still not talking alot

my daughter is 19 months old on Thursday, she says 15 words max and she is so incredibly frustrated coz its up ther but she cant get it out and she says ehh ehh ehh all day long, driving us to breaking point and im sure its really hard for her as well so, im thinking about speech therapy but where do you go to get things rolling? the doctor?

i was talking to my DH about this the other day as our son is 17months and prob only has about 5 words and none are that clear. he too does the eeehhhhh eeehhhhh and glah glah glah for everything even though i have done baby sign since he was 3months old and spent lots of time trying to get him to say the word etc......he never got into signing and I still try and get him to sign now while teaching him the words so we have some form of communication and hes not frustrated as much as stubborn and CBA trying!!

I will perserve for a bit longer but I will probably look at speech therapy if it doesnt change soon

My first child didnt speak much at all. he didnt even call me mum till after he was 2. I wouldnt worry about it too much yet.

if you look in your well child book it only really expects them to say a couple of clear words by their 15 month check up.

If you talk to Plunket or whoever you use they should be able to reassure you.

Edited by Bizzy

I just had to add that I was a bit miffed about the couple of examples used for a 21month old

    * point to a picture or sign, such as when asked "Where's McDonalds?
    
    * follow directions such as "drink your juice " or "sit down, please"


hmmmmm thinking that McDonalds and Juice arent really good references when we are trying to encourage healthier eating in our young ones!!! LOL........just an observation

I was worried about DS1 and his lack of speech. At 20mths I took him to our GP. He said he was well within the realm of 'normal' but that I could get his hearing checked for free at a clinic. I took him along and his hearing was fine and the woman doing the test was puzzled as to why I was worried, she said his hearing was fine and like the GP he was 'normal' and to give him a little time. Sure enough about a month later he went through a vocab 'growth-spurt' and we've barely been able to shut him up since

So I guess I'm saying, if you are really worried, go and see your GP or Plunket and talk to them about it. But as she is still fairly young, I'd keep an eye on it but give her a little time.

All the best!

Chickielou wrote: I just had to add that I was a bit miffed about the couple of examples used for a 21month old     * point to a picture or sign, such as when asked "Where's McDonalds?          * follow directions such as "drink your juice " or "sit down, please" hmmmmm thinking that McDonalds and Juice arent really good references when we are trying to encourage healthier eating in our young ones!!! LOL........just an observation

Hahaha, yea, good point. I know I was more relaxed about food than a lot of ladies on here when we had that food thread, but I do think they could have found better examples!!

HuMum wrote: All kids are different, I know lots of kids who are 2 1/2 nearly 3 who only have a handful of words, and few like my son who never stops talking (not 2 yet). Genetics can play a part, DH and I were both very early talkers, my sister wasn't tho and her boy is much slower at talking, but was an early walker... Personally enjoy the quiet while you can.....once they start they never stop!!!

Yip all kids are different, and everytime someone asks about speech and language development lots of people have stories about someone they know who was a late talker and was fine... But as an early intervention speech and language therapist I can tell you this is not always the case. Yes, more often they do come right on their own but sometimes there is an underlying cause for the difficulties and without assessment by a SLT it is impossible to tell which catergory these children fall into. My advice is always if you feel your child is falling behind what is considered typical development for speech and language (see below) then it is best to get an assessment done. It costs nothing but time and if there are real concerns then early intervention is much more effective.
It is unnecessary to see the GP or plunket nurse regarding speech or language problems as they are not fully trained in this area, so if people have concerns they can refer directly for an assessment.

here's a rough idea of the norms...
around 12 months first words start to appear. They understand names of familiar objects/people and some simple instructions.

around 18- 24 months they reach 50-60 word vocab and start combining words to make two word phrases. They are able to follow simple instructions and understand simple questions (i.e. give me teddy, where is the cat?, push the car). Their speech is 25% intelligible to strangers.

24-36 months - phrases of 2-4 words. Vocab of 150-300 words. They understand 2 step instructions (e.g. get your bag and put it in your room). Their understanding of concepts is improving (e.g. on/under, hot/cold, heavy, big/small, high/low, stop/go, slow/fast etc). Their speech is 50-75% intelligible to strangers.

36-48 months - length of phrases increase - 4+ words, They show understanding of questions, who, where, what etc...Their speech is 90% intelligible to strangers.

48 -60 months- complex intelligible sentences...

These are the averages based on normative data but the range is huge and up to six months either way is considered within the normal range. Therefore a child who is 2 could still be using single words or more complex phrases and still considered within the normal range.

With regards to dysfluent speech (I'm unsure whether the OP was concerned about a possible stutter or not?)- younger children will often go through a period of dysfluent speech, and this only becomes a concern if it lasts longer 6 months, or there is a family history of stuttering, or they are blocking and prolonging sounds as well a repeating...

That's the norms Caronz - 6 months either side is considered within normal range.

ETA- words at that age are often difficult to understand. They can be counted as a word if the have intent behind them, regardless of how they are pronounced. Parents often find when they actually start writing down their children's vocab they have a lot more than they thought.

Also somewhere between 18 to 24 months it is common for children to have a sudden spurt of language acquisition, so they may only have a few words then all of a sudden a lot more appear.

Edited by freckle

I doubt DS had 15 words by 19months. He is now 28 months though and talks heaps.

HuMum wrote: Personally enjoy the quiet while you can.....once they start they never stop!!!

Yeah it wont be long and I will regret ever saying anything!!!!