Normal, delay or other...and would you say anything?

[fruitloop]

I have a dcb (20 months...turns 2 is Dec) that barely talks. I have heard him say a handful of words and they aren't really clear or the pronunciation isn't very good. For example...the words he does say...bye bye - buh buh...shoes - shoooozzz...dog-daw. I know some words are not going to be perfect at this age and that is totally normal. This kid seriously sounds like an ape or a cave man. He whines and grunts for EVERYTHING and it's very nasally sounding like doing it/saying through his nose . The majority of the kids I've had in care have been WAY more vocal at this age. They can say at least 2 word sentences. The mom says he talks at home but I don't believe her. When he does "talk" (instead of grunt or whine) it is nothing but babble baby talk. There are no real words in there.

For me and my experience, this is not normal at all. I'm just wondering what other's thoughts are on this. Is this normal and he is just a lazy whiny kid who sounds like a grunting caveman or is there something more to this?

[Other Mummy]

Totally normal Fruitloop :)

At 20 months you have a wide range of what is" normal" speech . If he is communicating in other ways eg. Pointing to something he wants and there are no other delays it is not out of the range at all. boys tend to be a little slower in speech than girls, for the most part. If at 2 years old he has not gained any new words or lost the words he already had, then that would be a red flag. 4 months is a long difference from 2 years old. In 4 months he will probably gain many more words.

Are you working at all with him to build his vocabulary? Flash picture cards perhaps? I worked together with a speech therapist when my son was 24 months and learned a lot of tools I practice on my younger daycare children to help build their vocabulary. My son was a slow on talker at that age. Now at 9 years old he is the most expressive, articulate child I have ever met !!

[mimi]

Yup, completely normal. My dcb just turned 3 and is now putting words into small sentences. His speech took awhile to develope (though he understood everything) and now everyday he is saying new things. His mom did get his hearing checked to be just to be sure his speech delay wasn't due to a hearing problem. All my dcb's started talking after my dcg's. The delay rarely has to do with intellect, so just be patient. :)

[fruitloop]

Sorry, that should read 22 months because he turns 2 in Dec. See, this is so not normal for me. Most, if not all, are talking roughly 2 word sentances by about 18 months. I try talking to him, telling his what words belong with what object, etc and he just looks at me blankly andwalks away and then continues to grunt like a caveman. I have NEVER come accross a child like this.

[Bookworm]

I would say its normal. I had a boy in care just like yours. Seemed to understand everything I said to him, but his speech was well below that of some of the 16 month olds I had in care at the same time. Every child develops differently. I would, however, keep an eye on him and if I noticed no improvement say by 2.5 I would probably suggest his mom have him looked at just to rule out any delays.
Could also be that his parents don't encourage him to talk since they respond to his grunting and pointing and that is why he is so delayed.

[apples and bananas]

I would say totally normal too. I have 2 - 18 month olds. the girl is starting now to put sounds together to make words, but the boy is no where close. When mine were little the general rule that the parents should be able to understand them by age 2, everyone else should understand them by age 3. Just a guidline from what I remember.

[mimi]

I also have two 16 month old girls born 1 day apart. They are like night/day. One is walking, talking, mimicing me, nods her head up/down and very curious. The other equally intelligent, doesn't walk (scoots around), says mama and then vocal gibberous and not terribly curious. I have learned alot observing these two with their differences.

[daycaremum]

I answered you question on another forum, but found the link to "Small Talk" for you to check out. http://www.smalltalkinfo.ca/18_24mos.html#24mos

[fruitloop]

Thanks daycaremum. I'll check it out later.

[Crayola kiddies]

When the child points to his cup/a car/ball and grunts say " say cup" or what ever it is you want him to say and don't give it to him till he does .... If he just stares blankly repeat it again then walk away if he wants it bad enough he will use his words but if grunting gets him what he wants then what's the incentive. I had a dcb that was over two before he spoke anything other then mom dad uhoh. this child's parents also did all the talking for him ... For instance if we were outside and he pointed to a plane his mom would say oh plane .... Instead of saying "what is that"? Which would have allowed him to think and use his words .... He was just lazy and grunting worked perfectly!

[Sandbox Sally]

Some toddlers just take off one day. BFF's daughter was 3 before you could recognize discernable words from her, and almost four before she could string sentences together. She's 19 now and on the Dean's list at uni. :)

[Lou]

Definitely normal. My daughter was speakiing in full sentences by 18 months, but my son is just now starting to put 2 words together at 27 months and has recently had a language explosion as well! The 2 others in my care are both 25 months (and boys) and one is ahead of my son language wise, but not by far, and the other has a short list of about 10 single words that you can barely understand. The last one was tested and was still found to be in the normal range and expected to take off in a few months. I, too, encourage them to use their words instead of grunting and whining :)

[kidlove]

He could all the sudden begin real talk out of the blue one of these days and....no more worry. All kids seem to develop speech at dif paces. When I first started the daycare I remember thinking so many of the kids I came in contact with had "issues" with speech only because my kids talked clearly and near full sentences by the age of two. BUT alot of thinkgs come into factor for this.....genetics play a role, and learned behavior can (had a child with an autistic brother, severe autism and the non-autistic brother did pick up "learned behaviors" from the autistic bro.) they also only speak as much as needed. If they have super doating parents or older sibblings to do everything for them?, they don't have to talk as much. Some kids also spend too much time with a soother, binky, deet deet, pacy....what ever....they can't talk! Just give him a little and things may begin trickling out....encourage it also..can't have the toy until you say "please"....if you want the sippy say "water"....all that helps too. :)

[fruitloop]

Ok, if everyone says it's normal then I guess i go with that. although this isn't "normal" for what I'm use to, lol. Seriously...I'm use to having little mini conversations and kids telling me what they want or need fairly clearly by the age of 18 months. Maybe I'm just an anomaly or something. I just find it odd :)

[ilovetolive]

my first daughter didn't start talking until she was two. There was no problem, she was fine developmentally, just didn't feel a need to communicate verbally. Now, she talks so much I miss the early years!

[KingstonMom]

my son is 2.5 and still says many words incorrectly. dog = gog, milk =mil, do it= dootoo, thank-you=day-day, outside=side, TV=TT and the list goes on.
He went to speech therapy at age two and will be going again in 4-6 months. the wait is LOONNNGG!
i have other kids within days of his age and they can all speak pretty normally for a 2.5 yr old, but my son, only me and Dad can understand him.
I know he is slowly increasing his vocabulary and pronounciation and he will cathc up. Im not too worried about it.
On the flip side, unlike the others his age, he knows his whole alphabet, upper and lowercare, he can identify and count to 30, knows about 9 shapes and 10 colours, so I know he is a smart cookie, its just the speech he has issues with. I truly believe that a toddlers brain choose what to work on for a time and then once thats mastered, they focus onlearning a new skill.

[playfelt]

I have always been told the test of is there a problem is how much the child understands for their age. A child's receptive language is always ahead of their expressive language. If you ask the child questions or give them simple commands to follow if they don't seem to understand what you are asking then there are issues that need investigated.

[Momof4]

Usually boys are a little behind girls, but I have a 22 month old girl who is just now learning to say words although I know she has been understanding me for months. Do you think this boy understands what you are saying all the time?

I have a 23 month old boy who is off the charts with talking and language skills, but clueless in oh so many other ways it blows my mind. All children are different but by age 3-4 they should all be caught up and that's when to really get concerned I guess.

[kidlove]

has this child had ears checked and other things looked over? maybe it is possible of a little delay that will set him back from others "normal" talking. I have a little girl who is almost 3 years old and is still in a diaper, not much end in sight...:) and does not talk much at all, she is adopted (not sure on birth situation) but parents have been informed she will be expected to have a 6 month delay in all areas of learning. She too speaks very nasally if at all. everything sounds mumbled and "nosey" when she attempts to speak.

[daycarewhisperer]

Normal. I've had many kids who don't talk at this age. Honestly, it's a blessing. Soon enough they will be talking both of your ears off and you won't be able to hear them anyway. :) The range for talking is so huge. I've had a 15 month old who did full paragraphs all the way to a three year old who couldn't string two words together. I don't get too worried until they are around three and then have them evaluated. As long as the receptive language is good and they can follow one and two step directions, I don't get too worked up over the speech.