Talking.. - Hazard,KY

when my son was that age he couldn't talk nearly as much as the other children his age but he could do things they couldn't like dress himself and other things. Some children develop faster in some areas then others, eventually he'll cathch up. my son well be 4 next month and he went from not hardly talking to never shutting up!!!! Don't worry as long as he makes progress just give him time he'll do it when he is ready and i heard if you try to push them to talk they could start to studder.

Hi, I just wanted to say that I have 3 kids, 9,4,3 and my 9yr old was very slow to talk. She never really even cried as a baby. I thought she was mute and then I took her to countless doctors. She was 2 and still on the biottle and saying the same words as your baby. I think mostly it is about a child talking when they want to. My other 2 were talking and seemingly speaking in sentences by age 2. My 3yr old just turned 3 this month anad she can hold a adult conversation. When I was home in NC I was around all my family in Jacksonville and up here its just us. My husband is in the army. Try bending down and looking your baby in the face when he wants something and let him look right into your mouth when you talk. I think that helps out alot cause I did the same thing

hello N.
i am a mother of 5 four of them are mine, and 1 is my step son.out the four of mine three had speech problem .so it took them longer to talk .by the time my 4th child came alone i did thing alot diff for him.. i looked silly to other people when i did it. but i allways talk to him at home .no matter what i did i just talk to him .if i was changing his diper, if i was bathing him, i would take him with me and put in somthing safe why i would be cooking, if i needed to get the milk out the ice box. i would say ok we got have some milk. and i say MILK over and over .if we was in walmart.. and i was shoping i walk thou the store just a talking to him as if you and i was walking togather thou there. and i say it out like it sound if i would show him somthing. if i put a red hat on him i say look u going wair your RED HAT. are here is your BLUE CUP. let put on you BLACK SHOE WITH CARS ON IT. thing like that. just say what thing are over and over if he wont his cup and you figer out that what it is just say OH YOU WONT YOUR CUP, CUP ,CUP, LOOK HERES YOU IS YOUR CUP. and try to see if he say it if he does cool if he dont still cool just keep saying it any way... thing like that .and you may feel silly at time but who care? huh? that how i feel. im helping my child. why do i care what other think... and befor you know he well be saying more and more word . GIRL my 4th child been talking since he was one and that the youngest any mine ever talk. and now he is almost 4 and he talk better then me. lol and the bad thing is he is ALLWAYS TALKING.. LOL even when he dont need to be he fall alseep talking LOL he een talk in his sleep lmbo... anyway your son is ok. he just need more time then other dont let other are your self feel like there anything worng with him... and even if he is a little slower then other kids then that ok to. it wont change who he is .my oldest two have a lorning problem .but there still them it just it take a little longer for them to lorn that all.. my oldest one is 17 now she in high school and make start A and in math she out does ever one. and oh yeah she was almost three when she started talking and she a BIG BIG talker to lol her and her baby brother are alot alike in that. i have to tell them both HA SLOW DOWN BREATH LOL YOU GOING PASS OUT LOL. anyway dont worry so much it alll work out in the end,,, iv been there over and over lol again my oldest one is a 17 year old girl, then a 15 year old girl. 10 year old boy. and a 10 year old step son. he live with us. the the almost 4 year old son... let me know how it goes i love to hear thankyou D.

N.,

I went thur the same thing with my youngest. He just turned 3 in January and is just now really beginning to talk and put small sentences together. The first thing I did was take him to the doctor to make sure that his hearing was ok (which it was) and all my doctor said was to encourage him to speak and to not give into his grunts. Make his give you some sort of word for what he wants. Mine is the youngest of 3 so my doctor felt alot of his delay in speech was because his older brothers would speak for him, which is true. The other thing I did was to have him evaluated with a speech therapist. After all the testing he was not considered to be that much behind. They do several diffent types of test, not only speaking, but how they interact with others, do they listen when you tell them to do things, etc. I can say that I just recently moved him from an individual provider and put him in a small preschool/daycare and that is when his speech really started to improve. Who knows if it was the school or he was just ready (he was 2 & 1/2). Don't get frustrated and keep reading to him and trying to get him to say words and before you know it you will wish he would just be quite! Ha Ha! Hope this help some. Also, not sure what your state has too offer, but TN is required by law to test and treat (if qualified) any difficulties thur the public school system. Good Luck! T.

First and foremost don't let anyone "baby talk" with him. If he says something, no matter how cute it is, correct him so that he repeats it correctly. Don't talk for him, if he wants something make him ask for it. Don't get it if he grunts, tell him to use his words or go get it himself. My son did the same thing because I had an older daughter that did all his talking for him. I finally told her that she was not to say a word unless it was for something SHE wanted, that if HE wanted something he could ask for it himself. Also, if you can, teach him some signs for things like milk, please, thank you and more. If you are not familiar with those signs email me and I can tell you what they are. When you sign, use the word at the same time so he associates the two together. That way if you can't understand that he is asking for milk he can also sign it. Good luck! One other thing, the next time you are at the doctor, ask them about where he is on their charts as far as talking and see if they have any concerns about his progress. Moms always worry before doctors do.

N.,
Your son sounds just like mine did at that age. Although my son could barely say mama at that age. I took him to doctors and would get so frustrated to hear "oh, he'll talk when he is ready" and another said he had enlarged tonsils and adnoids but "he would grow into them." My son was a chronic snorer and seemed to have trouble breathing though his nose, but even other doctors said he would grow into his tonsils and adnoids.(These were Kentucky doctors) It was so frustrating to hear other children at that age talking in sentences to their parents and mine could barely speak. I put him in head start when he was 3 and they would send a speech therapist to see him but he never showed any improvements. Two years later I moved to Nashville and my son had a cold and a new doctor and when I took him to the new doctor and I told him about the other problems with speech (he could put togethor sentences but not clearly) he took one look at his tonsils and adnoids and refered him immediately to an EENT to have them removed. Both doctors said he would be at least 12 before he grew into them and was surprised none of the doctors had removed them before hand. His speech cleared up almost immediately. It has been a world of difference in our lives. While your son may or may not have the same problem, I can understand the frustration and wondered time and time again what I was doing wrong. Just remember that as long you as you have a concern with your childs development, keep being insistant with doctors to find out what is wrong. I know that there are some children who are just speech delayed, mine however had a medical problem and had we let him "grow" into his tonsils and adnoids he still would be a special needs child.(which he was considered until this year because of his speech delay) He had his removed in his second round of kindergarten and by the end of first grade had caught up with his class and is one of the top readers in his class now. I am always available to email since I do know the frustrations that you are going through anything I can do to help let me know.

Dear N.,

I don't think you need to worry. I'm no professional, but I do have 2 sons. My oldest son was talking more by that age, but my 2nd son was not. Kids tend to do things in their own time. I would suggest you make time to read to him for a few minutes everyday from a favorite book of his. Also, sing to him, but don't pressure him to sing. If he does, just praise and encourage him. Of course love and encouragement go a long way. Have fun and you can always pray about it if you think there is really a problem.

K. Arrington

According to the "infamous books" by the age of 24 months a child should have a vocabulary up to around 300 words. They should also be using 2 to 3 word phrases. But we have to remember that all children are different. My son was a little behind my daughter when it came to vocabulary. I think it helped my daughter because my son is older and she was always around him, listening to him. But one thing I did with my children, between the ages of 1 and 2, we would walk around and point at different things and I would tell them what each thing was...it turned into a little game where they would point and try to repeat after me. It is so hard to keep their attention, I would try for 5 minutes at a time and gradually work my way up. Dont be alarmed yet, once they start you cant stop them.
K. M.

hi N., i am 44 i have 3 kids and 4 grandchildren. i can tell u they all talked and walked at different times nothing to worry about .every time he reaches for something, points at it or grunts for it ,if u think u know what it is just say(cookie?) for example and he will learn soon enough.

Hi N.,
It looks like you got some really positive responses.
I have a 6 yr old and a 2 yr old. Both of my daughters started talking at under 18mo old. However, my second child began even earlier, probably due to the fact that she heard more conversation (talking with older child, no baby talk, etc). She now holds entire conversations. You may want to try to increase the communication, and encourage use of words (not always gestures such as grunting/pointing.
Also, just as a precaution, you may want to get his hearing tested. That could be an issue.
I don't mean to scare you. This could be quite normal, as the range of what is acceptable in terms of development is wide. While your child may not be interested in language at this point, he may be mastering some other developmental milestone. Hope this helps.

No it isnt. He will talk when he is good and ready. We had the same problem with our son at this age...everyone said he wouldnt talk and that we needed to stop talking for him. So when he is ready to talk he will...just encourage him everyday when he wants something you say it and then make it him repeat after you what he wants.
So didnt get all worried he will talk when he wants to and is ready. Our son is now 3 yrs old and talks non-stop and sometimes we want peace and quite.
Have a great day and keep up the good work as a Mother.
Your Friend
Mary

Dear N., please take my advice and get him tested for Autism!! I know you hate to even hear that but he is doing everything that my now 4 year old grandson did!! the only words he ever sorta said was ma-ma da-da etc... just like yours. we took him to be tested through the school system and he has gone through and still is speech therapy.. I know it sounds scary but my grandson gets very mad and hits the wall or door or something near him when you try to get him to do something he doesn't want to do or when he is trying to tell you something and you don't get it.. Please believe me it isn't your fault or anything you did or didn't do.. I love my grandson so much but I hate him having this. he is so so so smart... at age 2 he could do anything!! he knew everything about computers, he can go on it now and do anything you want him to!!! he just can't tell us (communicate) with us and that is so frustrating to him and it is harder for him to learn because again communicating is a problem but get him tested right away so you can start him on speech therapy.. please let me know how things go with you and him. I really am concerned about you and your family.. D.

hey N.,
my name is R., i work with First Steps. Ky's early intervention, we offer home-based therapy for children birth-3yrs old. have you heard of this?? you should have a free evaluation done. as i read all of the other responses, i wanted to add that we offer the evaluations you need like; hearing testing, and if needed- speech therapy. it couldn't hurt. if he will benefit from speech therapy, then the earlier the better. i also am the mom of 4 children and they are ALL different. i am sure you are a great mom and it is good that you are noticing and want to help your baby.
contact me if you are interested. this is the place to get the help you need.
hope to hear from you soon.
R. Steely email ____@____.com
1-800-348-4279 ext.25
110 Johnson Ln.
Barbourville, Ky. 40906

First of all, you are not doing anything wrong. I had the same problem with my son. He didn't say "mama" until he was over three years old. It killed me! At 21 months, he was doing the same thing your son does - saying a few words but mostly grunting and pointing to let me know what he wanted. I took him to the dr. and had his hearing checked as a precaution, which was fine. I did find out that his tonsils were huge and he had those removed, which I think helped a little. But mostly, once I made sure there was nothing physically wrong with him, I just worked with him a lot. I just said words to him over and over and over. When he pointed to a cookie, for instance, I would give it to him but only after pointing to it myself and saying "cookie, cookie". Even after I started doing that it took a while for him to talk. But I just talked to him constantly. No baby talk, just saying the words.
The good news is he's almost five now and talks my head off. He was just slow at talking and that was ok. My suggestion is to make sure he's physically okay as far as his hearing, etc. and then just keep working with him. My son didn't really start talking until he was over 3. Hang in there!

My daughter is 27 months and won't talk. She knows how, I've heard scentences out of her she just chooses not to talk. She didn't even try until she was 2. I've heard several parents say that their children didn't talk until 2. I wouldn't worry until lyou actually do not see any development by the age of 2. Keep doing what you are doing. When he is playing keep a running commentary of what he is doing. don't worry do much about it yet, I know it is frustrating, but all children develop differently. If you are really concerned then talk to your doctor, but it just takes longer for some.
L.

Hi N.. Our sons sound like twins! My 20 month old son doesn't eat meat and doesn't like many fruits and vegetables (the Dr. told me to give him one vitamin a day because of that) and he also only says a few words. The doctors on base were concerned with this so he is now in speech therapy (which hasn't worked either so far). Just so you know, you're not alone! And I worry that I am doing something wrong too but my mom keeps assuring me that he's fine. She said I was a picky eater and that my aunt didn't talk until she was 3!

No need to worry - my son was almost 2 1/2 before he started trying to put sentences together - but when he did start talking - it was nonstop! haha I agree with others that you should pronounce the words and ask him to repeat.

HI N.- My son and daughter were both late talkers- my son did not really start talking until the age of 5. He is 9 nine, and speaks and uses an above average vocabulary. My daughter did the same- and she is 4 and again using an above average vocabulary. Some children observe their environment and others talk talk talk! continue to do what you are doing without the stress part. He may be resisting you, and the reading and Learning words because he feels your worry and stress. they are smart little ones! don't worry! you are a good mother...keep it up!

T.