2 Years Old and Not Really Talking

Updated on March 29, 2008
C.S. asks from San Antonio, TX
12 answers

Ok Alex just turned two last week and he is not "talking " like many kids his age. For example, he calls daddy to my husband and he also calls me daddy. people think it is funny but at two years "mommy" is the first word you say, right??
he say about 10 words correctly and most of the rest he makes the sound of them, or he calls any liquid "water" he does not say milk or juice, it is always water.
I know at the age of two many kids say short phrases and Alex is not even close.
I can assure he hears and understands perfectly, I just wonder if some of you had this problem with your toddler. My other son is four now and at the age of two he was a talker to the point that we got crazy because he was talking all the time!!!
May be I'm overrreacting because they are so different but I dont want to ignore something that maybe a real problem. I made an appt with speech therapy for an evaluation to see what they think.
But the real experts are moms right???
Thanks in advance.
C.

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T.T.

answers from Beaumont on

My sister-in-law has boys that are 4 & 6 now. by the time they were each 3, neither of them would talk hardly at all. When they did, only a few that were around them all the time could understand them. She put the older in speech therapy at age 4 and the younger at age 3. This started to help them out some but we seen even more progress when they started attending pre-k and daycare. They didn't attend all the time, just 2-3 days a week. It also gave mom a little break too. Hope this helps.

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D.M.

answers from Houston on

i don't think you have anything to worry about. my son is almost 2 and he is doing basically the same thing yours is. He doesn't talk nearly as well as his sis or bro at that age, but all kids develop differently. I would just work with him. Bring it up at your next drs appt but I bet your dr will tell you the same thing mine did, which is be patient. once they start talking they don't stop. lol.

Have a great day!!

D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!
www.formyrugrats.com
"The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

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C.B.

answers from San Antonio on

Both my kids (ages 3 and 5) were slow to talk much. I asked our pediatrician and she said, "If you want them to talk then send them to daycare, they'll have to talk. Otherwise, don't pressure them, they should be comfortable at home." Try for some playdates if you have other kids around.

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J.M.

answers from San Antonio on

I had a similar concern with my youngest son who is now 6 yrs old . He did not say much and a week after his second birthday I took him to a therapist and had him evaluated. His hearing was fine, that's the first thing I checked. The therapist said that he seemed fine, but to bring him back in 3 months if there was no progress. A few weeks after, he started talking and barely has had a quite moment since. Definitely take him to experts and have him evaluated. The worst that can happen is that you waste your time. If there is a problem, you are catching it while he is still quite young and can get him the help he needs. Best of luck!

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E.S.

answers from Houston on

I want to let you know you have reason to be concerned. My son did not talk until almost 4 except for labeling a few items. Most people told me not to worry. I should have worried. By the time he was five then people often looked at me as if why did you not get him help earlier.

My son is 7 and after much speech therapy he can talk. However his langage development turned into an indicator to short term memory issues that we work on every day and impacts his academics. He is a very bright little boy, but it has impacted his ability to read, which then leads to some behavior problems, because he becomes so frustrated in not being able to find the words he wants to communicate. Also many coaches, teachers, and adults do not understand that his failure to follow instructions is not because failure to attend but failure to process. BIG DIFFERENCE!

I am not familar with the programs in San Antonio, but in Houston you can try the University of Houston Speech and Hearing and see if they can refer you to someone locally.

Trust your gut.

E. S.

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D.F.

answers from Austin on

My daughter will be 4 this summer and still has "baby-like" words. With my daughter, I think it was because she was learning English, Spanish AND sign language from her school. Also, she's been a HUGE fan of Dora and Diego since birth. In a psychology class I took in college, they say teaching them 2 languages from birth will help them excell later in life, but it does make understanding them as toddlers really difficult.
I've had a few people (my mother in law included) concerned that my daughter doesn't speak perfectly clear English, but I'm not really worried. Her mental capacity far excells in other areas (memory, organization skills, etc). I know she's a brilliant child and I just do what I can at home to help her learn to speak correctly. It all comes with time.

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E.J.

answers from San Antonio on

My aunt is going through something similar and her doc kept telling her not to worry for a long time. Turns out he only had 40 percent of his hearing and needed tubes in his ears. He just turned 3 and still doesn't talk. He just got the yubes though and hopefully will improve soon!

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B.B.

answers from El Paso on

Look up your local ECI (early childhood intervention) they may be able to come out and do an assessment and I heard that before the age of 3 they will do house calls. Or you could bring him to a speech pathologist. I got a referral from my pediatrician because I am concerned about my son (almost 3 now). HE JUST started talking recently and is doing pretty well now but has lots of word salad or jumble. Like he says "puc" instead of "cup" the app. is friday. there is no harm in getting them assessed.

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M.S.

answers from Longview on

"Mommy" is the first word they say in our imaginations. My son said "Daddy," "cookie" and "McDonalds" before he got around to learning "Mommy."

Also, my niece called all men "Daddy" until she was about 2 1/2 and still occasionally calls all women "Mommy", and she's almost three now. My almost-five-yr-old occasionally slips and calls me "Daddy," and that's been consistant since he started talking.

My oldest was late on everything. He sat up at 13 months. He crawled around 16 months and walked at almost 20 (just before his little brother was born). He didn't talk clearly for YEARS (in fact, looking back, we can't really remember at what point we understood him clearly). Turned out, he couldn't hear. He'd had multiple ear infections, and the crappy pediatrician we took him to (we didn't know he was a crappy pediatrician!!) never once suggested he get a formal hearing exam, just kept giving him antibiotics. By his second birthday, he'd made up his own language, and two months later, he had tubes put in his ears, and began improving immediately. Still, he's six years old now and only just beginning to speak in a way that is clear to all the adults around him. Another fun little perk: he taught his little brother and his cousins HIS language.

Oh, and you cannot be assured that he can hear and understand perfectly at that age, because they can't tell you. The way the pedi ENT put it, it was like he was just under the surface of the water in a swimming pool. He could hear and understand well enough to respond, he just couldn't hear the individual sound definitions and details well enough to reproduce them correctly. We would talk, and he'd know what we were talking about.

Other than that one issue, what we learned is that you cannot compare kids. Just because one does something one way, that does not mean others should be expected to follow suit. And of course, that goes both ways, because "all kids" do it this way, that doesn't mean it's how one particular kid will do it, and that doesn't mean something's wrong with the one. With my 20-mo-old walker, he didnt' get up and take a few steps, toddle and fall over. He got up one day and ran across the house in the same way all those babies that started walking six months earlier did. Now that he's six, we realize, that's just how he does things. Neither of my boys do anything the "normal" way, and the best advice I was ever given was to never buy a Parenting magazine, never buy a book on baby development or anything. I used to, and they scared the heck out of me!

Encourage, but try not to compare, worry, or pressure. Keep his appointments, get his hearing checked properly, but don't just assume something's wrong because other kids do it another way.

The person who suggested ECI is correct, they do housecalls, and you can call them up until the age your child is three years old. At the third birthday, the child is switched over into the public school system, which is a little more difficult to navigate, but ECI does help prepare you for that transition. Generally, it's just speech therapy, and of my son's kindergarten class, about six kids do speech therapy. It's considered part of the "special education" department, but is literally nothing to feel bad about.

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C.B.

answers from El Paso on

Yes all children develop at different rates, but if you are concerned, you should follow your motherly instinct!! Go to your appointment so you will have peace of mind or answers. Moms are experts because we follow our motherly instinct!! Hope everything turns out fine!!
C. B.
www.MoreTime4MyKids.com

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R.A.

answers from Odessa on

My oldest son did the same thing. At first everyone thought that I was just catering to him, and not "making" him talk. When he wanted juice I would stand there and try to make him say "juice". He would get mad and just walk around me and get it himself. At about 2 1/2 he started talking in almost complete sentences. My dad used to say he didn't talk because he didn't have anything to say. I am starting to think he was right. That was almost 5 years ago, and he is now a perfectly healthy talkative first grader.

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B.

answers from Houston on

My oldest daughter was doing the same thing when she first turned two and I was getting really worried about it. She's always babbled in her own little language but she knows what she's saying. My husband kept reassuring me to be patient and sure enough she started talking around two and a half. She just turned three and now you can't get her to stop talking somedays. Her sister is about to turn two and I'm amazed by all that she says now compared to Grace a year ago but I know they're both healthy and just developing differently. So I wouldn't worry too much about it.

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