My 2 Yr Old Is Not Talking Yet Should I Be Very Concerned?

I have known children to have fluid deep in their ears. They don't hear the same words we hear. Everything sounds like it is under water. So, they think they are talking. They are saying back to you what they hear. Simple antibiotics clear this up. speech therapy catches them right up to speed. Just a thought of one thing that could be the delay. Going to the doctor is definatly what you should be doing at this point. He needs to be caught up earlier rather than later.

Boy is he in control! I had to tell my older child to quit speaking of my then 2 year old, all he did was grunt. His brother just kept telling me what he wanted!

When we didn't make a big deal of it and offered him a carrot when he wanted a cookie he was fine. You brought a smile to my face with these memories. David is 20 soon to be 21. His brother, Steven, will be 25 in a couple of weeks.

Blessings on you.

K.

B.,
We were in the same boat with our son. After a year of speech therapy, you would never have known he ever had problems. He was classified as Apraxic and is now resolved. I would have him evaluated by a speech therapist.

L.

have you thought of skipping your Primary Dr and going to an Ear, Nose and Throat Dr (ENT) to have his hearing checked? Some insurance companies don't require a referal through your Dr to go to a specialist but I would check with your insurance company first. If you need a referal from your Dr then I would demand a special visit just for the hearing. A child should be talking or able to say words by the time they are 18 months old.

Good Luck

I read the other ladies entries and each one is right. Get it checked out but I think he's normal from what you've written. Instruct the older children not to give him what he wants until he uses a sound to indicate what he wants..any sound. And remember Albert Eistein didn't talk until he was almost three. It could be a sign of high intelligence....he's taking it all in then he'll talk commenting on it all.

B.,
Don't panic. Your son, I'm sure, is fine. Kids don't always talk by that time. He just might feel like he doesn't have a whole lot to say right now. Just wait. When he starts, he might not ever stop. Do his older sisters do a lot of talking for him? Does he point at things and you get it for him? If so, make him start doing some of the talking himself.

Hi B.,
I had the same problem with my son at that age. I took him to the doctor, had him tested and the doctor told me he was fine and not to worry. He said not to worry that when he felt like talking he would, that if he let his needs be known and understood what was going on and being said to him then I had nothing to worry about. Well by the time he was 4 years old he was talking up a storm and has not stopped yet and he is 26+ years old.

The best thing you can do to alleviate your worry and stress is to have his hearing checked by his doctor and if nothing is found to be abnormal then let nature take his course. Of course keep him encouraging and talking to him, my son when he did start talking was speaking very proper English, not slang or mispronunciation of words, and he still speaks very well and does not use slang of any kind. Just continue to be there for him and show him love, which I am sure you and your husband do and when he is ready to talk he may have so much to say you might want him to be quiet for awhile. (smile)

Take care, all will be well.

A little about me:

Mother of 2 - daughter 31, son 26, grandmother of 4 - girl 15, girl 7, girl 2 and grandson 8. 2 cats misty and boots.

Hi B.,
I am very close with my sister and her kids. Her 2yr old is not talking either. Just last week, she took him to the pediatrician for eval. They of course checked his hearing and performed several hand-eye tests. Long story short is that he'll start speech therapy in a couple of weeks. Sounds to me you're on the right track.
blessings, Mel

Hi B.,
My name is R.. I did not talk until I was three. My mum took me to the specialist and he said I was lazy. These days, if you take a three year old child who is not speaking, it is called autism or Asperger's syndrome and yes, I have Asperger's syndrome. Nothing to be scared of. Autisic and Asperger kids love to be on their own, will have a special interest in something. My son, who is 5 has Asperger's and is fasinated with trains. He is top of the class at school. It's just socially he is 2 years behind. Don't be concerned about your son if he is doing everything else normal, perhaps suggest Aspergers to your doctor, as least you could elimate it if it is not. If it is, then you can find out more and relax about it, most asperger's have a very high I.Q. Other asperger's include Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh and Gough Witlam. Oh by the way I live in Australia, I have cousins in Ohio. Also, if your son does have Asperger's either you or your husband will, you can't have an asperger child without an asperger parent. Kind Regards
R. Sihvola ____@____.com

Are his siblings "translating" for him? For instance, do they know what he wants or is trying to say, and then communicate his messages for him? He may currently have no need to talk if others help him communicate. All children develop at their own pace; don't freak out yet (as a former teacher with a 6 yr. old and 2 1/2 yr. old, I learned firsthand how differently children develop). I have been told, however, by speech therapist acquaintances that if he still isn't saying anything by 2 1/2, you might want to mention it to his doctor. Hope this helps!

Call your local childrens hospital and make an appointment with a Developmental Pediatrician for a full evaluation. It is not with in normal limits for a child to not say anything by age two, and despite many anecdotal good out comes from people who failed to meet the speech milestone on time, the overwhelmeing evidence is not so rosey much of the time.

This is not to say that there is a problem, and I would not speculate about what that could be, but it is nothing to wait and see about, ever. The key to helping children who do have problems is early intervention, no mater what the cost is, and it may be plenty, but worth every penny if you do it early enough.

I have often heard that youngest chileren don't talk because they have their talking done for them. Any Developmental Pediatrican will tell you that this is bunk. Developmental Pediatricans are the best resource for any parent with a red flag like this. Don't panic, but make the appointment today and go straight to the best source of information (a full evaluation from someone who deals with more than anecdotal information) before you take a "wait and see" attitude. If he has time to wait, you loose nothing, but if he does not, he looses time that he can not ever get back.

my son,who is now 5yrs. old, didn't start structure talking until he was three. He did say some words at 2,his pediatrician said he was fine,and his dad and I worked with him.His language skills took off when he entered a local daycare in downtown Columbus.His sentence structure is great,so I bet your little one will surprise you someday when you tell him to do something and the next thing you hear is "I don't think so mama." LOL. Out of the mouth of babes-you will laugh-I did. good luck!

My nephew turned 2 at the end of January and at their appointment they recommended them someone to come to their house to do tests and he was doing everything a normal 2 year old does. He has a sister who is 5 and never stops talking. LOL Anyway they just started him on speech classes last night and the therapist said he was doing great. He said dog, duck, more, pop, ball and bub (for bubbles). So don't worry to much just make sure the doctors know everything he does and they will recommend tests if they think it is recommend. Good luck. i am sure he just does not want to talk with the other kids. They probbaly do all the talking for him like my niece does.

My son had the same problem when he was 2. We had his speech evaluated at Children's and then started early intervention. We were in a center based playgroup when he was 2, and then he started early intervention preschool at 3. Contact your county about early intervention. It is a great program. It was through Help Me Grow in Ohio. My son is doing so much better now. My son also has an older sister.

B., I think you have reason to be concerned, a two year old should be talking, asking questions, repeating things. If your state has the First Steps program please look into it, you can ask your health department for info on the program. Also, my son did not speak when he was young and it wasn't until he was almost 4 we discovered he was deaf. It is not the end of the world, but if that is the case with your son, you would do him a great service by finding out now! There are many wonderful programs available you just have to be open to the ideas and trust that your child will be better for it in the end.

Good luck

When my now 4-year-old was 2 1/2 she was talking very litte. Most of her communication was via pointing, etc. When she did talk, it was very hard to understand and she has issues with certain sounds. Basically, only close family members could understand her. We took her for a speech evaluation and she was diagnosed with a slight delay, nothing serious.

She has been in speech therapy at the University of Toledo since January 2007 and has made amazing progress. She is up to speed on all sounds now and should be done w/ therapy as of May.

I recommend going to your pediatrician first, and then asking for a referall to a speech therapist for an evaluation.

But know this: most insurance companies will NOT pay for speech therapy unless there is a head injury and/or stroke involved that caused the delay/speech problem. If you are in the Toledo/NW Ohio area, and need therapy, check with UT's speech clinic -- it's a great program and costs about $250 per semester. Regular sessions w/ a therapist (not covered by insurance) are about $80-$100 per session. Ouch. If you aren't in the NW Ohio area, check with the public university in your area -- their speech clinic might have the same type of programs.

My son will be two on April 1 and we just took him last month to have a hearing and speech screening. Of my five children two of them have been slow to speak. Both we boys. Boys tend to come around a little slower in developing speech and language skills. My older son was just a quiet guy (sometimes at 14 I wish he still was), but my younger son has a speech delay. We will be starting speech therapy within the month. Some of the things the speech therapist recommended were to read to him often from books that had repetitive words and sounds like Green Eggs and Ham. Also, when encouraging him to speak try not to use phrases like, "say . . ." If your child feels like they can't then he will shut down and not even try. Talk to him all of the time about everything. When he wants something and points to it give the words for him. "You want a cup of milk?" I would agree that you should have his hearing tested and an initial speech screening. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I would suggest getting him enrolled in Help Me Grow or another similar program. Definitely speak to your pediatrician about it, but also look for help outside of just the doctor. Help Me Grow can get you in contact with speech therapy evaluations, hearing tests, as well as support for you and the family. We are going through the same thing. Our youngest was born 8 weeks preemie and has had development issues all along. He will be 2 next month and only repeats words, he doesn't speak independently at all. We have been enrolled in speech therapy since December. We are now awaiting an appointment with a developmental specialist at Akron Children's Hospital to see if his delays are preemie-related or possibly autism-related. For your son, since you said he's up to par with everything else, there was just an article in one of the parenting magazines last month about a speech condition called Apraxia. Maybe do some online research and see if your son fits the criteria for this, too. Keep working with your son, repeating sounds like 'lalalala', 'dadadada', 'mamamama', 'babababa', don't worry just yet about specific words. Just try getting those sounds out of him, on a consistent basis. As for communicating with him in the mean time, you could introduce sign language for basic words like "eat, more, milk, sleep, no, yes". We started sign language back in November and Ben is learning really well now. It's definitely helped us along. Plus as you sign the words, you SPEAK it, so it's like a double-whammy for the child. They SEE and HEAR it. Sometimes it helps them better associate the word. There are websites that you can look up basic words, that's what I did for words I didn't already know from past sign language use. Good luck and if you would like to talk or ask me any questions, feel free to contact me!! Hang in there! I know how frustrating it is. There are days I just sit and look at my son and burst into tears, because I want him to be able to tell me things. So I understand what you're going through.

You are doing the right thing - taking your son to the doctor to see if there is a medical problem.
Children develop at different ages with particular actions. Since he has 2 older female siblings, that may be part of the problem. Is the older daughter kind of bossy or wants to play like mama to the younger two?
Don't make such an issue of his not talking. We underestimate our children. They are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They know exactly what buttons to push for whatever reason. If our children knew the psychological power they posess over us adults - they would be in control of the world.
We spend the first year of our childrens lives teaching them to walk and talk and many more years of their youth telling them to sit down and shut up.
I think your son will talk when he has something to say. Let him develop at his own pace and stop trying to make him do something the adults want him to do.

Hi B.,
Do be wise and check out all the medical issues with your doctor....you know, to rule out a hearing problem or a neurological one. Sometimes it takes time for the younger ones to 'need' to talk, when they have older siblings. I have a thought. Keep reading to him, as a relaxing event each day. It gives him alone interactive time with you, and always develops vocabulary! Get books that cause interaction on his part too....because that helps develop responses that he may be willing to participate in! Worth a try!

Yes, if you are concerned...get it checked out. My son is currently 23mo. and he just recently started talking. My doc said that as long as he says 2-3 words by age 2 we were on track. Boys do things different than girls. I would also think about getting his eyes checked. I read a response on another posting...not sure where...but said their child was not speaking much because the child could not see the other people talk. A sight problem might be another thought. 1 question...did/does your son use a pacifier or suck his thumb?

From your posting it seems like things are fine. Just keep encouraging your son. Praise him for attempting to talk. Once you find the right amount/kind of encouragement you will be amazed at how fast things can change. 1 activity that can help is letting him talk on the phone to someone special. My children talk to their grandparents a couple of time per week. It is an activity that requires them to vocalize their thought in an understandable way. Good luck. Don't ever give up.

Little about me:
SAHM of 4 little blessings...3 daughters 6y, 4y, 3mo. and 1 son 23 mo. Happily married for 8 1/2 years. Homeschool Kindergarten.

I didn't have time to read all the other posts so this could have been said but anyways i had this problem with my youngest as well and the nurse at the doctor's office said it could be nothing more than the fact that she was the youngest and didn't actually have to talk, if someone wanted a drink, i got three same with snacks and everything else and while i tried to get her to speak or ask for something it wasn't something she had to do in order to get what she wanted so she never bothered, she caught up and will be starting school in the fall and speaks very well both gramatically and clearly. good luck.

My daughter wasn't doing any talking either & at her 18 mo appt, I voiced my concern to her dr. She had us take her for a speech consultation.
The speech therapist said that the biggest indicator that a child may be "behind" on speech is if they don't watch how your mouth moves when you're talking. Our daughter didn't & started speech therapy 2x's a week for 4 mos. They taught her a little sign language to help her communicate w/us. She was recently re-evaluated @ her 3 yr check up & is doing great & is right on target.

I understand your concern. I was very worried when my son only said a couple of words by the time he was 2 and 1/2. I was concerned about possible hearing problems or maybe autism... I called the First Steps program and they tested his hearing (which was fine) and had a therepist come out to our house to play with Jeremy... and she told me that he was just fine ~ he just didn't NEED to talk very much because his brothers did it for him. He's a healthy 9 year old boy who gets straight A's in school now. You have every right to be concerned... my advice would be to have him checked over for your own peace of mind. The First Steps program is completely free!

Is he at least communicating non-verbally? I wouldn't worry too much if he makes good eye contact, and shows some form of communicating. Some kids are late talkers. My bro-in-law didn't talk until he was 2 1/2 he is a fine healthy man now. Plus, my friend's son (22Months) doesn't speak much at all, she uses the baby sign and that has opened up his world!!

I have a daughter Emily who was a little over 2 before she uttered anything!! I was very concerned, but the dr thought she would talk when she was ready. So I left it at that, and she was about 2yrs 7mos when she did start talking, but it wasn't alot. One thing I noticed is when she did talk it was when she was playing, she never really talked to anyone, and anything I said to her she would give a quick one word answer.
She is now 7 and in the first grade, she is very intelligent and makes very good grades. I have noticed that she does not talk as plain as the other kids in her class, and my four year old talks just as well, if not better than she does. She has failed four hearing tests at school. I called the dr, and made an appt. with an audiologist, they tested her hearing, she failed it. They then sent me to an ear nose & throat specialist. Apparently my daughter has water in her ears, and needs tubes put in & her adenoids taken out, surprisingly she has had only 3 ear infections in her whole life. I am still seeking a second opinion, I cannot see putting her through an operation if she truly doesn't need it.
I highly recommend that you TELL your dr that you want to see a ear nose & throat specialist. Hopefully in your case, it is just him not wanting to talk. But, please know you are not alone!!
I hope this helps you, I know how hard it is to have a 2yr old who doesn't talk. My prayers are with you.

B....
Just a quick thought... Are your girls talking for him? My youngest grandbaby did the silent treatment to us too... lol had started talking... then suddenly for several months ( like 4 mo) didn't utter a word... Her 2 older brothers was talking for her.. we figured out we let the boys know she needs to learn how to talk for herself... ( acourse, not scolding them for it, they're just great big brothers "HELPING" )

Now at Now at 27 months old ... she won't stop... :) She is even saying her ABC's with the middle boy...which is 5 now... the boys have really helped now... understanding she needs to talk they got busy with all of us and we stayed on the same line of not talking for her.

Hope this helps...

P.