2 year olds not talking yet?

Mariele - posted on 12/07/2011

i have a 3 year old twin boys, all the same they can understand instructions but they cant talk fluntly nor can they reason out. they will be starting preschool next year i left my job so i can focus on them. The doctor said there is nothing wrong with them , but im freakin out. my eldest was able to talk fluently at 3 yrs old.

Sharon - posted on 01/21/2011

hi yea had then checked will just have too work on him and c what the out come is hopefully he will start soon thanks alot 4 ur reply x

Tarina - posted on 01/20/2011

My son just turned 2 before Christmas, and he also is not talking well. We had a speech therapist start coming out once a week about 6 months ago, and there has been some improvement, where now there are about a dozen words he is using, as well as a few signs (more, please, etc) to let us know what he wants. He is trying to be more vocal now, though there still arent many real words coming out. But he's trying. If the people with singletons have talking kids, theyre lucky. Its not because you have 2, I have twin baby girls, and I am sure they will both be different from each other, and from my boys as well. My oldest was talking at like 14 months in full sentences. My now 2 yr old just isnt. Dont worry. Dont get frustrated. Just keep encouraging them, give them chances to talk instead of rushing to fill their needs right away, try to get them to communicate what they want in some form or another. Good luck, and Im sure it will get better! Stick with the speech therapy, though... but get a good one. Mine is so fantastic. They play and work on making consonant sounds (K sounds when then Cu Cu Cut! etc.) My sons big issue is not finishing the words he knows. (If he wants up, he says Uuuh! down he says dowwww?) Good luck, and Im sure it will get better!

Stacy - posted on 01/19/2011

Yes Tiffany, I did have twins that didn't talk until I had a therapist come to the house. She first started out teaching our twin boys sign language,like thank you and please.After just a few weeks, they were making sounds for words which turned into real words. I am a firm believer that ALL children should be saying something by the time they are 18 months. One of my boys was about a week from turning one and I had taken his cup away so he would eat his food. I did it without thinking much about it and I also did it from behind the highchair. I didn't know if this was a total surprise to him or what it was, but all of a sudden he stopped crying and turned slightly blue! I picked him up immediately and tried things like shaking him a little, and I also thought if I brought him outside the wind would help bring the air back to him, but when this kind of thing happens, you're thinking its crazy and you're in shock! We finally blew into his mouth and that did the trick! When I brought him to the doctor and told him what happened he told me that babies will do this when they get so frustated, and can usually bring their breath back on their own. He also said it led him to do this by not being able to express himself with words. This is what brought on the speech therapist to our house. My twins are healhy 16 year olds now and it seems like they never stop talking!

Kaylee - posted on 01/19/2011

Have you had their ears checked i know it sounds weird but when my son was two he didnt really talk and he had alot of wax in his ear so he couldnt hear that good and as soon as we had them cleaned he started talking almost instintly

Sharon - posted on 01/18/2011

hi tiffany i too have twin boys and one is not talking we do go too speach therapy and like u she feels everything is ok .i on the other hand wish he was chatty like his brother .. i think there is a certain language twins have and the chat between them self only time will tell .. but it is good too know that your not alone best of luck sharon x

Heather - posted on 01/16/2011

Please keep in mind that we all have different experiences and have all heard different things. Just because you have heard or learned it a certain way doesn't make you the end all on the subject. We encourage you to share your knowledge and experience with us, but please keep all replies kind and be careful about attacking other moms, or their experiences.

Christiana - posted on 01/16/2011

I have b/b faternal twins. 1 was talking at 1 1/2 and the other not until 2 to 3 yrs. He would talk a little but not much. He is now in 1st grade he goes to speech class 2x a week, but he talks a lot now. Especially with people that he knows.

Jennifer Grieser- - posted on 01/16/2011

with my boys, my doctor said that they aren't using words because they don't need words to comunicate with each other so they think its the same with everyone else. She said to try to spend some one on one time with each kid. It did help. They started a few months later.

Janelle - posted on 01/15/2011

Hi Tiffany. I have b/g twins who are about to turn 2. They dont really talk but they are trying to but my little girl has a vocal cord that dose not work. We also see speech and they tell me that its nothing to worry about because they was born at 25 weeks so they are just a little behind.

Karen - posted on 01/15/2011

My identical twin girls also had delayed speech issues. They are 9 now and they are still quiet when it comes to talking to adults I find. They attended Junior Kindergarden at age 3/4 and their teacher thought they had Selective Mutism. She could not evaluate them. We did see a thearapist and she found nothing wrong. They talked to the therapist-no problem! We found that it just takes time and they also make choices as to when they want to talk to others. They understand everything and they really get absorbed by watching and listening to other people, especially children. As far as grades go, they are at the top of their class. Our daughters were also 8 weeks premature. They are small and quite often get mistaken for 6 year olds. This really upsets them. They certainly can talk up a storm now. In grade 3 one of my girls recited a poem in front of a crowd at school using a microphone. They have come a long, long way for sure! No worries-it all changes with time.

Julie - posted on 01/15/2011

my boys didn't talk until a couple months after their 2nd birthday - maybe a word or two that was tough to make out! my guys are totally fine - i thought it was wierd as well, but they comprehended everything... do you happen to speak multiple languages in the home? we did and then i read multiple articles how that slows initial speech - it is great to do and ultimately they catch up very quickly.. but in terms of when they first speak - it typically can delay them a bit....

Wendy - posted on 01/15/2011

Gina, I am dissapointed that a speech therapist would tell you not to be concerned until they are 5. The earlier you work with them the bettter. It is true that most of the therapy is modeling and expanding their speech. Repeating back to them is very important.

2 is the BEGINNING of being concerned... it is a 50-50 chance at that point of language being NORMAL or being further DELAYED or DEVIATED.

This is not a TWIN phenomena children develop at different rates. Also, the idea that twins have a secret language is a myth. What happens is that twins are generally at the same stage of development, so when they are hearing language, and repeating back, they may listen to each other's "words" for things. If that is reinforced, the word stays that way... and a language of their own can form. It's no different than other children of the same stage learning in the same environment and interacting with each other as much as they interact with parents.

Sorry for the rant like post, but as a speech pathologist AND mother of twins.. it's a particular interest/concern of mine.

Wendy

Monica - posted on 01/14/2011

Tiffany, I have fraternal twin boys. When they were 2 I had them tested, because the talked, but I couldn't understand them. After the test I was told that strangers should understand 40% of what 2 year olds say. I stayed home with my boys and I couldn't understand 40%! They started speech therapy and thrived!!! I don't know where you live, but you should check Childfind. Childfind works through schools and helps children get ready so that they are ready to start school in kindergarten. My boys used Childfind services from 2 years old (speech therapy) until they were 4 (pre-k). Good luck!

Amanda - posted on 01/14/2011

I dont have this problem, but do you read to them? I read to my kids ALL the time and they have picked up so many words and are talking up a storm. And while we read I point out all of the things in the book so they learn what everything is. It could just be they are late talkers too, and if the speech therapist says there isn't anything to worry about, then I wouldn't worry for now. Good luck!!

Susan - posted on 01/14/2011

My twins were born at 24 weeks and were very delayed, especially with speaking. Like yours, their receptive language was good — when I told them to go find their shoes, they went and got their shoes — but their expressive language (talking) lagged way behind. We had a lot of speech therapy along the way, and the therapists told us that it was not unusual for twins to have some speech delay (this article explains some of the reasons why http://multiples.about.com/cs/twinsinsch...); it's also not unusual for preemies to have speech delays.

As long as you are already working with a speech therapist, I wouldn't feel too anxious. You are doing everything you can do. I hope it makes you feel better to hear that one of our family sayings is: "Yes, it's true, they didn't talk until they were four. It's also true that they haven't stopped talking since." They are now 19 years old.

You can read more about our early experiences at http://mikeandollie.wordpress.com/

Good luck to you.

Wendy - posted on 01/14/2011

I have 26month old b/g twins my little girl wasn't talking at all at two she also knew and understood everything that we said to her our doctors told us that because they where premmie not to worry to much and not to allow anyone to talk for her. We made her show us what she wanted and got down face to face with her when we where talking to her, it has taken alot of time but she is now slowly saying things and trying even more to say things. Take it slow, They are only 2 and will do things at their own pace and you have to remember that not all children are the same, believe me i have 7.

Gina - posted on 01/14/2011

My twin girls are nearly 4 and there speech was slow compared to my first childs infact we are still struggling to understand one of them. My youngest is just 2 and he speaks way clearer than both the girls. I have gone to speech theorpy with the girls, she just tells me that they not too concern with childrens speech till they are five and to repeat their words back to them when they do speak.

Two is very young I diodnt get concerned till three.

Sophie - posted on 01/14/2011

I have fraternal boys who are 20 months old and I have been concerned about their speech as well. They also understand what we say and do some signing but they both only say a few words. Their doctor says they have 3 strikes against them- they're preemies, they're boys and they're twins! Their older sister was so verbal, so early that I thought there must be a problem but it just takes time. By all the other responses it seems like that has been true for a lot of other twins as well!

I read some of the research on language development and twins and one thing that I thought was intresting was that twins have a better grasp of "we" and "us" where single children are about the "I", so even if it does take a little longer for them to start they move past that stage faster.

Jennifer - posted on 01/14/2011

I have b/g twins that are now 5. At 2 they were only saying a few words each. As they got closer to 3 I was starting to worry that they weren't talking more. But, by the time they turned 3 they were talking none stop. It was like a light switch went on and they went from saying just words to having conversations. Be patient it will come.

Wendy - posted on 01/14/2011

I am a mother of twins and a speech pathologist. My twins did NOT talk late, but I see lots of kids (singletons alike) that do. It's good that you have a SLP involved. witha 2 year old it can be either a delay or a deviance... model language as much as possible. If it's just a delay, it will come. This is not a twin issue, it's just development.

Good luck!

Wendy

Marian - posted on 01/14/2011

Personally I do not buy any studies that say twins develop more slowly than singletons. If you look at any study on twins the base the group size is so small that it makes the results very subjective. Most of the studies were conducted decades ago too. Small sample size and decade old research (I used to work in research, so I look at studies very carefully). As parents of twins we must not take things that we are told as gospel but must challenge them.

I do know of one other Mum who has a similar issue as yours but her boys are 3.5 years old and still not talking. She's having to get them speech therapy but is struggling as in her Eastern European country the doctors do not recognise her concerns. You have to push for anything if you think there is an issue with twins.

My twin three year old boys have an assessed speech age of four years plus. They are way ahead of any singleton children in their age group for maths too. I completely understand they are not average in their development as I've been sent to gifted children seminars by their healthcare providers. However I never accepted anything I was told about twins being delayed, small etc etc - I viewed my two boys as kids that shared a small apartment for nine months. We never adjusted our speech patterns with the kids, right from the first day. No baby language at all, just complete sentences. We talked all the time to them and to each other 24/7. Talk, talk, talk to your kids. Don't worry about changing a speech therapist, kids are very adaptable and will thrive on a new person. You may even find that this new person is even better than the previous one.

Victoria - posted on 01/14/2011

Yes, Almost every set of twins will be regressed in their speech because they talk to eachother. they say that they will actually use their own language that only the two of them can understand, The best thing you can do is encourage them to use their words constantly repeat over and over what something is, They will start to talk don't worry they just right now feel they don't have to because they have eachother. I found play groups help a lot.

Andrea - posted on 01/13/2011

Hi Tiffany, firstly, never compare your girls to singletons, they develop at different times. Secondly, stop worrying, twins can be slower to talk. You need to talk, read ask questions, speak to them separately, when reading stories if there is a cow in it, make the noise of a pig and ask is that right. thirdly, it's all hard work, so don't put extra pressure on yourself. Good luck

Jennifer - posted on 01/12/2011

Hi Tiffany, Are your girls vocalizing in general? If they understand everything, like you said, it sounds like they are getting the hang of it. My identical twin boys are vocalizing and say maybe 10-15 words- (they are 22 months now) but even this is different than what my 5 year old girl was like at their age.(She seemed to little more advanced at the same age.) Hang in there. It does take twins more time since their adult time is split in half, vs. single babies. Do you have picture books? (With one picture and one word on each page?) Keep going over those- my boys love those. Stay strong!

Kristin - posted on 01/11/2011

My twin boys are 3 right now..... relax!! Twins develop slower than single children and don't reach their mile stones as soon . My boys doctor wanted me to put them in speech, but I held off. I felt that 2 years was just a little to young for that. And now at 3 they are non-stop talkers! They both LOVE talking on the phone to anyone who will sit and listen!

Gell - posted on 01/10/2011

We have fraternal twin boys and they are now 2years and 2months old. They say a few words especially if they are watching their favorite shows. They respond to the shows that they like and even scream their answers. They rarely respond to whatever we ask them or when we talk to them. At 17 months they started counting from 1-5 and recognize some of the letters of the alphabets. At their age now, they can read a few 3-4 letter words, recite the alphabets from A-Z and count from 1-10. They will also point to letters when they see something on paper or magazines, say M when we are driving and pass by McDonalds, and say cake and fries and cup if they are hungry. All that milestone and still often times dont respond to us when we talk to them or when others try to talk to them. My husband and I are just being patient coz we know that they understand each other with their own language.

Claudia - posted on 01/10/2011

My fraternal twin boys didn't really start talking until they were 3 years old and likeyour babies they understood everything at age 2...and like them they had a speech therapist that didnt find anything really wrong with them. What I have been told by other people with twins is that twins have a language all of their own to communicate with eachother and don't see the need to communicate with the outside world?? kinda weird but it might be true...oh and by the way my boys are turning out to be very smart lol that was a concern of mine back then pheewf! lol...my advice would be to give them more time but don't give up on stimulating their little minds in any way you can = ) i know alot of people are against TV for the kids but them watching PBSkids has been a continues to be a great help in learning new things!! I know yours might be to young for TV right now but keep it in mind don't close out any learning opportunities for them..

Heather - posted on 01/09/2011

My fraternal twin girls didn't talk at 2 years old. We did not put them in speech therapy as we couldn't afford it. Our next door neighbors also have twins (two weeks older than ours, b/g), and their twins didn't talk at 2 either so they did do speech therapy. Both of their twins talk really well now, but our girls are coming along fine on their own. One of them talks all the time and the other can, just chooses not to most of the time. They just turned 3. My girls also had the twin language first and I was told by our doctor that this is perfectly normal.

Sheila - posted on 01/09/2011

i have g/b twins that are 3 1/2 now my boy talking at 1 walking at 8months but i daughter didnt do either. but they had their own language. my daughter didn't start talking until she was well into her 1's but then i couldn't really understand her but then it turn out that they both have lisps and hers was worst. now i can pretty much understand her

Jaime - posted on 01/09/2011

Mine are 21months and say only about 10 words each. They understand EVERYTHING tho, which is so frustrating! I feel like they are not talking not because they can't, but because they don't want to. After all. they have each other and have worked out a language between the two of them which tells me they understand how lauguage and conversations work, they just have no desire to talk with the adults...../

Tiffany - posted on 01/09/2011

Thank you so much Karen this gives me hope lol :) I am hoping really soon my girls will start catching on, just recently actually they started imitating "boo" for peek-a-boo, so I am hoping that they will soon just start picking up more :) Thank you so much girls!!! And Amanda if you do find anything please let me know please!!!

Karen - posted on 01/09/2011

Hi Tiffany, I have 2 yr old b/g twins and my daughter speaks constantly, but my son is also attending speech therapy and I must say is thriving now. My 2 are 2 yrs and 3 months and it is only in the last couple of months that he has started to try and talk. The therapist would let you know if there was any problem so just give it some time and see what happend. If you are still worried try a new therapist maybe???

Tiffany - posted on 01/09/2011

Wow, thanks so much!!!!

Amanda - posted on 01/09/2011

Hi Tiffany! Sorry I personally haven't went through that because my girls were talking right at 1. Have you talked to the pedetriction about it? Let me do some research and I will see if there can be some things that you can do or anything that can be causing them not to wan tto talk at all