Almost 2 years old and still not talking

[Sherry07]

Hi lovely people,

My 23 months old rainbow daughter still doesn't talk; she has a few words like mama, daddy, hi mama, bye mama and a few more; but not really talking and still more babbling.

The nursery she goes to has told us that she needs to have about 50 words as a 2-year old toddler and she's nowhere close to it.

We've seen our GP and she's referred my daughter for a hearing test, which due to the pandemic is probably not happening soon.

We are very stressed about this whole situation; thinking about it even makes me cry at work. I'm wondering if there's any help I can get from you lovelies here?

Thank you xx

[Kyell2]

I’m so sorry I don’t have any advice.

Have you tried your health visitor today see if they can offer any more support,

I hope it all turns out ok for you x

[Sherry07 in reply to Kyell2]

Thanks a lot for your message. I had a chat with health visitors today and they decided they’re not really worried about her at this stage; there will be a review appointment sometime between 2 and 2.5 year old where they will check if she needs some therapy sessions. But I can’t wait that long; I know when they say 2 to 2.5 it’ll be definitely sometime between 2.5 and 3

You’ve been so kind thanks again xx

[pam4him]

I would listen to the health visitors. Kids become verbal at different ages. If her she can convey her needs/wants, she may not feel she needs to talk more yet. My mom says I didn't talk until I was 2, and never stopped, LOL! She may be right as I teach and am a training facilitator. If there is an issue, it sounds like some short term speech therapy could help. It's really too early to tell. Try not to pressure her into it, she'll likely just surprise you one day and start longer phrases, then full sentences. Prayers for peace and wisdom.

[romaluna2015]

Hello 👋, If you feel like progress isn’t really happening contact your health visitor again. Express your concerns, your the parent and you know your child best . My daughter is almost 3 and is having speech and language therapy due to not being able to talk and not hitting milestones.

[Hidden]

Mine didnt really talk much at nearly 2 did like yours easy words yet my niece at 1 never shut up with full sentences. My kids were walking at 9 mths so were faster at physical side and they caught up after 2 speaking I wouldnt worry.

[Scarlett13]

Hi! How are you getting on now, as this post was a month ago? Has your daughter got a date for her 2 year review yet? If she is having it around 2 then fab, but please don’t wait for the 2 year review to happen if it’s going to be more like 30 months. Please call your health visiting team again if you’ve not heard from them for the 2 year review yet, saying that you are concerned about speech and therefore require her 2 year review to be done as a priority at 2, or say that you would like a speech and language assessment / review ASAP if the 2 year review is going to be late. Im a community nursery nurse with a health visiting team so I do the 2 year reviews and speech reviews (although currently on maternity leave). If your daughter has good understanding and communicates her needs and wants well and you have no other concerns about her development, then hopefully her speech will start to come on leaps and bounds very soon. However, I would recommend getting her speech reviewed as soon as you can by your health visiting team incase she does need some speech therapy. The waiting lists can be very long so it’s best to get a referral in as soon as possible. On average a 2 year old will have a minimum of 50 words and will be joining several 2 word phrases together - so it’s good that your daughter is saying hi mummy for example. In the meantime, do lots of reading, talking about the pictures, talk to her constantly about everything you are doing, use small simple sentences when you’re playing together, eg ‘car...blue car...it’s a big blue car’! Talk about what you are seeing and hearing outside. Make lots of eye contact. Talking to each other and playing games using a mirror is a good activity so she can see the shape your lips and her own mouth make for different sounds. Do lots of singing, practice animal noises. Use straws to blow paper balls backwards and forwards to each other across a table. Blow bubbles. Just a few ideas! Hope you get an appointment soon over the phone or face to face xxx