Normal 2 year talking

Hey ladies! You might remember me as the crazy nut who posted about sailors wife. Well, I found her. She is safe. I just need a hobby, I guess. lol

I have a queston for the child forum. -
I am a mother of two ten year olds, so I really can't remember the "right" ages kids are supposed to do things. Maybe you all can help. My friend has a very smart, healthy little boy. ALL BOY !!! Very active!!! Anyway she was told by nosey mother in law that he isn't talking the way he is "supposed" to. He will be three next month on the 25th. I can understand him. It may take me a min. or two on a few words, but he seems normal to me. How well exactly should he be talking? He will say anything you tell him to. Sometimes he get's ahead of himself and it sounds like a jumble, but you just have to ask him over and he will repeat himself. Is this normal. The MIL thinks he should go to a special class.
Thanks !

[siren of the sea]

well lucy i had this exact situation happen with my ex sil the other day. she has a 3 yr old boy. the only word i could get was poop. another mother (complete stranger) said "you need to take him to a speech therapist" which i thought was rude. my neice is 3 and talks better than most 6 year olds. i think asking the dr if he is within normal range would be a good way to start. boys do develop differently than girls. but i think at 3 my son was more clear. who knows! i just live in danaland and its gettting quite crazy there! hey lucy how boy we have a few beers around a campfire and get the kids to make smores!!

[myproblem]

I agree that boys are a little behind girls in talking. It is also common as a child learns more words, and tries to say more, to stumble over words, stutter occasionally, or get a little jumbled up. If his speech has not improved for several months, then she may want to have him evaluated. I'll bet if she took him to a play group of other boys his age though, he'd be somewhere in the middle as far as speech.

[lucylocket2]

Thanks for answering! I can understand him fine. Sometimes, I'll have to ask the Mama, but not often. I think it's just the in laws being nosey. I have heard of boy's doing things at a different pace. The doctor has never said a word about him. He had done everything early. Walked at 9 months! I told her that if all kids are supposed to the samething then people probably thought my girls were crippled. They didn't walk till 13 months!! I think they were just lazy.lol  I noticed with mine that the youngest talked a lot earlier . I think it was because she had her sister to help her. She figured if she wanted to play she had to learn.  I think my friends son is fine, but now she is all worked up over it. I just couldn't remember the "correct" age for the new things they do. I told her I played a lot of memory games with my girls. She is going to do that. I also bought a chalk board and my girls and I played school. I would sing (scary) and dance to teach them. It seemed to make it more fun. I still make little tunes to help them learn their spelling words. I figure they will be in class and hear my terrible singing  - but they will remember the jingle and spell the word! It's amazing how silly you will be to help our kids!!!


sailors wife - sure thing !! It's gonna be hard to here though. A LOT OF RAIN AND FLOODING!!!!!I'm on the top of a Mnt. so I'm good. Smores and don't forget the burnt weenie's. Mmmmmm nothing like campin!!!

[cugirl]

Usually boys learn to talk slower than girls do.  Have your friend ask her ped. about it at the next appt.  Im sure all is normal.

[AnnieBrooke]

If she is thinking this is just her mil being a **** that is one thing.  If she is concerned at all, she should get an objective opinion.  She should ask the pediatrician, and go from there.  If the pediatrician thinks it is worth evaluating, she should follow that advice.  One thing about speaking in an unusual way is that it sometimes is related to hearing problems, and those in particular are much better for the child if corrected really early.  (Better for the brain development or something.)  Another thing about it is that it might signal a developmental disorder.  But again, this is a kind of thing to talk to about with a pediatrician, not just a family member.  If it is real, it is well worth treating, but if it is just mil saying something snipey, it is not.  I would not take my own judgement on it if I was the mom, because moms can often understand their kids when NOBODY else can, LOL.

[deanne11]

Hard to say - every child is different.  I have a 2 yr old girl...turned 2 in August.

We were at the dr in Sept and in the lobby was a speech therapist that overheard my daughter and mentioned to the other drs how well she spoke and she couldn't believe a 2 yr old had that vocabulary.

I was shocked because some people can't understand her and have to ask me to clarify (even my dh) but the therapist when on and on about her.

She said that it's not the pronunciation of the words exactly but the understanding of words, extent of her vocabulary and using long sentences.

My daughter has been speaking in sentences since she was 18months old and multiple sentences at once.  She understands clearly when we speak in sentences to her and grasps instructions even if there are multiple instructions in one sentence.

The therapist told me pronunciation does not come full circle until about age 4.  I wouldn't worry if all of the other things are in place.

[MIA3]

My son spoke chinese until he was three. Boys, I have noticed lack fine motor skills until they are a little older. My oldest young lady was talking in complete sentences at age 1. My youngest daughter had severe speaking disability unitl a smart pediatrician listend to me after her third bout with tonsilitis, and removed her tonsils and adnoids. After 2 years of speech therapy and no improvment she came out of surgery and upon awakening I finally understood her first words she said, HI mommy!!!! It was wonderful!!! Her surgeon said her tonsils and adnoids were so large, that he had never seen the such. She is fine and unfortunatly sometimes I can understand every word..HEHE Anyway, he will be fine and tell your friend not to listen to nosey mother-in-laws...

[patmom4]

hi I too had a child that didn't really speak at almost three.  He could say one or two words but, he really did not form sentences.  He was the youngest of three his siblings were doing all the talking for him not giving him a chance when a friend pointed it out to me I became defensive and denied there was a problem.  I asked my pediatrician who responded with "I didn't talk until I was 5" that eased my mind a bit however, there was a significant problem my child was diagnosed much later at 8 years old with autistic spectrum disorder.  I am not saying it is the same thing as this child but, I wish I would have listened because my child did not start early intervention until almost 4years old and even what he received was not as intense as it should have been.  My advice is go beyond the pediatrician start with a hearing test and have him evaluated by a speech therapist it won't hurt in most states early intervention is free. What do you have to lose even if it is a mild problem he will get the little extra help he needs to get his words out.  And if it is something more than at least it will be caught early on.  Good Luck I hope this was of some help.

[projectbaby]

Hello.  I am sooo excited about this question b/c I am a Speech Language Pathologist... typically if there is some concern you can mention it to your pediatrician...however, you can also find therapists in your area without going to the Dr.... you can have your child test at a local hospital, clinic, or just call your school distrtict (since they will be the one paying for it!!!)...I agree that boys tend to be a little bit behind girls,  and sometimes their language skills develop behind their ability to articulate the sounds (thne you get the garbled speech)... but it also depends on which sounds are not formed correctly...some sounds, like the r, l, ch, and sh are developed later and they should not be a concern at this point....
I guess if the MIL is questioning it ( I know you hate to hear this) then maybe it should be consideredshe may be considered an unfamiliar listener)......THink about if you did not know the child.... Did you understand what he said???  What if you don't know the context???  So, maybe a speech eval is not such a bad idea....you can though, wait until 3 yrs, unless his speech is not intelligible.....   I guess I would have to listen to the child personally....if you have any other questions, just ask!!   Take care and good luck!!!! Jacquie