hi guys. i am new to this part of the forum but have been posting in the ttc bit for a while now. I am hoping that someone can help: my little boy is 2 (Feb) and although he understands every word i am saying to him, his language is really limited. He has probably got about 20 words and i am really worried that he is going to need speech therapy. Is there something wrong. He says "oh no" and "bye bye mummy/daddy" but isn't really stringing words together. Am i freaking out over nothing?

I know a girl who has a 19 month old and he only says "Mommy" "daddy" "no", and maybe a few other words. He doesn't really say much at all and he isn't a shy kid or anything. I think it's just that every kid is different and learns at a different rate.

Hmm im not sure , my daughter could speak sentences by 2 and is good with all words and knows just about anything. But thats my daughter every child is different. I dont know whats right or whats a problem as i have only my daughter to go from so im not much help.

But kiddies learn at different rates he will pick up and soon wont stop!!

the daughter of a friend of mine is nearly 3 and can only say words, even those are very limited and she cannot form any sentences at all!

she heard 4 different languages from birth on, though!

For his age, typically, he would be using 2 word combinations to express himself. So "Bye-bye Mommy" does show that he's understanding how language works. However, remember that all kids learn differently but get to the same point eventually. I've seen this in class with kids who start slowly but catch up in time. If you're worried, ask your health professional. You'll be reassured and given advice on what you can do to stimulate his learning if you like.

wow only just sen this thread...

Coby was 2 in Jan and hes just been refured to a speech person, he can say

wow
mum
oh no
charlie
dummy

thats it, but if you ask him to tell you what sounds animals make, dog cat horse etc etc he can do all of them
He knows what your saying and does what hes asked, he points to body parts when you ask him wehre they are and will get things if you ask him so i know he understands, he just doesnt speak!

he also says, there is it, but not in words, in the tone of voice if you get what i mean.

My sister little girl is 6 weeks older than Coby and you can hold a full blown convo with her, shes ace! i feel even worse about Cobys speech when im around her

x

hope you girls are alright !

My sons speech was very slow, he barely had any words @ 3. HV just said it would come in time.

Later found out it was a hearing problem, even tho he'd been discharged from audiology a good 18 months before.

He had learnt to lip read when his hearing was down. It came slowly and now he won't shut up lol.

My son has some speech problems too. He understands everything we tell him, has a lot of words in his vocabulary but he has trouble stringing sentences together. He rarely said anything at 2, it got better at 3 was saying LOTS of words and just now is starting to put words together, will be turning 4 in June and its getting better every day now. But he will need an intervention this year but the doctor said it shouldn't be a problem. He's a little behind he said but easily corrected. I would always feel bad when I heard other kids his age talking away and he had trouble. At least its getting better though, hope your LO's start talking more too.

ah thanks girls - it makes such a difference to know that it isn't just me going through this. He understands every word that he says and he says
mummy
daddy
dummy
NO
Oh no
Bye bye mummy/daddy
yes
granpa (not granma and she aint impressed!! LOL)
james - out of thomas tank
baby
in there
up there
not in there
wee wee
potty

he gestures a lot to get his point across. the other day my mum bought him a thomas tank jigsaw which is all the different characters - we were asking him where all the individual ones were and he correctly pointed out every single one - we were amazed. I honestly don't know how he knows which is which - but he does. All sorts were flying through my head as i am a bit paranoid about stuff. You hear so many stories don't you.
He is going for his assessment for 2 soon so i will ask the health visitor.
My friends all have little ones a similar age and their language is so much better - all girls though. Dont know whether that makes a difference.