https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:00:05 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773271 Tue, 22 Jul 2014 00:13:25 +0000 brownie 1773271@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son isn't a late talker but he has speech issues. He was very high receptive and gross motor but 6 months behind in expressive. </p> <p>He has just started blossoming (3.25 years old) and I swear it is the new speech teacher. She uses hand signals for the sounds that he needs to make. So a word like soap would be a finger down the cheek to the chin (for s) and then a flat hand in front of the mouth (for p). It has been huge for is. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773210 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 22:37:54 +0000 Sammyfab 1773210@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jess1483: Ahhh...soo cute!!</p> <p>@Mrs Green Grass: I know! For some kids it takes 2x and others, 400x. It makes me feel better for sounding like a broken record all day long!</p> <p>I also wanted to say that EI or having an evaluation done doesn't hurt...it at least gets your foot in the door. Here in Canada there is at least a 6 month waiting list so I called and put my son on the list at 16 months. I'm an OT and every colleague of mine that I talked to said not to worry and to give it time (mainly because his receptive language was great), but I had an inkling and pursued it anyway - and I'm sooo glad we did! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773199 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 22:32:36 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1773199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just popping in to say my late talker didn't start talking until at least 25 months. Now we're nearly 30 months old (if my math is right, it is late here) and speaking in full sentences. We can almost have a conversation! I swear it feels like it's overnight and I spent more than my fair share of days worrying. </p> <p>You know how you're not supposed to compare what your kid can and can't do to other kids? Yep. That was me. I was obsessing that he wasn't saying at least a -few- words besides mama. He could follow directions, had a little problems communicating wants and needs but we did a bit of belated baby sign language to cope, and I even had an evaluation set up to check his hearing! I ended up cancelling it though and within a few months he was talking. Haltingly, very carefully enunciating, pauses in words that we would normally say quickly, but he was talking. And now we have funny little declrations like "Mama tickle!" or "I scare me!" and even a little more complex like "Mama more milk please?" It isn't a lot but it's huge for us, you know? And I'm loving it. After all that worry I'm going to enjoy it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773188 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 22:24:37 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 1773188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Sammyfab: that is great info! I didn't know about the 400x.</p> <p>My son is 18 months and I'd definitely say he's on the slower side, but like you, I don't really think there is a problem. He has actually said like 20 words and has 2 2-word phrases, but after he learns a word, he never repeats it. And it feels like he refuses to answer questions verbally (besides his go to "eh"), even when the answer is a word he's said before. I'm trying really hard to wait a long time and demand language before giving him what he wants, but since he's basically never complied, I don't really know how long to keep asking! Language acquisition is complicated! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773160 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:52:17 +0000 Jess1483 1773160@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Sammyfab: I used to tell my son to "use your mouth to say XXX." He would point to his mouth and then show me the sign. Sooo cute, but...not what I meant ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773159 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:51:08 +0000 Sammyfab 1773159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jess1483: Yes! It helps so much. The funny thing is that when I point to my mouth, my son will do the same when he repeats the word. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773154 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:48:13 +0000 Jess1483 1773154@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Sammyfab: Those are great suggestions! Thanks! I just started having him look at my mouth when I say words I want him to repeat, which seems to help quite a bit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773151 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:46:06 +0000 Sammyfab 1773151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had my son evaluated at 22 months and he had 6 or 7 speech sessions. At that point he had maybe 10 consistent words that were recognizable by strangers and then a few more that only my husband or I could understand. He's 29 months now and while he's still delayed, he is doing great! He says 3-4 word sentences and makes valid attempts to imitate and repeat after us whereas before he wouldn't even try. I would say that a good chunk of what he says can only be deciphered by us, but we are super proud of how much progress he has made! We celebrate every little victory with his speech. :happy: </p> <p>Some of the tips that have helped us the most are:<br /> -repetition - for some kids it takes up to 400x of hearing a certain word before they can repeat it<br /> -making sure he is looking at our mouths when we are encouraging certain words<br /> -instead of saying "say ____" (which is super hard NOT to say), I say, "your turn" or ask him to try<br /> -we still combine signs with words - my son has always preferred using actions / signs and our SLP never discouraged it as long as we were doing both simultaneously<br /> -after each SLP session we were given 5-6 words to focus on just to get certain sounds mastered<br /> -giving ample time for my son to respond - i.e. don't jump in too fast and answer for him or give him what he wants before he has a chance to tell me.</p> <p>@Jess1483: Your son sounds like he is making great progress and you have lots of tools in your tool belt so far! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773092 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:15:47 +0000 Jess1483 1773092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you all for the encouraging words. It helps to hear from others! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773091 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:15:17 +0000 Jess1483 1773091@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: That's interesting. I was surprised that the speech therapist suggested pulling back on the signs. Not totally. She said to respond to him whenever he signed, but not to prompt signing if he gives a verbal cue (so when he used to point and whine, I'd ask for a sign, but now I just give him what he whines for). That made sense to me and seemed to help with the 3 new words. She said most of the time, she'd suggest trying signs, but that for him, it's just so much easier than talking, so yes, a "crutch." We still sign, but are also encouraging verbal cues. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773077 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:08:20 +0000 Mae 1773077@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My friend was just telling me the other day how at her son's 18 mo appointment the doctor told her to stop signing with him because he spoke so little and was "using sign language as a crutch." She felt like as long as he could communicate she doesn't care how he did it-- so she just let him be. Now at 2 years old he is talking on par with other 2 year olds and hardly signs anymore. Anecdotal I know... but for her letting him go at his own pace worked. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1773065 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:03:13 +0000 doodlepoodle 1773065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jess1483: j is a late bloomer with his language. I asked his ped about it at his 2 year checkup and she said that if by 2 1/2 he still wasn't talking more than he was at that point to make an appointment but that some kids don't get their language explosion until later. Last week he all of a sudden started naming colors off (correctly!) and putting 2 word sentences together and using words we didn't even know he knew. She told me to just continue talking to him, reading books, narrating our day, asking him questions, and he'd eventually work it out. I worried but trusted her. She was right :-) I know it's hard, especially if you're seeing other kids really doing well but it all comes with time. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1772980 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 20:17:19 +0000 hellobeeboston 1772980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son would (I guess) be considered a late talker. I'm not too worried though and neither was our Ped. He is 21 months. At 20 months he only said a handful of words, similar to yours. But honestly, in the last two weeks he had said a ton of new things. he only had about 5 signs, and we could generally understand his "grunts" and gestures. But seriously, 20 words in 2 weeks out of nowhere. I think they start when they are ready. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1772978 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 20:16:27 +0000 catomd00 1772978@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A few of my friends children who are 3-5 years old now were not saying a whole lot at that age, either. They were all concerned, and all of their children are super talkers now! All 3 of them have speech that is better than my 4 year old nephew who started talking early on. They pretty much all seemed to go from no talking to speaking in full sentences over night. I wouldn't worry too much, he will get there. </p> <p>I was a late talker, too. The primary reason (my mom thinks) is because my older sister always talked for me so I never had a chance to get a word in! Once my mom told my sister to stop talking for me, I started speaking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1772869 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:22:24 +0000 Raindrop 1772869@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honesty I think he is doing great.</p> <p>My son is now 28 months old and at 20 months was not a great talker. He's still not that great but we can definitely see that he's getting there. He almost always knows what we are talking about he just doesn't join in the conversation. He is getting really good at his flash cards and he can say almost all the words on his flash cards but some reason he doesn't translate that to everyday conversations. Sometimes he will point at something and say the word that matches his flash card like he will point to a real car and say car.</p> <p>He's a great counter. One time we asked him to count the cars in the parking lot and he can definitely do that.</p> <p>I think your son will get there.</p> <p>I was kind of worried also but my pedi was not, he said if I was very concerned I could try a speech therapist but he wouldn't recommend it because kids just go at their own pace and my son was in the range of normal. My pedi is kind of easy going and is all about let kids be kids so we were find with that. :)</p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1772853 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:14:32 +0000 Jess1483 1772853@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Twine: Thank you so much. We did do an evaluation, and I asked the speech therapist if it was typical and she said "well, I wouldn't call it normal." We called her with the update of the 3 new words (and lots of extra babble) within a month and she seemed thrilled.. She said to call back in a few months. I had some weird speech things when I was little (spoke early and in full sentences, then was silent completely for months, then when I spoke again, I pronounced only the vowels) so I'm hoping this is partly due to that.</p> <p>Your experience is really helpful, thank you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1772845 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:09:47 +0000 Mrs. Twine 1772845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Aw. My best advice? It'll come. It's SO hard waiting, because I felt like I must have been doing something wrong. And I am pretty sure I pissed her the f- off talking to her ALL the time. Sounds like you are doing a great job, and sounds like he doesn't have any underlying issues that would signal that he won't get there in time.</p> <p>My oldest had one word at 18 months, after a regression. She now is a huge talker, and you would never ever know from listening to her that she was so, so far behind her peers for such a long time in the beginning. I definitely suggest an evaluation to ease your concern, and to try to catch any issues if there are any, but if he's just cautious and shy he will get there. &lt;3 I was a serious mess and stressy to the point of trying to learn ASL in case she never talked until she was about 4! Now I wish I could give myself a hug during that time and tell myself that I didn't have to worry. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/advice-on-late-talking#post-1772801 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:48:47 +0000 Jess1483 1772801@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a delightful almost 20-month-old who speaks very rarely. He says Mama, Dada, ball (on occasion), hi, bye, and uh-oh. We have had him evaluated (when he only said Mama and Dada), and she thinks that he latched on to signing early as an "easier" form of communication (for him) and now doesn't talk because he communicates so easily through sign (he has about 40 signs.)</p> <p>His receptive language is stellar, good social skills, etc. He's always been a quieter kid, and while he babbles, he generally only does so when he's all worked up (excited), or when he thinks no one is watching (he'll read to himself in his chair and babble away, but if he sees me, he'll stop).</p> <p>I truly think that speech makes him feel embarrassed. On occasion, if he's in a particularly good mood, I can get him to attempt words after me. But if I give him any kind of positive feedback, he stops. </p> <p>So, in general, I'm not really worried about him in any kind of "global development" sense. I think he's fine. At the same time, I would love to be able to help him feel comfortable talking and enjoy learning language. I talk to him constantly (I'm a SAHM, and I actually asked the speech therapist if it was possible I talk too much to him...), we do lots of activities with other toddlers (music, soccer, play dates, library, etc), as well as with older kiddos and other adults, and I do all the regular language-learning things ("oh you want the car? The red car? Here's the car", etc.) So I'm kind of looking for any off-the-wall suggestions anyone might have to help me transition him to spoken language. </p>