both languages for each word and kept them separate too.

I know two years is a bit later and it's probably good to have it checked out, just in case, but know that while bilingual kids might be slower in starting out, they catch up quickly and will actually have a huge advantage over monolingual kids! So hang in there and don't give up on one of your languages - your son will be grateful!!

Have you checked into the birth to 3 program through your county or similar program? It helped my slow talker through a developmental playgroup. We also did speech therapy. Speech varies so it may improve without special attention, but personally I think it is good to be proactive.
personally I don't think bilingual is a neg only pos aspect

My son didn't say mama (or anything else) until just after his 2nd birthday. However, we he did start signing at 14 months and had over 100 signs by age 2 (which really helped us).

Everyone said that I should have him in speech therapy, but I really didn't see an issue with his delayed speech. He was really advanced in some areas (like building toys and puzzles) and behind in language. He's 5.5 now and talks as well as all of his friends, he just took a little longer to catch on.

From my experience a delay in language isn't reason enough to be concerned. If your son is delayed in other areas or not fully understanding what you're saying you should probably have him checked out.

Good luck!

I wouldn't be suprised if it is the bi-ligualism that is slowing him down but the upside is that while his use of language is behind his comprehension and overall ability with language will be far beyond that of your average AMERICAN child. There is a reason in Europe that they teach english in primary school, because the language patterns aren't set yet, as aposed to the US when they start teaching forgein languages in middle school. Thats like trying to write a message in concrete with a sharp stick after it has dried. Also some kids are just late bloomers like my nephew and uncle. My nephew, with therapy went from no speach at 2 1/2, to near full sentences, and my uncle didn't talk till he was three but then it was "please pass the peas?" And he was very, very, very smart. Don't worry too much.

You are doing the right thing, having a Specialist evaluate him. My son was a "late bloomer" in many areas, and though he was speaking by 2, it was not on par with his peers, and he barely strung more then 2 words together. He is now almost 5 and doing much better, but still a bit behind. However, I noticed a HUGE change in him earlier this year, when I had him evaluated for a special pre-school program and they all suggested vitamin supplementation. Especially the Omega-3 fatty oils(for brain development!). So, I bought some good gummy multi vitamins, and also some fish oil that has a lemon flavor to it, I mix that into his orange juice in the mornings. Since doing this from about February on, his speech has improved tremendously! Now, I'm a big believer in proper nutrition and buy organic when I can and cut out processed sugars, but the kid is still a picky eater. So the vitamines were good for that reason anyway, but the difference in his speech has been amazing! It would not hurt to start your little one on that now, the earlier the better I think, and then see what the Specialist suggests as well. But, like the previous poster mentioned, just breathe and try not to stress about it. I nearly tore my hair out worring about my son not meeting his milestones when other kids did, and looking back on it now, it just was not worth it. He's getting the help he needs and is doing well. Kids are ALL different and go at their own pace! Good luck, I'm sure everything will be fine! ;-) ~A.

Hi C., Just want to let you know that all you are doing is just great. What an advantage bilingualism will be for him. If that is the reason for a delay in his talking it will be worth it later. Our first born (daughter) had an incredible vocabulary at a very young age so when we had our second child (son) we expected the same. But that is not what happened. Our son did not speak until he was 3 years old (we did not have any bilingualism in our home). He understood everything but only communicated by squeeling or screaming. Needless to say it was alarming and frustrating but all children are individuals and progress at their own rate. Once he started speaking he continued to progress and now at 25 is certainly just fine. The only thing that I wish I had done differently was that I should have held him back a year for the start of school. He did fine but I think he may have done a bit better had I held him back from the very start. Do have him evaluated but also be patient, he is processing two languages but from your comments, it sounds like his comprehension is good. Good Luck.

C.,
Hi! I would say that your son definatley needs to be evaluated for both speech and possibly hearing. My son was a late talker. I started trying to teach him sign language when he was about 6 months old. I didn't think it would work, but I kept with it. I just made the signs I wanted to teach him when I talked to him. I didn't think I was getting through to him at all. It took a long time, but one day we were at the park and a little brown bird flew right past us and he made the sign for bird! After that he really started using sign. When I started teaching him sign, I had no idea he would be a late talker and have speech issues. I am so greatful that I stuck with it and gave him that skill to help him communicate. He is now getting ready to start Kindergarten. He has had 2 years of speech therapy and will continue with it in school it has made a huge difference. We can really understand him now. I would say, keep going with the sign language, even if he doesn't seem to show interest. Trust your gut. Push to have him evaluated. Remember that late talkers are often very intellegent people-he may be a huge sponge just soaking in the world right now. Good luck.

Hello C.,

My daughter was a late talker - can't remember when she actually started, but it wasn't before 2 years I know that. Now (6 years) I can't get her to be quite and she LOVES to say tough words. My niece and nephew have been raised in a bilingual household and the boy had a much harder time with speech then the girl. They were both talked to in German and English from day one. The boy had some birthing problems and it was later found that he suffered from lack of oxygen during delivery and that may have impacted his speech.

Give it some more time...my daughter does EVERYTHING at the furthest milestone. Didn't walk until 18 months.

Positively,
M.