My doctor said my son should be talking more: Advice?

Give him time! He will get there

The best thing you can do as a parent to help him is enteractive reading. So like read books with him but not the words per say, but the pictures. So point out the pictures in the book, like ball or bike bear or blue ball brown bear ect, and ask him to repeat you. “Do you see the bear?” “Can you say ball?”. Or while driving, point out objects in your or his vision. So like see the cow? Can you say cow, truck, tree ect. Hope this helps

You wait. I bet he is silently taking it all in, listening and then bam! He will he speaking fluently :blue_heart:

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I had this similar issue with my daughter. Wasn’t much of a talker till she started going to daycare & interacting with kids her age. After that it was never an issue!

Have you had his hearing tested. Similar situation my daughter couldnt hear due to fluid being stuck in the eardrum

I have 4 boys I find that boys can be slower at milestones as they are less mature but I sent 2 of of 4 for speech for different things but before speech I got the hearing and sight tested and I could have avoided speech on one if I realised he had inflamed tonsils so lack of sleep and no concentration was his fall back but talked really well but his sounds were bad my oldest some had telegraphic speech so he only uses the key words and his always shy straight to the point which were working on now but every child is different I did nothing different in growing my boys up and it is very noticeable which pickup things quicker and who doesn’t but that’s what makes my boys I help them and support them in extra help . And I found comparing them makes it worse for me .

My first son by 2.5 spoke in full sentences using words I didn’t even know he knew, and he hasn’t shut up since. He will be 6 in July. My middle boy however is going to be 3 in April and he has been going to a speech therapist for about 8 months. I think it has done wonders for him. He still isn’t using full sentences, but he is starting to parrot us a lot which I think is helping him as well.

My son was slower at talking but we found out he was having repeat ear infections and once he got tubes he picked up so many words in the first two weeks.

My son didn’t talk until he started preschool at 3. He now doesn’t stop talking.

Every child grows at their own pace

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My son started talking at 2 1/2 years old. He is now 6 & will not stop talking :joy: give him time!

Does he have an older sibling ? We ran into this issue with my son. His sister who was 2 and half yrs older than him would talk for him. So that could be it as well. We had to atop her and explain that hes gotta say it. Took some time but within a couple months he was talking non stop

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I’ve noticed kids that do not go to daycare definitely show more tendencies of being behind. My daughter is almost two and she’s kinda behind others I’m noticing. We’ve been doing a lot more play dates and she’s coming around with words more!

My son was the same way, we had to put him in speech therapy.

My daughter will be 2 soon shes a preemie having a hard time understanding us and communicating she yells and shows emotion as well but only says 10 single words max there putting her in speech therapy, maybe they could refer you to something along those lines although he sounds like he’s just slightly behind not severly…

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If you know that he has no hearing issues or any other health issues just let him go at his own pace. He ca communicate it sounds like

Hearing test
Dentist/ Dr to see if he has a lip or tongue tie
Speech therapy if you are really concerned

If there is nothing wrong, I’d give it another 6 months or so.

Both mine were late talkers and now they (3 & 4,5 years old) won’t stop talking :rofl: to give a more detailed example, my son only started with 2-3 sentences at about 2,5 years old. He turned 3 now and like I said, won’t stop talking. Like long sentences, telling stories, asking a million questions. Many of my friends’ children were also late talkers and there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.

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Go with your gut and ask for a referral to a speech therapist for an evaluation.

And once he starts he won’t stop! I would use sentences back to to my son. Like if he handed me his cup and said juice. I would say back do you want more juice or can I have more juice please. Just simple things. Sometimes they aren’t quite sure how to put the words together.

All kids are different. And learn differently. I wouldnt worry about it. He will speak sentences when hes ready. Then he won’t stop lol. There’s nothing wrong with him. Hes moving at his own pace.

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They are only 2 years old. Still baby’s.

My son was always a little behind what they said he should be until around 4. I wouldn’t over worry but it can’t hurt to get things checked out and work with him a little more.

Does he hve older siblings

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My youngest son was exactly the same. He had a few sessions with speech and language but once he started nursery he began stringin sentences together and was signed of from speech and language. Hope this helps x

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My son will be 3 end of next month he’ understands everything knows some colours explain what he wants in his own way but not speaking as quickly as older two siblings think it’s laziness but hoping he wil speak more at nursery this year once he starts

There is something called ASQs. It’s a guideline to where kids should be as far as developing. If you are worried, you can find that and work it.

Both my son’s done speech therapy and it didn’t really help them much. They hadn’t said a work until they were 2 yrs old and my oldest son just randomly started talking like he knew how to the whole time. It’s like they know how but they just don’t want to.

My son is 3 and a half and just started speaking more. Boys are a little slower at talking but usually more physical

Get him into speech also start checking with the school about a Pk3 program it helped my son alot.

My god son was the same until he started daycare he’s three now and won’t stop talking. He’s still got a lot to catch up on but he’s made great progress in the last 6 months. Don’t stress he’ll do it at his own pace. Have play dates with children slightly older

My daughter is almost 2.5 and had been saying full sentences since around 2.
She will say “mummy that car blue”
“I want to go outside”
“Can I have a dinnnnk”

Yelling and screaming is a sign hes getting frustrated with himself not being able to communicate.
I would start speach therapy if possible and daycare will help alot

That yelling and screaming… is this quite a lot?

My son wasn’t talking as fast as everyone thought he should. And now he doesn’t stop talking. When he was that age he didn’t talk because he communicated in different ways to get what he wanted. I wouldn’t stress over especially if he does talk just not a lot.

My son had/has a bit of a speech delay… he is 5 tomorrow and does not shut up. Lol. When he’s going too fast he will mess up a word or two but once he slows down and collects his thoughts he talks just fine.
I do believe girls mature a little faster than boys when it comes to speech however i feel boys exell a little more when it comes to mobility. But thats just my opinion on all the kids around me and that ive been around.

Have you had his hearing checked? Might not be hearing certain tones, can be very frustrating for little ones.

My little boy is 2 and a half and doesnt speak yet, he’s being referred to hearing specialists but we have been waiting 2 months so far, he doesnt go to nursery either

I wouldn’t worry as you say he knows alot he may not be able to say everything but it come soon hes only 2 x

If he’s a younger sibling, that could explain it

My son was the same way, and now he never stops talking lol

Einstein didn’t talk till he was 4, just saying.
:two_hearts:

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My oldest just turned 4 and had trouble with talking. My 2.5 year old actually taught my oldest a lot of words. Sounds weird but that’s what happened. Now they both talk back and forth and it’s so funny sometimes.

I don’t think it has anythinh to do with being a boy. My friends child at 18 months old would say 2-3 word phrases consistently. By 2 he was speaking extremely well she spent probablt every waking moment really working with him. Shes a stay at home Mom so that may contribute? I had trouble with my daughter. She said no phrases or sentences at 18 months. Spoke 10 words. I did everything the speech therapist said to do & she talked pretty good by 2 but not as well as my friends child who was a boy. I also didn’t stay home. I worked 8+ hours a day.

He will get it. If hes an only child I think that makes a difference sometimes too. Lots of role play, repeating words of things. He will start to mimic. If he says dog, say yes big dog and he will copy. Keep expanding the sentences. I think some kids are very independent and dont need to talk. My son was same and would go get what he wanted as opposed to asking for it. I started putting things up so he had to ask for the red ball and started giving choices do you want the red lolly or blue sweet. He started by pointing, over time would say blue or red then the lolly or sweet came.

Boys don’t talk as much a girls. My son could talk but didn’t do it much until he started school. He is 19 now and still only talks when he has too. Just his personality. Don’t worry too much sounds like he understands well and expresses himself when necessary.

My now 8 yr wouldn’t talk right away we were working with her as well mine does have older siblings some part middle sister other times wouldn’t. She didn’t really start really talking till in preschool. She would always point at what she wanted I said tell me no point I dont know what u want like cereal if didn’t know name of it I said tell me color of the box not point.she did get better after preschool though.she was 3 yrs old when started talking more.

My dude got told the same thing at his 3 year old check up. And guess what 2 weeks later he was spouting off sentences like you wouldn’t believe.

My son was speech delayed and didn’t start til 3 cause that’s when I put him in daycare. It just helps their speech, some are slow speakers. Particularly, boys. The dr said "by the time you get speech therapy he will already have started speaking ". Terrible, but true. But trust me once theybstart they don’t stop.

My son did not start talking until he was at least 3…was in speech therapy…they said he had a hard time using his tongue to pronounce words…just keep working on it…my son will not stop talking now!

Never hurts to look into Early intervention.

Get ABC Mouse! Works wonders!

Every kid is different… they do things when they want… :woman_shrugging: (I have noticed my boys were slower about things than my girls but that doesn’t really mean anything) I would however recommend taking him to someone for speech and maybe getting him looked at for autism… (if you’re overly worried about it)

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I personally would give him a little longer… my son was exactly the same way at 2 and 2.5 and our doctor also said the same thing. I chose to wait it out a little while and keep doing what we was doing. He turned 3 in November and he talks non stop. However he does stutter when he gets excited and he isn’t always clear so I’m still considering it even tho his doctor is no longer concerned. I wouldn’t be too concerned tho I believe boys do talk later than girls. Like I said I waited for my son and he just out of no where started talking non stop.

My son is 2 years and a half and barely speaks . He is spoken in French in the day care, and at home he is spoken in Spanish and English sometimes. He understands perfectly when we give him commands in all those languages. Now recently he started to say more words in French . Some kids doesn’t speak until they are 3 years old, other kids are talking at 1 year. That’s what my doctor said.

My second child was a no talker for quite some time. He was 3 ish before talking. He apparently just had nothing to say. Give it time.

My daughter didn’t speak much at first. She could say the basic words like mum dad eat ta. Things like that. We thought for the first 4 years of her life that she was deaf in one ear. And no doctor or nurse would take us seriously because she would pass all her hearing tests. They would just tell us she was lazy. My son that’s 2 years older then her use to speak for her. Got to the point where we actually started believing she was lazy with her speech and we would tell off our son for speaking for her. Until we moved states found a new doctor and got a full check up done and we mentioned it to the doctor, he didn’t do a hearing test at all, all he did was look inside her ear and he said wow. Her whole ear canal was full of hard compact dry wax. And it had dried to her ear drum.
We had use this stuff called waxol to soften the wax enough so he could use this machine to suck it out her ear. It took us a few months to make the wax soft but it was better then doing surgery.
She has improved everyday since having the wax removed.
The doctor described it to us as imagine covering your ears with something and everything you hear is muffled, that’s what it’s like for her. She could only here part of the words we were saying to her.
It’s been almost 3 years since and she can speak like there was never an issue.

Every kid is different hel talk when he’s ready

My first son was talking in full sentences by a year and a half super smart picked up on everything so quick. My second son just turned a year in January and can only say maybe three words . Every kid is different :woman_shrugging:t2:

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Everyone does things at their own rate. He will be ok.

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My daughter didn’t talk until shes was 4, my oldest daughter always answered for her

My son (3) talks like crazy, has since he was about 12 months old but my friends 3 year old had to have speech therapy. Every kid is different! I wouldn’t worry too much as long as he is talking.

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My son was nearly 4 years old before he talked in sentences… and even then he didn’t do it much. My entire family was convinced he was on the spectrum and that I was blind to it being I was his mother. Fast forward… he’s a very funny, talkative and outgoing 15yr old sophomore in HS with a 4.2 GPA. It’s easy to worry, but some kids just take longer (he has a sister 11 months older that was talking up a storm at a year old).

My son is two and he’s the same.

Mentally, girls are ahead of boys, and boys are ahead of girls physically. I know we’re in a middle of a pandemic but how is your son in social settings with other children?

But ALL children are different in ALL different ways. Just keep having conversations with him. If your wanting him to talk more, Challenge him a bit but don’t over stimulate him. As soon as he drops interest change the activity/setting. If your super comfortable with how he is keep doing what your doing mama!

ABC MOUSE!
Helps so much with everything

When my son was just over a year and a half, our pediatrician put us into an Early Intervention program for his speech because he was not where he was supposed to be. Since then we have discovered more developmental delays. I would see if you can find something like that, most states have a state funded or insurance covered Early Intervention that would set up speech therapy or something. Doesn’t hurt to have extra help.

Have his hearing checked he may not can hear good

My grandson understood everything but didn’t have much to say his little sister talks much more than he did at 2 but like all these mommas have said. They do it at their own pace don’t worry

My son is in the exact same place. He’s 2 and 4 months and at his 2yr check up, the doctor recommended taking him to speech therapy bc, like yours, he doesn’t say phrases like, “more juice” but he does know numbers 1-10, all primary colors and some extras, and since all that came about, my husband has been reluctant to do speech therapy and just wait to see how he progresses in his own. Every child is different and, imho, if you think he needs a little extra help, it can’t hurt. Go with your instinct. Good luck, Mama!

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My son had the same issue I put him in Missouri first steps and now he’s going to school for speech and communication skills its called head start. he is doing perfectly fine. he is talking, says full sentences. boys just take a while to pick up words but if you’re really that worried I would look into Head Start and see if they can help you!

my son is the same age as yours and is also same position. every kid is different… but all my kids were slower with making sentences and the bigger ones had no problem afterwards

I would not worry one bit! Kids learn everything on their own time, and I cant say I didn’t worry about these things myself. My doctor told me my son might need speech therapy before the age of two because he wasn’t speaking enough words… Now he’s 2 1/2 and can say basically any word i ask him too. It all comes in time, and sometimes doctors judgement on these things are ridiculous. Wait another 3 months and the difference will be crazy! They learn so much over such a short amount of time!

Ok not to be “that mom” but it couldn’t hurt to get him screened. I am both a mother of a child with autism and of a 2-3 year old boy. Yes some do speak at their own pace but again it couldn’t hurt.

My stepson didn’t speak till he was 4. Now he lives for the sound of his own voice :grin: Things can change.

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My son is about to be 3 and was a late speaker. Recently tho he started saying a lot . I constantly talk to him tho like car rides I’ll point at things or colors and say what they are to him . He doesn’t like repeating much of TV or books so I ordered these posters on Amazon and he loves them . Anytime he says something like “mom juice” I say can you say mom can I have juice but super slow and even if he just adds a word I reward him . It’s a lot of repetition

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My 2.5 is in speech he doesnt even speak as much as ur little one. Hes in a program called birth to three here and its helping a little. A little help never hurts

I think boys are just slower to talk. My son, who was also my first child, started talking late. He was about 2 1/2 when he started talking more. He could say pretty much all basic words a baby/toddler says, he just didn’t put multiple words together until later on. Our daughter started talking early. Idk if its that she’s a girl, or that she was the second child and her brother was already talking? She could put 2-3 words together by 9-12 months and spoke full sentences by 18 months. She hasn’t shut up since. :rofl: as long as he talks, even if it’s just basic words, I wouldn’t be worried. Every child is different and progresses at their own pace.

My son barely spoke until he was almost 4. I asked his doctor and she said he had no complaints to leave it alone.

You should consider putting him into a pre-K program. Many local churches offer programs and it will help him immensely.

Boys are definitely slower learners than girls are.

He doesn’t have to use words because he uses tantrums and stuff. Make him use his words. Some boys are just a little slower. I’m

I honestly was the same way growing up. I talked, but no one understood me but my siblings. My mom used to yell at my siblings when they would translate me for her when she tried to get me to talk. I didn’t really start “talking” in my own until I was 5. And was forced into speech therapy for 10 1/2 years because of it. :roll_eyes:

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My daughter is the same way she can talk and communicate with out full sentences i just keep working with her on it and sometimes she does other times she doesnt im not to worried because when she really wants something she will use her words and ask for it if she doesnt use her words then i wait until she tells me what she wants it might take her a bit of me asking if she wants this or that but once i say the word she wants she will use her words and ask for it it is just a repetitive game thats all

My son is the same way I wouldn’t worry about it. We used to have some hearing issues. Also did tubes several times. My son isn’t 3 yet but is catching up

To Rule out things before hand is useful. Request a earing test and get put on the wait list for speech and language. Doesn’t hurt to rule things out.
Talk to them often, when they point out something say the name of item, hand them their cup… say cup.

Check out @speechsisters on IG or their webiste

My son is 2, will be 3 in July. When he was younger he only babbled didn’t say many words or make animal sounds, had less than 20 words still at age two. I knew there was a delay. I asked for a speech evaluation and he has a moderate expressive speech delay. We started working with speech since August of last year and he has improved so much!!! Have him screened, you want him to have all the tools available to him to succeed in life. A lot of it shows you how to work with him more as well. Maybe he should be doing xyz and you didn’t know, the therapist help guide you as well. But I will say, use your states program for this as it is substantially cheaper! You pay on a sliding scale based on income. We have insurance but it barely covered anything leaving our payment like $250 per session, now we only pay $45. They age out of the state program at 3 so don’t wait! At 3 they transition them over to the school system for continued therapy.

My son has a cochlear implant on his left side. His right ear is perfect he can’t hear out of his left. He got a little delayed around 2. His speech therapist said to start talking to him in two word sentences. Like big airplane. Or small cookie. Just two words. But don’t say “say big airplane” just point and say “big airplane”. Within two days he was repeating us and within a week started saying things on his own. By his next appointment he was caught completely up.

My son sounds Abit like this. He didn’t speak sentances till he was almost 4, only just learnt to write his name just before 5, I had concerns too. He’s 9 now and although not the most academic, he’s where he should be and developing fine in all areas. We all just develop at our own pace and from what I read, your son sounds like he’s doing well. I wouldn’t worry at this stage, just keep doing the awesome job your doing😁

My daughter (our first child) was like that. She wasn’t speaking much by 2.5 and we were worried so we put her in speech therapy. I feel like it helped in a sense that it helped us figure out better ways to help her. By the time she was 3 she was speaking a little more. I feel if we hadn’t done speech therapy she would’ve come around either way though. My son (2nd child) will be 3 in May and he talks up a storm. None of my kids have been to day care so maybe that played a factor for my daughter since she was my first and not around other kids much at all. Maybe my son speaks a lot more because he learns from hearing his sister and wants to be able to play with her? I would say if it really bothers you then look into speech therapy but I wouldn’t worry so much until he’s around 3 or so. Each kid learns at their own pace. It sounds like your doing a great job and everything in your power to help him and similar to what the speech therapist did with our daughter. If he communicates and understands you then he’ll come around when he’s ready.

TALK TO HIM. Many kids arent talking at age levels. When you do anything talk to him about whatever you are doing. Mention the colors of things, big or small. Explain what you’re doing. Have a conversation. (Child care worker 10yrs)

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It never hurts to get him tested. I know none of us want to believe there is anything wrong with our children but I was in the opposite boat… My child wasn’t talking much and i told the dr I was concerned. He said his son didnt start speaking until six that my kid was fine!!! I KNEW though so I got a new Dr who listened to me and started doing tests with him we found out at 3 almost 4 that he had low muscle tone and a few other disabilities. My poor sweetie went through his first 3 years of life frustrated only saying a few words and always pointing and making sounds. He would cry and throw himself down cause we didn’t understand what he wanted and he couldn’t tell us.

Some kids choose to be non-verbal at that age. Maybe get hearing checked out if you’re worried?

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Look into Early Intervention sessions for your child or ask your pediatrician about them, your insurance probably covers it. We did it with my daughter at age 2 and it really helped her start talking and using her language! She is now in prek, and she does have an IEP for speech, but she has made a ton of progress!!!

Has autism been ruled out. Many autistic children are nonverbal. You could also introduce him to sign language

I had to get infant and toddlers involved. She is doing great but now they are recommending more 1 on1 time or a preschool setting through the public school. Zoom meeting just are benefiting her enough.

Since you mentioned he isn’t in daycare is it okay to assume he’s not interacting with other kids often? If so I would say that might be why he’s a little behind. But if your stating everything above that he is doing I wouldn’t worrie to much until he hits 3… daycare before 2 for my sons was when I noticed them become much better talkers. Just keep doing what your doing momma an give him some more tile over the next couple months.

My son didn’t start speaking until then, he was too busy learning how to run and climb. My daughter spoke early but would trip over a hair on the floor til she was five. I read that the brain usually focuses on speech or motor skills. Don’t worry Mama he’ll get there just keep a running dialog when your with him.

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My son is the same way and I’ve asked for an evaluation. I am a former teacher and also worked in early childhood education. Early intervention is amazing, and I hate there is such a stigma with it.

My son is 2.5 and says a few understandable words but also says full sentences I cant understand, total gibberish.
Acts out, yells, screams gets super frustrated because he cant get his point across.
I have noticed that he doesnt look at us when we talk and I feel that’s the culprit in our situation.
Hes started speech and has been attending for about a month, just once a week for 30 minutes and hes making some progress.
I’ve started tapping him and then touching my nose to grab his attention and have him look at my face when I talk so he can see how my mouth moves. Makes a huge difference!!