20 Month Old Not Talking - Wesley Chapel,FL

I am a Speech Language Pathologist and HIGHLY recommend you get her evaluated. Most likely it is just a delay in expressive communication and it could remedy itself with time, but if it does not, she will miss out on essential intervention. During the first five years of life a child's language development grows rapidly especially during years 2-3. If she falls behind now it is that much harder to "catch up". It does her no harm to get an evaluation and possible therapy. You can go through your insurance/doctor to refer for an evaluation or contact your local school board office and ask who to contact for an early (birth to age 3) evaluation. The lsecond route would be free but typically takes longer that through a doctor. As someone who works with 3-5 year olds with speech-language delay, PLEASE get her tested to be on the safe side. Good luck!!!

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Are her ears/hearing ok?

My daughter is also 20 months and only has a limited vocabulary. Mine sounds like your situation in that she babbles, nods. and understands directions completely.
I also mentioned this at the 18 mo. checkup. A few things that we discussed were -1. I also have a 4 1/2 year old with a VERY large vocabulary - so comparisons are not fair. 2. The older one "talks" for my daughter - he knows what she wants so she doesn't HAVE to talk. 3. Her personality seems to be that she likes to watch until she can do something 100%, seems the same with speech. She doesn't want to talk until she can say it correctly.
I am also an elementary school teacher and have bugged the speech pathologists to where they have given me suggestions. Is she attempting to try words ? Do you hear inflections in her voice, as if she is excited, or questioning you ? Do you hear different sounds - shoes (oo) vs. socks (o) when she is talking ? They also said to offer two choices and encourage her to tell you which one she wants - Do you want milk or juice ?
My daughter actually just turned 20 months on the 23rd of May and I have found that she is really starting to pick things up in the last two weeks. She is trying more.
I have also been told that it is important if she understands you, responds to you and looks at you - sounds like your daughter does. I was told just to talk A LOT (when we are doing something, tell her or talk through the steps) to mine and make sure I allow turns for her to respond.
I never read any of the other responses so I don't know what you have been told. Just offering our experience so you can see you are not alone ! Our dr. did say we would re-evaluate at 24 months - so we are just trying to encourage as much talking as we can - I have found that when she attempts a word, I praise her and repeat the word. She seems very pleased with herself and more willing to try again.
Hang in there - I bet that when they are 4 we will wish for these days back because they won't be quiet :>)

Hi K.,
Do not worry! I was going through the same thing with my daughter and now at 25 months she is starting to talk more. Still not perfect sentences but each day a little more. Many kids don't start talking until @ 2 years old.

Keep talking to her and saying the words that associate with the motion or sound she is making and in 5 months you'll feel a lot better:)

My son is 16-months and doesn't even say mama yet. When I mentioned it to my pediatrician, she told me that she would begin to worry if he still had NO words (not even mama) by 18 months, and if he wasn't talking by the time he is two. Since your daughter has a couple of words, I would think that you shouldn't stress about it until she is two. As long as she is making good eye contact and understands simple commands, she's fine for right now. Even if she isn't talking by the time she's two, she may need to see a speech therapist but it doesn't mean there is anything seriously wrong with her, so I would calm down for now. My brother didn't talk at all until he was two, and then his first words were, "This is delicious!" ^_^

babbling, 'singing', laughing, making noises or copying animals/cars etc., are ALL PRECURSORS to talking.

But, if you have an Early Intervention Program/organization, which each state seems to have one, they do FREE assessments and speech therapy etc., for kids 0-3 years old.
My son, received speech therapy from ours, in our state, and it was free. Very helpful, very professional, highly trained Speech pathologists and developmental specialists. My son LOVED it.
He began his therapy from 19 months old until almost 3 years old.
He and I, gained much knowledge from it.
Nothing was 'wrong' clinically with my son in his case, just late in talking, and he is also bi-lingual. But it helped immensely and gave him confidence to 'talk' and they also help in the mouth/tongue/throat/lips coordination for certain sounds my son had trouble with.
All beneficial and very positive.

I didn't even need to be referred by our Ped. I just called on my own... I heard about it from my friend.

Kids this age, do not talk 'coherently.' Perfect articulation... is gained developmentally and at certain age junctures.

all the best,
Susan

First I would have her hearing checked if you haven't already. Make sure you are talking to her a lot, in a clear concise voice.

Hi K.!
I say DONT WORRY! My now 2 1/2 year old daughter did the same thing! I even went as far as speech therapy at 20 months because she wasn't even saying "mama or "dada". My pediatrician scared me into it cause she was saying so little. Don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy that I went thru the process, they gave me some good tips to help my child out... So I will pass them along to you! If you believe in your heart of hearts that there is nothing wrong with your child, then put your mind at ease. She will probably have a " word explosion" in the next few months. A good tip to help your daughter understand that she needs needs to use words us your you to "play dumb" a little. Don't just go and get things that she wants when she just points to something. Play dumb and grab a few things that you know she doesn't want. Name everything that you grab, and say things like " I don't know what you want.. Tell mommy. " Even if she just babbles a one word answer, reward her by giving it to her. She will pick it up quick. And remember that kids sometimes say weird things for an object. " milk" for my daughter was " nana" for some reason. So listen for the same " words" that she may be using for things. If she does that, treat it as if it was the actual word.. And just repeat the real word when you give it to her. Actually name everything that you see and she touches.
You will see.. Very soon she will be saying a whole lot more than you ever expected!
I just wanted you to know, that I know exactly how you feel.. I went thru worrying, then not, then really worrying. Sometimes we get a little too caught up in the time line our kids are supposed to be on. They're just figureing things out for themselves. She's probably really smart, and making all of you work for her! Good luck ! I hope this helped a little.. Keep us posted!

I have 3 kids, My middle one also didn't start speaking properly unitl almost 2 and half. My baby is still not talking and he will be 2 next month. He also understands and say the basic words like yours but more babbling and noises. With my middle I also panicked and took to doctors and checked hearing but they said not to worry. When they are ready they will start using more words and stringing sentences together. That is why now with my baby I am not worried. My neighbours little boy is same age as my boy and he has such a good vocab and talks so nicely compared to Luke but I don't stress about any more. As long as they are getting the stimulation and you are happy there is nothing wrong with their hearing I would not panic. Good luck!

It's time to have her evaluated for OT and Speech. It's usually a body weakness (core) that has become an oral motor problem. One motor always affects another motor. You should never treat just speech/lang. by itself. It's much more than that. Take her private. The state system is broke and your daughter may never qualify for services because she may not be delayed enough for them to accept her but I know that these children slip under the radar and then become learning disabilites later on because language is the basis for everything and when it comes in late, it does not come in properly. She should be saying 2 word phrases for sure and some at 20 months are saying 3-4 word phrases. Drs never worry about these things because they are not trained in development. YOU are the one that has to get things started. Good luck and I hope things work out but DO NOT wait one more week. Others who print stories about their children gaining language overnight should be disregarded when it comes to your child. There is ALWAYS a reason why.

I had the same problame with my daughter she didn't talk much so I put in early steps. They are great they will come out and evaluate her to see where she needs help then they will send out a speech pathologist,physical theropist whatever the child needs and they do it all for free i would start her now because they stopp excepting at 3 yrs but after 3 they will try to get the child in to a program with the public school system where she will also get free help.

my daughter was the same way. She is now almost 4 and I can't get her to stop talking! Enjoy and Relax.

My first two were late talkers: 2 1/2 years and the second didn't actively start talking until 3. My third is almost 4 and is talking more than his siblings did at each age so far. Each child is different and your ped is not concerned. You should not be either. Giver her time. If she's not talking more by about 2 1/2, then ask for a referral to a speech therapist. Keep talking to her, engaging her to make sounds, read to her, look at books together and ask her to make the sounds of the pictures you point to.

My husband had 2 kids from his first marriage. His oldest, a boy, didn't talk till he was 3. Like your daughter, he understood everything and was well behaved, and there were no signs of trouble in learning or development. When he did begin talking, it was in complete sentences! He is smart as a whip... learned computer programming in high school and just graduated from perhaps the best computer engineering program in the country. So take heart... if your doctor does not see signs to be concerned about, this may just be what is normal for your daughter. If you continue to be concerned you can always check with other developmental learning specialists.

Are there any words she used to say that she does not say? That would be concerning to me if that has happened.. I would keep track of her words and use play as a time to repeat and say words to her. Does she notice when you come home from being away? Does she turn towards you when you say her name? Just keep the dr. informed and watch her! She is most likely just fine!!!

Please do not worry. My daughter did not talk at all until she was 22 months and when she did she never stopped!! Please do not worry!!

Sounds perfectly normal to me!!! I bet she will begin rapidly learning new words before too much longer, and not long after that, she'll be talking quite well. Don't worry--she seems right on track!

I didn't utter a word till I was 2 1/2 years old. My mom told me she went to church every day, had novena's said for me and wrote a letter to the Pope to pray for me. But when I finally opened my mouth I said full words and small sentences. The dr figured I was just sitting back and watching everybody and decided to talk when I felt like it couldn't be rushed. My mom said from that day she wished I would just shut up LOL. However when my son was a baby he didn't speak much and when he did he couldn't say the words right. I took him to an ENT and they could not believe how much liquid was in his ears, they were surprised he could hear anything. We got him tubes at 22 months and he hasn't stopped talking since. The only drawback was since his ears were all clear he became sensitive to loud noises.

Recently there was a write up on teaching kids sign language. They pick it up easily, and you can "talk" to them, with others around- how cool.
Meanwhile if the doc isn't concerned don't make it a problem- some start with full sentences- just later.
best, k

I don't have experience personally, but my friend has two boys who are the same ages as my girls and when we first met them, the younger one was around 2 years old and he did not talk. Actually, I worried for him because his mother didn't seem concerned, although she told me that she talked to the doctor about it and they were not concerned. He only said yes or no, not even mama - but within a few months, all of a sudden it seemed, he began talking and words just kept flowing out and now it's about a year later and I'm still amazed at how much he is talking! I don't know if the same will hold true for your child, but I thought it might make you feel better to hear about him...

My daughter and my neice both had a word explosion a month or two before their second birthday. Up until these points, they were the same way. It is not uncommon at all, trust me, I work in a daycare, and today I was with 6 babies in between 22 and 28 months, and most of them use very few words until about their second birthday.

My daughter was the same and she was considered by the state to have a significant enough speech delay that she qualified for speech therapy paid for by the state.

First of all, she is using gestures to communicate--nodding her head yes and no. That is a good sign and so is the fact that she understands and follows directions. It sounds like other than talking, she is on track developmentally (you don't need to be worried about autism spectrum disorder or hearing) so it really does sound like she is taking her own sweet time. If you are feeling worried a developmental evaluation will help answer some more questions. The first thing they do is check hearing, eyesight, that kind of thing to rule our the obvious and then they move on to play based testing that gives them an idea about where the child is socially, cognitively and physically. My daughter found it really fun. And while based on what you've said, it doesn't sound like they will find anything earth shattering going on, it will at least put your mind at ease and give you more information and tips to encourage her to talk.