My 2 Year Old Son Is Not Talking Yet

Hi Laura. My oldest son is a little over 3 1/2. He was not talking at 2. I had been talking to his for a while and he said there was no problem. At three the doctor finally decided there was something wrong. It turned out that there was fluid on his ears. He is very active also. He crawled and walked very early and is very smart, he just wasn't talking.
They put him on allegra and the fluid cleared up (no tubes needed). He goes to speech now twice a week. At 3 1/2, and after a few months of speech, he has finally started talking. His dad still has to ask me what he is saying most of the time, but he's actually putting sentences together and can tell me what he did that day. I still can't understand a lot of what he's saying, but it's getting better. He still does the pulling and pointing. Just have him slow down tell you what he wants. You might have to go word by word with him and get him to sound everything out. When my son points I say, "Can I please have some water momma?" and he repeats, and he has started saying it on his own. Just be patient and work with him. Don't accept the pointing anymore, have him say his words. And be encouraging. Say things like, "Very good! You said that all by yourself. I'm so proud of you!"
The speech will help, but only if you re-enforce it. Good luck!! And remember, it's just as frustrating for him when you can't understand him as it is for you. You'll do great!

Remember that boys do tend to develop speach a little later than girls, and each child is different, so try not to compare. However, since you're the mom and if you're concerned, I think starting speech therapy is a great idea. Make sure that he is being taught some basic sign language in the interim. My friends' son, who did get diagnosed with some speech development issues, was so much happier for finally being able to communicate more clearly rather than point and have his parents guess.

Best of luck to you.

I had much of the same concerns with my son who is now 3. He was very good at identifying animals, letters etc. by pointing but his speech was very limited. He was just barely making speech milestones and I think I was even stretching them a bit. I worried myself sick about it, especially since a lot of his friends the same age were talking a lot more. Right around age 2 1/2 - 3 his vocabulary TOTALLY exploded. He went from maybe one 2 word phrase to sentences in about a month. He now is a total chatterbox (at age 3 1/2) and talks up a storm all day. If your son is communicating with you in some way (ie pulling on you, pointing etc), is saying some words and not regressing and is social with others (eye contact, shows emotion, recognizes the emotion of others etc) I would say he is probably just fine. All kids are different - my daughter (who was my 2nd child) was speaking in sentences at 18 months. One other thing - if he is getting the things he is pointing to/pulling you to without talking then he might see no reason to do so. To him, he shows you what he wants and he gets it - try to break him of this by making him say SOMETHING when he wants you to get him something - even if it is "that" or "please." Being the youngest he may be used to people doing everything for him so he sees no need to talk. Try not to worry yourself though, I am sure he will be talking your ear off before you know it. :)

Hi Laura!

I have a two year old son too who is going through the same things. My little one though, has this weird language that he rambles off on instead of using his words. He has been in therapy for 2-3 months and the difference is HUGE! He is putting 2-3 words together now and has learned a whole bunch of new words. It's hard for me to see other kids his age that are speaking in full sentences, but I try to remember that every kid is different, learns differently, and will take off at their own speed. I started watching disney videos with him and he's actually immitating their words, sounds, etc. I would say try to not stress about it, it sounds like he's just taking his time. Good luck!

D.

I know all kids develop on their own schedule. I would think as long as his hearing is fine and he does say some words at this point he is learning, perhaps just slowly. I brought my baby to baby sign classes and she is 18 months old and communicates very well with signs if she can't say the word. She can put two or three words together at times. I would stick with the speech therapy and see how it goes. I would also suggest the baby sign classes. It can really help alleviate some of the little one's frustration when they can't speak, they can atleast communicate with signs and you will know what they are asking for. It's a lot of fun too. Good luck.
K.
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My daughter has alot of things wrong with her but also she had to have tubes in her ears. she lost 60% of her hearing. She is 18 months and is not talking but she is at a 2 1\2 year old level, but her speech is at an 11 month old level. Every child develops differently. my boys were talking when they were 9 months. I would just go with what the therapist says. Be patient he will get it and when he does he wont stop talking!

my daughter is almost 4, she has articulation problems but her speech itself is fine, vocab and comprehension wise.....very frustrating, but therapy is helping, its just a learning process, hopefully since his hearing is fine, just remember how complex language itself is....keep up what ur doing, be patient, and try to focus more on his strengths and abilities, other than that, I dont know what to say since each case is different.