My 3 year old nephew doesn't talk: Thoughts?

He should definitely be talking by now. Even if you can’t understand him a lot of the time, he should be able to say several words you can understand. His pediatrician should be able to recommend different types of testing to see why he isn’t talking yet

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Children are all so different and progress at different paces.My granddaughter spoke clearly at 18 -24months but her little sister at 3 just wouldn’t speak a lot and was difficult to understand but suddenly at 3 and a half can chat nineteen to the doz-wouldn’t hurt to consult a paed but each star shines at different times

My son didn’t start talking till after his 4th bday. We were concerned and asked the Dr. & he said kids develop at their own pace & not be worried. Sure enough he started talking and now he doesn’t stop haha

same with my son and I found that he was tongue tied

Mine was doing that. He was tongue and lip tied. Now he doesn’t stop​:sob::scream:

Many school districts offer free speech therapy for kids under a certain age. Its definitely a concern at this point and id talk to your pediatrician. If they say its normal get a second opinion.

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Does he have older siblings?

My cousin didnt speak until he was 3 also. He told on his sister for hitting him. They asked why he never talked before. He said,
" Me no could talk then!" Guess he didnt have to.

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My daughter didn’t either. She was lip and tongue tied. Got her reversal last year (age 4) and her speech has been MUCH better but she’s still delayed in that aspect, she’ll be 6 next month.

I would take him to get evaluated by speech therapist

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My grandson was tongue, lip and cheek tied and is now 3 and barely talks. We have started teaching him sign language to help communicate with him.

100% yes take him to the dr

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I would suggest speech therapist my daughter has this issue and still struggle at age of 9 but improving

You can have him evaluated for early intervention services

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Id ask your pediatrician, they should be able to have a speech therapist come to ur house, evaluate ur child and then tell u what you need to do with them. I only know this cuz my pediatrician is currently mad tht my 18month old doesn’t talk(although I think she’s crazy).

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My son didn’t talk until he was 3 he was diagnosed with Autism.
You need to encourage your sister/in law to seek help ASAP. At the age of 2 kids should have a vocab of between 30-50 words.
It might be lip/tongue tie related or could be something else. Either way early intervention is key.

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He should have been in speech therapy like 6 months ago.

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One of my friends has a son that doesn’t talk either they said he has Autism. So they may want to take him to the Doctor

Typically pediatricians follow childrens development at each well visit. It is possible this has been discussed between his mother and the pediatrician.

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My son is almost 4 he is not tongue tied had everything checked shows no signs of autism has a vocabulary of maybe 10 to 15 words and he has been doing speech for almost 2 yrs he is just very stubborn and the baby of the family so everyone speaks for him or just knows what he wants

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He needs to be evaluated ASAP!! There are tons of services to help him. He should be talking like crazy now!

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My daughter was the same. Found out her ears were FULL of fluid and couldn’t hear. Tubes fixed her up. By that age though she needed speech therapy to catch her up. You should definitely get him checked. Could be something very fixable

My grandson didn’t say much at that age and I was so concerned . He just turned 5 and is a non stop chatterbox now . I would have him checked but don’t worry yourself sick like I did .

Get him checked for hearing and autism

This should have been caught by the pediatrician along time ago. Doctor, and Also, have them bring him in for his early childhood screening thru the school district, they have resources as well.

Get a hearing and vision test.

My daughter didn’t found out she couldn’t hear hearing aid and speech teacher

Does he have stability issues as well? If so make sure you also have his hearing/tubes checked as well; my daughter didnt talk much come to find out it was a hearing issue

PARENTS!! This is why the regular “well child” doctor visits are SO important. They would have caught this stuff. It’s really hurting the kids not taking them in to the pediatrician as recommended.

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My son was 2.5 and saying very little. We were lucky enough to find a study at a local university, so he was evaluated for free before and after the 12 week intervention. He gained at least 10 months in language in just a few weeks. Now he is just over 3 yrs old and talking in full sentences.

I definitely suggest at least getting an evaluation to see if it’s just lack of interest in talking yet, or if there’s a bigger issue that needs to be addressed.

For us, it was just I didn’t understand how he needed to learn, and he rather play/do rather than talk about it. Got help and he took off!

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Yes, take him in. Speech therapy has done wonders for my son.

My son talked late also. Took him to all kinds of specialists and they all cleared him. It wasn’t until I took him to the dentist they said he had a teepee shaped palate and nobody told me. Basically his tongue didn’t fit correctly to make the sounds. He’s 15 and perfectly fine now.

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I didn’t say a word until i was 4.5… mom did take me to all kinds of docs and they said I’d talk when i was ready. When i did speak, i had the vocabulary and pronunciation of a 30+ year old. :woozy_face: not sure if it helps but doesn’t hurt going to get a docs opinion. Just to have some peace of mind. Wish you the best

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My son barely spoke until he was in school. And even then he didn’t talk much. He is 22 and he doesn’t have problems. When he went into the service though he had to practice yelling.

My oldest didn’t at that age either. Put him in speech therapy with his head start and he caught up before kindergarten.

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If his parents have been taking him to the Dr for his check is this should have already been brought up.

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My daughter wasn’t talking at 3 yrs old so I took her to a speech therapist and they helped my daughter learn to talk.

You need to contact your pediatrician immediately. Also, your state has some sort of program called Parents As Teachers. This is a free developmental program for children that are newborn to 5 years old. They employ certified teachers, nurses, family counselors, and/or social workers that comes to your house semi-annually to have a “play date” with your children. These are usually professionals who are working part-time while raising their young children at the time & just don’t want to work full time when their kids are young. They do developmental tasks that are age appropriate and give you age appropriate activities to do with the kids. They are also screening for signs of problematic areas, like autism, speech delays, & possible bigger medical issues. They will tell you if they think you need to get advice from a professional. Before covid they also had group activities at least twice a year. Not sure with covid. We loved it.

Take him to speech. That’s really old to not be communicating with others

Social services was involved with my son at age 2 yo & recommended a behavioral evaluation

He’s 12 now & still requires services…
Your family dr could refer you to someone or even mental health

I would absolutely get him evaluated for Speech Therapy services. His pediatrician should have already suggested it at this point. If not would be looking for a new PCP for him as well.

My son is 2.5 and says very little but does do sounds, his pedi said it could be just cause my oldest is a chatterbox and is basically speaking for him. I wouldn’t worry too much, just take it day by day.

Please have the little guy checked out as it is possible he can’t hear properly.

Had the same issue with my child. He got tubes in both his ears. Within 2 days he was talking and now won’t shut up lol.

If he’s your nephew and you’re not raising him mind your own business

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I didn’t start talking till i was 3 as well. So I’ve been told by my parents and older brother. Im now 40 and never an issue with health. Just a slight learning disorder. I couldn’t learn with a teacher teaching. Hands on 100%

Just curious if it’s something the parents work on with him taking the time to teach him so n so n reading , could also be hearing , or even somthing eles best to take him in next thing u know he could b 6 n still nothing it’s never hurts to check with a doc

You didn’t say if he was an only child or had older siblings. We had a relative who’s son didn’t talk because he didn’t have to,anything he wanted he pointed at and his older siblings got it for him

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Not your kid. The parents most likely have already been to the doctors over this.

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If he doesn’t talk at all to parents then yes his parents should seek professional help. If it’s just because he chooses not to speak to you then that is different. at that age he should be uttering words, it is very concerning. He may have a medical need or just need speech therapy. He should at least be uttering one word to communicate. Definitely ask for a doctor referral for an evaluation to find out what kind of services he needs so you can support him.

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My son was non verbal and at his 2 year WCC I mentioned it to his pediatrician. He was tested and diagnosed with autism. They should be talking by 2.

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My daughter is two and is a huge chatterbox. When were around others she doesnt know well shes very quiet. Maybe he just doesnt feel comfortable with you. Or maybe his parents already know and are dealing with it and just dont want to talk about it because it stresses them out

Get his hearing checked!!! I had to go through speech therapy because I had hearing problems and didn’t talk til after 2

My youngest son didn’t talk at the age. He went to speech and opened right up. Turns out he was just stubborn being baby #6 (2 for me). Everyone would get whatever he pointed at so he didnt feel the need to talk. I ended up leaving my now ex husband so there just me and my 2 boys now. But it got better around the time there weren’t so many people giving him what he wanted without him talking. They said that could be part of it. He didn’t have a need to talk before.

Any child who doesn’t even say small words by two should be evaluated even if it is they just don’t want too. You need to know just in case he is struggling on the spectrum somewhere. Not all autism shows as stimming or head banging etc

Definitely have him evaluated as the sooner he gets help with his speech the better it will be for him

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Is the family bilingual? Some children hearing more than 1 language will be delayed in speaking. They soak all the languages in by listening and then when they do speak they speak both languages.

I question why their physician does not already know this. Are they not taking him for routine checkups? If not, they need to ASAP. At 3 1/2 he not only needs routine checkups but not talking at that age can certainly signal problems.

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He may have ear problems. Maybe try a speech therapist or something to that nature. Or just delayed in some way. My 7 year old had some talking issues and went to a speech therapist.

First get in touch with school district for evaluation. They should give appropriate services. Next get his hearing checked along with lip and tongue tie. Get on wait list of a developmental ped for evaluation.

Are his parents concerned? It’s really their business.

Yes get him checked for autism my step son is 8 years old and has non verbal autism he still doesn’t talk

I would take him in and have him checked…it could be a hearing thing or something else like a tongue tie…I had a friend whose little brother didn’t talk until he was just about 5…he never said a word then one day he popped up talking…no one even knew that he knew how to say words…I would still have him get checked out just to make sure nothing is actually wrong…that is if his parents are concerned about it…at age 3 kids should be talking in full sentences, describing life events, asking questions and what not…

My daughter was 3 and still not talking. We had a dr. appointment, and the dr. said that we would start further testing (she had already had hearing test) but she thought that she’d start talking when she had something to say. The very next day she started talking in full sentences and hasn’t stopped sense. Her dr. and I still laugh about it.

My daughter didn’t speak much at 2, we got tubes put in her ears and she was astounded at hearing noises in the recovery room, she hadn’t been hearing so hence, no speaking!

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Plus, if they have older siblings who always talk a lot or talk for them, that can make a difference, too.

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Early intervention is never a bad idea. Speech therapy never hurt anyone!

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I went to pediatric doctor for my baby there was a same problem with a boy just like your nephew and the doctor recommended his mother to decrease his screen time to zero level. This will let him easily to learn from the surroundings

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Definitely needs speech therapy or atleast to be seen by a pediatrician. Thats a little old to not be saying even a single word…

My son is 15, he didn’t use sentences til he was 5 almost 6… we had him tested at 3 and they said he was has the vocabulary just chose not to talk. He still doesn’t talk much but is top of his class. My daughter also didn’t talk til about 5, needed speech in Kindergarten and now is 14 and doesn’t stop talking. My younger two children have been talking since birth. Lol

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Everyone keeps saying speak with your doctor it should be your health visitor you speak too regarding this :blush:

if he isn’t saying anything at all that’s not good.

If you speak 2 languages at home it’s normal. But chat to your dr he might need a little encouragement with a speach pathologist.

My son didn’t talk till 4 -and a half
He did speech therapy at 3 but made no difference
School helped the most x

Is some kids just don’t talk until they want to. Some of mine were early talkers some of mine didn’t talk until they were like almost two two and a half and once they started they spoke sentences so each kid is different you can always talk to the doctor about it there’s nothing wrong in getting things checked out buteach child is different I knew someone that didn’t talk until they were five and it was just because she didn’t need to now she talks all the time

There’s a group on Facebook called… TRS - a heavy metal detox… I suggest that you join the group and read all the posts. This stuff has helped many little children start talking. Worth every dime.

My MIL told me my kids dad didn’t speak until he was a toddler. Around 3 or 4 started speaking in full sentences. I would talk to his Dr. If it were me tho

My son started talking after he joined school… he was more then 3 yrs old… seems like boys are more slowly… have talked to his pediatrician??

My question would be does are you teaching him two languages at the same time my nephew was about two and a half before he started talking you could tell he understood everything and he could get everything he wanted from you without uttering a word lol but it was because he was learning two languages once he began speaking it was as if the floodgates opened up them not talking doesn’t mean something’s wrong all the time sometimes they are very very observant and simply don’t like talking or want to try it other kids are different I would speak to the doctor let’s see what they say

Julian lost his hearing twice and he stopped talking both times. Ear infections.

Speech delay. Have his hearing screened and ask for a speech referral

Have his hearing checked

My daughter got sent to a speech pathologist and they did all kinds of test and came back fine she’s 4 and is berly putting sentences toghther ! I wouldn’t worry each kid goes at there own pace !

I swear this was my daughter. I would ask EVERYONE if it was normal that my 3 yr old didn’t speak any words whatsoever. I was terrified to send her to preschool because she couldn’t talk. Within a few months, she was a chatterbox. Still is… she never ever stops talking. My husband and I look at each other all that time when she won’t stop and we laugh… who would have thought, my mute, talks more than any child I’ve ever met :joy:

My daughter was almost 4 when she started talking and she started working with a speech therapist as soon as she started school.

Ask your doctor to semd a referral to a speech therapist the sooner the better theres nothing horribly wrong with it but you dont want to wait to long because it could cause delays in learning in school thats what my dr said after my 2 yr old still wasnt talking shes been seeing a speech therapist for 6 months and omg the huge difference shes still not saying full sentences but shes saying way more words

Do the parents interact with the child? Child could have ear issues. Many children have ear issues that parents mistake for terrible two tantrums. Where either parents speech delayed as children? Get that kid to a pediatrician soon.

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You take him to the doctor! He may not hear! Good grief, even if he is just late there is a reason

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Be concerned. Absolutely consult his pediatrician. Needs an evaluation and testing. Why wait so long!?

Ask your doctor. My son started talking a little before he was 4. Now he’s 5, in kindergarten, and reading really well.

My son( almost 5)has been in speech for years and it’s made an amazing difference!! I would look into it. He may get frustrated once school starts that he can’t voice his thoughts or feelings and act out due to not being able to communicate or have anyone understand him.

Maybe he has nothing to say :woman_shrugging: