Our youngest was delayed, went to speech therapy, did wonders. First he didn't talk, then he wouldn't stop! Lol

My sister's youngest - didn't start talking well
until he was over 3 -- and then started speaking in
complete sentences and paragraphs. LOL

He had two older brothers who doted on him and
apparently he didn't have to talk to get whatever
he wanted.

I think following the Dr.s advice is the way to go. It
will relieve your mind, if nothing else. And, if
there is a minor problem, you can start working on
fixing it. But, age alone doesn't really set the
limits for talking.

Hope everything comes out well for you and your family.

Hugs.

My 29yo was delayed but he was 10 weeks early so that was considered normal. When he babbles, do you figure out what he's saying and say it for him? Does that make sense? If people do the talking for their children, it delays speech. Have him tell you what he wants. Has he had his eyes tested? My friends daughter was very delayed with her speech. Turns out her vision was really poor and she couldn't see how to form the mouth to talk. Once she got her first pair of glasses, you couldn't shut her up.

He has no problem with his vision, ears or mouth. The doctor told my daughter that at 2 they should be able to put 2 words together. Someone told me that boys are slower at talking than girls.

I just hope it doesn't cause any problems when he starts school.

My brother didn't talk for his first three years. He had two older sisters (myself included) to talk for him. He would grunt and point when he wanted someting and he ceertainly understood when others spoke. Then one day, at age 3, he started to talk- in cmplete sentences! He was labelled speech delayed when he started kindergarten (at age 4) and went to speech therapy for several years. But he's a college graduate (masters) and normal in every way.

I wouldn't be overly worried about a 2 year old--who was healthy--being a little slow to speak. Every child is different.

However, I WOULD follow the dr's orders and take him to a specialist for a couple of reasons. In case there is something going on that needs to be addressed, it's always better to start treatment earlier than later. Secondly, IF he is diagnosed to have a problem? HUGE benefits to him and his parents. The state is required to supply him the appropriate, specialized education NOW (not just when he turns 5 and is old enough for kindergarten)--it's the financial responsibilty of the school district to get him enrolled in the appropriate program, to pay for it, to provide transportation (or pay his parents to drive him) AND to supply the appropriate speach therapists, etc.

I have a nephew whose about 3. When I've been around him, he speaks just fine--he has a good vocabulary, speaks in full sentences and has no pronunciation problems I can pick out. But he's been diagnosed as having a speach problem. Of course, his mother isn't fighting it, because the program he's going to (for free, of course) is fantastic and a great learning experience for him.

Yes, check it out, but...many kids don't talk until they decide they want to or need to. Our next door neighbor's boy twin didn't need to talk because his girl twin did all the talking for both of them! When he was about three he started talking in long sentences.

He may need prompting. When reading a book, ask him questions like, "What does the birdie say? What color is the bus?" Ask him to tell you which he wants you to get for him, a cookie or a banana. Can he name things? (Chair, table, Mommy, etc.?)

My sis's youngest daughter wouldn't speak until her mom realized she didn't have. She just pointed and with 5 older people in the house to help she didn't have to. She learned in a hurry after they figured out the problem. When she pointed to the sink they made her say water or drink etc..

My step daughter had a son that didn't speak or cry much when he was a baby. They never diagnosed what the problem was but my thought is that he needed wires in his ears and that wasn't diagnosed until later. I think he couldn't hear well enough to know how to talk. He spent a couple of years having speech therapy.

Yes, check it out, but...many kids don't talk until they decide they want to or need to. Our next door neighbor's boy twin didn't need to talk because his girl twin did all the talking for both of them! When he was about three he started talking in long sentences.

He may need prompting. When reading a book, ask him questions like, "What does the birdie say? What color is the bus?" Ask him to tell you which he wants you to get for him, a cookie or a banana. Can he name things? (Chair, table, Mommy, etc.?)

Going to a speech therapist is NO BIG DEAL. Go, then everyone can CALM down. Knowledge is power.

I don't get the feeling that anyone needs to CALM down, just in search of information. I was going to ask if your grandson has older sibs. As Jannie stated, it's quite frequent for the "baby" to not speak because he/she doesn't have to. DS had a friend who is a very bright boy, but with three older sibs he didn't speak til well after 3. Of course his parents were worried, but he is now a normal college student.

I think I would be more concerned if he had been talking then stopped. However, I would go ahead and have him checked out with whatever specialist the doctor suggested.

I have a 20 month old grandson who is very verbal - he is putting 3 to 4 words together now. However, he didn't crawl until almost 10 months but was walking before he was a year. So every baby is different - as others have said.

I think it is important to have him seen by a speech therapist as recommended by his doc.
Speech patterns influence brain development in reading skills.
My grandniece was speech delayed and was supposed to see the speech therapist....but my niece was too lazy to take her.
Sky didn't start talking until she was about four....now she talks all the time but she has serious problems with reading. She is 12 now.
I did a lot of research on the subject when Sky was young and feel her mother did her a great disservice by not getting speech therapy for her.
Can't hurt....might help.

That's right-it can't hurt. I wouldn't be overly concerned though. My first child begin saying words at 9 months and full sentences at 12 months. My second child said maybe 2 words when she turned 2. Shortly after that, she developed her own words for things-peeps=grapes, yoo yoos=shoes-yoo meant 1 shoe lol-ga coo=popcorn. Eventually kids catch up. I wasn't worried about her hearing because she could hear a chip bag crackle from across the house!! My third child was in the middle of the girls ages when he began talking. Don't even know off the top of my head. One thing I would recommend is read, read, read to him. He will learn what a lot of words mean and he can point to things on the pages. He might surprise you by excitedly pointing to things he recoognizes since at that age they like the same books read over and over and over....

My DGS wasn't talking at 2. Their local school system had an early childhood intervention program which he participated in until the spring before he started kindergarten with speech therapy and other activities. He was a "motor mouth" by the time he started kindergarten I recommend whatever the experts recommend

I read about a little boy who never said a single word till he was 5 years old, then one morning while sitting at the breakfast table he said,,,"This cereal tastes like crap!!'

His mother hugged him and says.."Wow, you really can speak, how come you never said anything before?"

Boy says.."Up till now everything has been fine, but this stuff tastes like crap".

I have a degree in Speech Therapy. I would not worry about a 2 year old that is babbling, but not saying words. What I would do is make sure he is around other children, that he is read to, and mom or dad name simple objects for him and repeat it often. Other than checking his hearing, these are the things I would recommend if he were my grandson. Did he walk at an appropriate age? Can you ask him simple questions--like "show me the whatever" and have him respond correctly? Can he follow simple instructions? One, then 2--i.e. put the book on the chair, etc.? I think maybe docs might recommend intervention b/c it takes the problem out of their hands. I would give it at least 3 months and if there's been no change, I might reconsider, but I'd make sure he has other children around and that he's read to. I just wouldn't worry about 2 years old if all the other developmental stages have been met.

Thanks for all your advice, yes she will take him to a specialist just to make sure.

He is an only child right now but does go to daycare and is with other children. He didn't start walking until late so maybe he is just a late bloomer, hope that is all it is.

When I worked as a School Speech Clinician we screened many many kids. The range of "normal" is HUGE at this age. My gut/education also makes me wonder how the milestones are being effected by things like full time day care,more illness/ear infections in kids, busy lifestyles. All the things that foster "normal" development are at risk due to busy, busy lives. Bottom line the worry, concern over the unknown will be worse than any course of action, if any is needed. The younger the child the larger the range of "normal".

As I understand I was nearly talking before my (almost 2 year older) brother did. As my mother put it, they thought he'd never talk then thought he'd never shut up. The latter won so far.

I've been going through this with my younger son. He is so far ahead physically than his brother was at this age, and definitely very smart (he can work the DVD player better than my in-laws) but he is behind verbally. We had him evaluated by Early Intervention twice. The first time, he showed a delay but not enough to qualify for services. But his lack of verbal skills was affecting his behavior and socialization at school so we had him evaluated again and he qualified. A speech therapist comes once a week for an hour, at school.

I have no doubt that he will catch up, he makes progress every day. I think that would happen without the therapy at some point too but why not help it along, right? My soon-to-be ex, his dad, has a real bug up his butt about the therapy. It's free, it can't hurt. I just don't understand what his problem is.