Speech Development

[Redguard]

Would any of you say that a child's speech development is improved if they have older siblings that are close to their age?

Our daughter is 20 months old. She's currently an only child. We find that her speech levels aren't as developed as other kids (friends and relatives) her age, but another thing we noticed is that all these other kids we're comparing her to have older siblings.

Any thoughts?

She'll say mommy, daddy, snack, juice, amen, etc. But she won't combine her words into half sentences... Like "lift me up" or "I want juice"

 

[okiemommy26]

I don't think that. My daughter was an only child till she was 4. She loved to talk and she said complete sentences and everything. My son is 2 and he says some complete sentences but most of time not. Im not pushing it. Because he has been copying new words that we say he just doesn't say it all the time.

 

[andiesmama]

I'm not so sure about the sibling thing, but...

Andie is our only daughter (she's 30 months), and we were dealing with the same thing. One word or two, or even just pointing at something & not saying anything. My sister-in-law is a pediatric speech therapist, she told me that the tendency, especially with only or first children, is for the parents to either complete the sentences for their child, or to not "make" them ask for/say what they want.

Like, Andie would point to, say, her teddy bear...I would say "Oh! You want your teddy bear?" and get it for her....we had to break ourselves of "helping" her talk...and that made her start talking in more complete phrases & sentences. She probably started talking more in phrases by the time she was 2.

Just my 2 cents...don't even know if it applies to you guys but thought I'd throw it in!! Good luck!!

 

[Misnomer]

I'm not a parent but I've been around a lot of children and I think it mainly depends on the individual kid. For example, my niece was an only child and she is a chatterbox. She was using complex sentences by age 2, starting talking at about 13 months. My nephew however is going to be 27 months and he doesn't form sentences yet. He'll say a few words but I don't think I've ever heard him use a full or simple sentence.

 

[sara elizabeth]

I think kids that are talked to alot and expected to answer will develop speech sooner. Having older siblings that they play with all day can help. They also can pick up speech problems from older siblings. My 21 mo. old was starting to have a lazy R because his older sis does. She would tell him stuff like "that's a caw (instead of car)" and he would repeat it. So, I've had to be careful about that and try to work with both of them.

 

[Redguard]

I think kids that are talked to alot and expected to answer will develop speech sooner. Having older siblings that they play with all day can help.

I think that's the theory that people in my family are going with right now. We don't think that we're 'conversing' with our girl as much as another little child might.

They also can pick up speech problems from older siblings. My 21 mo. old was starting to have a lazy R because his older sis does. She would tell him stuff like "that's a caw (instead of car)" and he would repeat it.

You're not from Boston by any chance, are you?

 

[Derek44]

our son Ross is a quiet one. He's two, so he does usually say complete sentences, but not all the time. He still thinks baby Jesus is baby "cheezits"

 

[RadicalRabbit]

It varies child to child.

#4 at 15 months was talking in complete sentances. I recall her bringing me a piece of paper that had pencil marks on it. She proudly handed it to me and stated * I done my maff (maths) book mum*

#6 at the same age has *up, mum, dad, bath, ta and no* thats about it.

at about 18 months I take a note over a day or so and count the different words they say. I am content if @ 18 months there are over 18 words. (ooof oof for a dogs barking counts! - and I am not at all concerned about clarity at that stage) if not I take them to a speach development person, and also have their hearing checked.

Some children talk more with siblings, others let the sib do it for them (like my lil Thaddy Laddy)

 

[HeatherJay]

We're considering speech therapy for our 3 1/2 year old. She's been speaking in complex sentences since she was quite young, but she has trouble with pronouncing certain sounds. I LOVE to hear her talk, it's completely adorable, but hardly anyone else can understand her (being with her all day long, I understand every word she says). She leaves the first sound off of a lot of words...
cat = 'at'
kitty = 'itty'
go = 'o'
we have a cat named Leo = 'eo'
another cat named Smoky = 'moty'
Those are just a few off the top of my head. Anyway, we have an older daughter who has never had any sort of speech problem. And we've always talked to our kids and expected them to answer properly...like I said, Eden talks A LOT, lol, she just doesn't say her words properly.

We talked to some of the teachers at my older daughter's school today and they do offer speech therapy at a pre-school level, so I think we're going to try that out.

 

[lucypevensie]

I wish that I had sought out some speech therapy for my own daughter. She was able to do the barest minimum for her age of development. Her doc suggested speech therapy but I blew it off, expecting her to catch up in her own time. I think her speech difficulties have contributed to her reading difficulty. She's doing a whole lot better now, and the reading is really coming along. But I have the feeling we could have avoided some of the challenges by getting her a little help.

 

[CoffeeSnob]

#4 at 15 months was talking in complete sentances. I recall her bringing me a piece of paper that had pencil marks on it. She proudly handed it to me and stated * I done my maff (maths) book mum*

She also said "Mum, I fell on the concrete and scraped my elbow"

WHAT 15 month old uses the word CONCRETE??? I remember us having a laugh over that one

Anyway-- as far as my kids go-- my first born was not a big talker-- but she still isnt-- she's very quiet and reserved-- just like her daddy.

Noah will sit and talk your ear off about random subjects (like yesterday he was combining the forces of the Jedi and the Nutcracker ballet in a story to my dad...LOL). He utilized a rather large vocabulary by the time he was 2 (not so much like Rad's little girl tho)

Aaron-- now he's a different story. He'll be 2 tomorrow and only uses 2 words regularly and not always appropriately-- just saying dada to everything rather than to only dada.

To ease my mind, I had him evaluated and he is about a year behind in his development. They do a LOT of activities to come to the conclusions of where their development stands. We started therapy last week and he's already making some progress

If u are largely concerned about your child's development or speech capabilities, have your dr refer him or her out to a specialist that can check all areas of development and see if there is any cause for concern. They wont laugh if kiddo is right on target-- they realize how parents feel.

I used to get really annoyed with people that would compare my quite and shy daughter with someone else's outgoing and talkative kiddo.

It really is all a matter of personality and development-- but if you are really concerned-- go have kiddo checked-- its worth it to know if they need intervention (or not -- it can sure bring lots of peace to know either way)

 

[CoffeeSnob]

We're considering speech therapy for our 3 1/2 year old. She's been speaking in complex sentences since she was quite young, but she has trouble with pronouncing certain sounds. I LOVE to hear her talk, it's completely adorable, but hardly anyone else can understand her (being with her all day long, I understand every word she says). She leaves the first sound off of a lot of words...
cat = 'at'
kitty = 'itty'
go = 'o'
we have a cat named Leo = 'eo'
another cat named Smoky = 'moty'

my midwife has a little boy that did the same thing and it was a hearing issue with him-- it was correctable and he talks fine now--

I think you would be very wise to get her some speech therapy too

 

[HeatherJay]

my midwife has a little boy that did the same thing and it was a hearing issue with him-- it was correctable and he talks fine now--

I think you would be very wise to get her some speech therapy too

Hmm...that's interesting. If they don't check her hearing when we see the speech therapist, I'll see about have it checked. Thanks.

 

[mamaneenie]

Would any of you say that a child's speech development is improved if they have older siblings that are close to their age?

Our daughter is 20 months old. She's currently an only child. We find that her speech levels aren't as developed as other kids (friends and relatives) her age, but another thing we noticed is that all these other kids we're comparing her to have older siblings.

Any thoughts?

She'll say mommy, daddy, snack, juice, amen, etc. But she won't combine her words into half sentences... Like "lift me up" or "I want juice"

What your daughter is saying at 20mths seems alright to me. My son at 20mths was very similar in what he was saying. He was saying single words, and really didn't say much of anything until after his 2nd birthday.

When I asked the child nurse about it, she was saying that what children hear, is more important than what they say until they are 2. I was concerned and wanted a referral to a speech therapist, she basically said to me, that she wouldn't worry until he is 2.

If you know that your daughter can understand you. Can follow simple directions (such as please get me the ball) and things like that, then you probably don't have a problem. If she can't hear you, or looks confused when you ask simple directions, then you know you have a problem.

I also agree with what Andies mum said, if you complete her sentences, then she will not learn to talk, if you anticipate her needs, without expecting her to communicate, she will not learn to talk either. I find that even though my son is 3, I have to stop myself from getting things for him, before he asks. He has also learned that unless he can be polite to me, I won't get it for him either.

 

[Redguard]

What your daughter is saying at 20mths seems alright to me. My son at 20mths was very similar in what he was saying. He was saying single words, and really didn't say much of anything until after his 2nd birthday.

When I asked the child nurse about it, she was saying that what children hear, is more important than what they say until they are 2. I was concerned and wanted a referral to a speech therapist, she basically said to me, that she wouldn't worry until he is 2.

If you know that your daughter can understand you. Can follow simple directions (such as please get me the ball) and things like that, then you probably don't have a problem. If she can't hear you, or looks confused when you ask simple directions, then you know you have a problem.

I also agree with what Andies mum said, if you complete her sentences, then she will not learn to talk, if you anticipate her needs, without expecting her to communicate, she will not learn to talk either. I find that even though my son is 3, I have to stop myself from getting things for him, before he asks. He has also learned that unless he can be polite to me, I won't get it for him either.

Cool. She does well with understanding the things I tell her to do.

I was comparing her progress to a pamphlet that we received from the hospital that spoke of where she should be speech-wise according to her age... and based on the pamphlet, it seems as though she was behind.

I have the pamphlet here... here's what it says:

18 to 24 months
- uses 20 or more words
- combines two or more words, such as more juice
- uses many different speech sounds at beginning of words such as p, b, m, t, d, n
- takes turns "talking" back and forth with you
- listens to simple stories, rhymes and songs

 

[CoffeeSnob]

If you know that your daughter can understand you. Can follow simple directions (such as please get me the ball) and things like that, then you probably don't have a problem. If she can't hear you, or looks confused when you ask simple directions, then you know you have a problem.

I dont agree totally with this. My midwife's son had flat eardrums rather than timpanic or rounded-- he could hear his mom just fine and understand her but certain consinents and vowels would be drowned out because he couldnt hear all of the word because of the shape of his eardrum (it probably couldnt vibrate at the frequencies that were necesary for those sounds to be heard) and he would speak the way he heard.

She said that they surgically had them fixed and she said when they walked out of the hospital Taylor had his hands over his ears because all the sound was overwhelming for him-- so many sounds he had never fully heard before because they just fell flat against his eardrum.

Usually the speech therapist will recommend a hearing test-- its been brought up 3 times by Aaron's speech therapist and his occupational therapist now-- its a very good thing to do and they realize that speech and hearing go hand in hand. We just need to get the referral to do it-- my son is a bit younger than your daughter and its a bit harder to get him to tolerate a hearing test-- your daughter might be able to be tested wherever her speech therapy is. (and if they for some reason dont suggest or offer it-- get your dr to refer out for you)

I hope you get some good services and answers for your daughter

 

[LynnMcG]

Every child is different but we're also struggling with this with our 2 1/2 year-old son. He doesn't often use the first letter of words, like HeatherJay described. But we're noticing he's starting to put more words together. He's deffinately not where his sister was at this age, but that's ok. I'm sure he'll excell at something else, somewhere down the line. In the meantime, we're doing what we can to help. We try not to speak for him, but try to make him tell us what he wants (not pointing). We're reading to him, finally. He wouldn't allow us to read to him until very recently. We sing songs, we're using LeapFrog toys... Whatever we can do to encourage his speech.

 

[Redguard]

I've heard that boys pick up on speech a lot later than girls do.

 

[RadicalRabbit]

I dont know about that either.

they say boys potty rain later and thats one I have seen to be incorrect.

We had a 15 monther (#5) hearing tested due to a speach regression. Its amazing how they test the littlr children.

I think becuase #4 had been so advanced and the next one wasn't anywhere near there I had a fit and demanded assesments.

She does have a minor hearing issue, but one we can work with very easily