IS my son normal for not talking at 2?

Charlene - posted on 11/08/2011

hey i noticed you posted this on here a while ago...i was just wondering how your son is doing now with his speech etc?my son is 28 months and went to his first speech therapy session this morning...any advice (if you are still active on this site) would be much appreciated,thanks ,Charl

Shiprasood - posted on 11/06/2011

My son was saying only one word M that is mumma till he completed two years.Docs said because his father was late in talking thats why he was also late and now he is 5 and he talks nonstop .So I thk u should check y family side .SEcondly if he doesnt talk at all then consult a doc it can be that he needs little more attention.

Courtney - posted on 11/04/2011

My son will be two on the 25th of November and a few months back we were a bit concerned as he seemed to not want to even attempt words until weeks later after he'd heard and KNEW he could say it, we started upping the encouragement and excitement when he said a new word and very quickly found that it made a difference, he now says about 35 words ( not including those he mispronounces) and uses them in context, and now is starting to say 2-3 worded sentences. He also didn't walk until he was 16 months!! Every child excels at different paces, its a matter of personal opinion and mommy intuition I think. Do what you feel is right, a momma always knows best ;)

Angela - posted on 11/03/2011

My son is 2 and has been in speech since his 1st birthday. Both my boys ages 3 and 2 have a diagnosis of dyspraxia. Speech is very difficult. And speech therapy is very important. I think it's wonderful you are getting an eval done and not waiting. My view is okay, maybe the child has a simple speech delay, but will eventually grow out of it, speech therapy or not. But if it's a disorder and speech really is the only thing that's going to help. really directed one on one... I'd rather do a bunch of unnecessary therapy for the time being and laugh about it later. Rather than kick myself in the butt and feel guilty for not seeking help sooner. Little brains grow and change so much between the ages of birth and 5.

Lacey - posted on 11/03/2011

i already commented on this, and I still stand with that it is normal. Its seems to me, first time parents are the ones who over react the most. If they dont respond to voice commands than that is one thing. But some kids choose not to talk, while others wont hush for a second! EVERY child is different. To the mom who started this thred, PLEASE let us know what has happened since. Thanks :)

Michelle - posted on 11/03/2011

My son is 2 1/2. He didn't talk when he was 2. He mostly pointed to the things he wanted however he did understand a lot. As months would go by he would try to pronounce a word or two. Up until last month is when he actually started trying. Now is his vocabulary is starting to boom out. He is trying to pronounce everything. and when he can't I pronounce it and he copies me until he gets it right. He is my first child and he doesn't really have any other playmates so I think that played a big roll in it. I notice that his vocabulary really blossoms when he is around other children. I was worrying too but now as I read all the comments I'm starting to realize that its normal. I also heard that girls start talking earlier then boys. esp when they have brothers and sisters

Alisha - posted on 10/27/2011

My son is 2. I have just recently put him in speech therapy. I think it is helpful. He and I are learning some sign language to help communicate. So far I can only get him to sign "more" and he makes lots of noises and babbles here and there. I understand concern and I think I will stay concerned until I start to hear words and sentences. I guess I also worry b/c he doesn't listen to commands. I would say Thomas pick up the ball he would go the opposite direction and do his own thing. Not only do I have him in speech he is also doing occupational therapy as well. I find these programs very helpful and I know as a Mom I am trying everything I can. So I am hopeful all will work out but its just a wait and see and do what you can kind of thing.

Jenifer - posted on 10/24/2011

Usually a little one will not really begin talking until right around the 2 yr mark. It sounds like he is on track from what I have heard the pediatricians say. I have been told that the real speech becomes more pronounced by the 2-1/2 yr mark. I know my daughter talked alot, but my son (who will be 2 in January) also has a very limited vocabulary.

Melissa - posted on 01/24/2010

Hey. I know how you feel, my daughter has just finished speech therapy. I noticed when she was two she wasnt speaking properly- not saying very many words, and pronouncing new words wrong, but she understood everything and like your son could be extremely helpful even with out speech. I had alot of people telling me that she would pick it up in her own time and just to continue to read stories, sing with her ect. But I felt there was something not right and insisted that she have her hearing tested, her first 2 tests came back normal, but she was now three and the doctor advised speech therapy as her speech had not improved. She is now nearly five and at her preschool health check she failed her hearing test and is tone deaf in one ear. Thankfully her speech is great now but what I have learnt is that mothers instinct is usually correct if you think your son should be talking more and are worried about it speech therapy is a great option. Good luck and I hope all goes well for you.

CAROLYN - posted on 01/23/2010

My daughter was 2 in Nov 09 and does not say anything other than no and yeah. She has been assessed by the speech therapist. She is ahead of her age in symbolic play and understands everything you are saying. I suppose it will just come one of these days. Plenty of people have told me that they know children who did not talk until they were 3.

Anna - posted on 01/21/2010

I believe that if they are not saying at least 5-10 words that there is a cause for concern....so I have heard. It wouldn't hurt to look into it.

I don't have that problem as my daughter started talking at 16 months in full sentences. She is now 2 and speaks as if she were a 7 year old. It's crazy!!!

Michelle - posted on 01/21/2010

My two year old only said about 10 words. We had him evaluated and they did a hearing test. Everything was fine. He wasn't ready. We read to him every night. Thought he would be a talker because of it but hes not. The speech therapist told us there was NO problem that he would talk when he was ready. There was no reason to worry. He understands everything we tell him to do he just doesn't say anything.That was two months ago and hes saying more now. I wouldn't worry kids talk at there own pace.

LeAndrea - posted on 01/16/2010

I don't think it's normal. I think you should at least be concerned if not worried. At two years old, a child should be putting together two or three word sentences and have a vocabulary of at least 100 words. I would get early intervention for seech therapy invovled ASAP. It won't hurt him. It can only help. Perhaps he just needs a jump start or a trigger to start talking more.



At 18 months I noticed my son was a bit behind. Therapy did him wonders. But as his mom, I encouraged him through reading more, narrating what we ae doing, ointing things out, etc. Now, he has a vocab of over 350 words and phrases and puts four and even five word sentences together.

Annika - posted on 01/07/2010

my 2year speaks only few words..new words are comming few more in mont..slowly but he will speak,time will show:) dont worry, i wont eather:)

Sarah Aka Sandy - posted on 12/11/2009

I had 2 of my sons who did not say a word until 3 years old but when they did they put out whole sentences. I was pressured about speech therapy and such but never did. Some babies especially boys will run a little behind the girls. My 2 year old son is putting out sounds and trying to learn to talk but he understands when he is told to do to something. I would not worry unless there is an immediate reason medically he wouldn't speak such as vac. injury or such things as that. Also try not to compare your child to every child around you and in this nation or even the world. They really can't say for sure when a child will speak. Your son will talk in his own time when he has something to say. My son just turned 2 and he is just starting to put words together. This does not concern us b/c he is an individual. If your son can understand when you tell him to do something he is hearing fine it is just not his time for talking yet. Hang in there and try not to worry if he doesn't keep up with their charts for average...

Joanne - posted on 12/10/2009

I don't very often get on here and I should...I have been concerned about my daughter and her lack of speech as well. She certainly does her share of babble, but she only says a handful of acctual english.It makes me feel a little better to know that we are not the only ones w/ this concern at this stage. I plan to arrange for an evaluation. I know she has no hearing problems and it CERTAINLY seems that there is nothing wrong w/ her brain process! I know she understands what we say, but she is just not using words. I thank you all for your responses.

Cheryl - posted on 11/17/2009

I have a son who is about to "graduate" from speech therapy. We have heard over and over that speech should be evaluated by 18months if there is a delay of any sort. No words or not many words is a big red flag. There are some speech delays that take a lot of intervention to fix and the earlier the better. The brain fires a lot of connections before age five and most of them before age two. If your child has a speech delay that is related to a lack of connections, intervention before age two is ideal. We have a young cousin who had a speech delay that involved his brain not being able to tell his tongue how to get the words out of his brain. He could understand complex commands and requests, he could gesture complicated things like left and right, etc. He will be in therapy three years this year and still needs more help to completely compensate for his speech issue. Other speech issues involve saying just the middle of words (my son's problem). At some point, while he should have been learning to speak, he did not hear words correctly. It is now solved after about a year of intervention. It is the best move we made and he talks great now. He is also happier and less tantrum-filled because he can express himself and everyone understands him.
Check with your local school system to see how to get him evaluated. They will tell you if his particular issue needs a doctor's evaluation as to hearing or other medically related issues. The federal government requires states to provide early intervention for all "special ed" in order to get funding. Take advantage of it....

Alice - posted on 11/11/2009

Hi, Robin =)

It's really up to how you feel about it. My mum says that my younger brother didn't talk till he was around two and a half, he had a four and a five year old sister to communicate for him. Does your daughter tell you what he wants sometimes? Because that could be why he isn't communicating in voice himself as much, we apparently used to tell mum and dad what he wanted all the time.
By the way, my brother turned out fine, he went into University at age 15 and is annoyingly smart =)

Monica - posted on 11/04/2009

My sons doctor wants us to go to therapy as well. He doesnt really say anything except mumbles mama and everynow and then another word comes out. My parents just say to not panic too much becuase both my brother and I didn't speak until we were around the same age.

Lacey - posted on 11/04/2009

i just found this and hope to ease you... my nephew will be 3 at the end of this month. he started takling just this summer. everone wanted him to go to speech therapy and get his hearing tested. now he is fine. some kids just choose to be quit. i knew of a little boy who talked at home but didnt like talking to others including his teechers. he didnt have ANY problems so he wrote everything down, till one day he just started talking. i personaly believe if you take your kids in for something like this, the doc is going to find something wrong. give it a little while longer! He will probablt be fine! Good luck!

Kim - posted on 11/03/2009

My Son turned 2 today. and a few months ago the doctor wanted him to see a speech theripist as well. So i took him for the evaluation and they told me were he was slacking and gave me some ideas of some ways to get them to talk more, and it has worked pretty well. Just since then he is trying to or is saying at least 20 new words. So i would say that you might take him and see what they say. It may be something they can have you do at home. If your son is anything like mine he can tell you about anything without even having to speak.lol he is very detailed in his exprections. Good luck

Lori - posted on 11/02/2009

My son says mama, dada, and papaw, and that is pretty much it. I know he says other things I just can't understand him. Everyone tells me he will talk in his own time, and not to worry about it. I will probably bring it up at his 2 year appointment.

Barb - posted on 10/31/2009

We are in the same boat as you. My daughter will be 2 on the 19th and only says a handful of "words", she actually lost a few words. We started speech therapy, it's free through WI or some insurances cover it. It's called Birth to 3 in WI. We've only had 2 sessions so far but I've noticed a difference. Like yours she understands alot, the speech therapist thinks she may be too much of a perfectionist because she gets so mad if you force her. but through play we are finding she is talking more, also we learned a few new signs which gives her lots of confidence, and the stress level in the house is lower too because we can actually understand her. She's so proud now when she says a new word or sign!

Darla - posted on 10/23/2009

My younger son is the exact same age as your son and is talking in really short sentences. However, that being said, all babies excel at different things at different times and it does not mean anything as far as intelligence. Is your son very active? Sometimes they are more concentrated on activity rather than talking. I would follow the advice of your Dr. simply because if you see a therapist they can tell what is and is not normal and then you can go from there! The therapist knows what is within normal bounds and what is not. And, if your son does need therapy then he will get early help and begin to excel at talking! One of my friends put her son (who is the same age as my older son, now 3 1/2) in speech therapy at around 2 because he wasn't talking either and now he talks up a storm! :) Hope this helps!

Sarah - posted on 10/20/2009

I don't know if its bad. If he has a little sis talking up a storm he might not be talking out of jealousy. that is something i would ask if its possible because if he knows momma and dadda he doesnt have trouble with basic words.

Amber - posted on 10/18/2009

the doctors said my son need speech therapy it would help him out if he is not talking so it dose not put him back in school when he starts let he do it

Kristina - posted on 10/16/2009

Hey Mama! My name is Kristina My son will be 2 Novemember 16 and he only says around 3 words. I am putting him in speech therapy and someone is actually coming over today to evualte him.Its our job to get our children help in areas they need help.Your child is not weird or unnormal he just needs a little help and its better to get them help as early as possible. Hope i helped good luck mama .keep in touch

Rebecca - posted on 10/15/2009

maybe it is because my son will be 2 on the 20th november and he says over 100's of words hes really gud and he counts. maybe just get him checked out rebecca x

Jane - posted on 10/14/2009

Hi, I dont actually know any babies just about to turn two that are talking VERY well, my little boy who will be two on the 11/11 says loads of words and repeats words he hears all the time and he also puts words together, like "hello mummy" for example, but most of the words he does not pronounce properly! He says "Pease" instead of please and "Ca" instead of cat, "bot bot" instead of bottle. He also talks in his own baby language alot and hums and sings all the time, infact he is never quiet! lol I would talk to your doctor if you are really worried, but im sure he will be fine, I know a lot of children that are very quiet too at this age. He'll soon by saying mummy, mummy, mummy a thousand times a day! lol

Nicole - posted on 10/14/2009

My first child only babbled a little when she was 2. I was worried when she 2 & 1/2 & still wasn't talking in sentences like she should have. I took my concerns to the pediatrician & she recommended early intervention through the state. They came to the house & did an evaluation. They also recommended speech therapy for once a week. Which they came to the house & did for free. But I live in Illinois, so you would have to check how they do it where you live. As long as it was before the age of 3, it was covered by the state. But the earlier you catch it, the better it is for the child...that is IF he has a probem. My second child babbles up a storm but still isn't talking yet. He was born a few weeks after yours. Give it some time. But don't worry just yet. Some children develop faster than others. And he's not 2 just yet.

Anita - posted on 10/13/2009

Too soon to say but a delay does not mean he will not catch up to normal with some interventions. Getting an evaluation from your county is a great help also. 2 and not talking is a red flag to get some answers now not later.

Robin - posted on 10/12/2009

He says Hi and momma and dadda but thats it, good i think it will help him alot too and when u tell him to do something and he will go and do it. One time we were looking for my husbands shoes and we couldn't find them and my son he went right to where they were and handed them to my husband. So by far he understands but he just wont talk.

Adjoa Anita - posted on 10/12/2009

Hey. Is it that he is not saying any words at all? Or just a few words? I think speech therapy would be a great idea and encourage him. I was concerned about my son also, as his twin sister speaks alot more than him. But i was advised to wait unitl their 2nd birthday next month. And he has been picking up alot more words. But it is very normal. Every kid is different and will do things at their own pace. Good luck and take care xxx