Should My Child Be Talking?
Parenting comes with so many unknowns and the most complicated aspect is that those unknowns typically don’t have a straightforward answer. As a parent of a toddler, I can’t tell you the number of times a day I whip out my phone to google something that I need more information on. Can toddlers eat apples? How much tylenol should you give a 2 year old? Should toddlers nap longer than 3 hours? Can toddlers eat sushi? Is it safe to…? The questions never end. As babies and toddlers develop, the questions start to gravitate toward developmental milestones. There’s a reason pediatricians have parents fill out screenings at 3-months, 6-months, 9-months, 12-months, and so on. Even as an SLP, I remember feeling overwhelmed and racking my brain trying to answer those questions about motor development, social skills, and communication.
“Should my son or daughter be talking?”
This is one of the hallmark questions that I’ve been asked and that I asked myself as my son was growing into toddlerhood. So, let’s talk about it.
The very first thing to understand is that language and communication development varies from child to child. This means that one child might start talking at 12-months and another might not begin until 15-months. So, it can be very confusing for parents, who are typically engaging with other parents, to see and compare their child to other children. I’ve been guilty of doing just that from time to time. It’s totally normal and helpful to find support in friends and family who are in the same season of parenting. However, comparison is never helpful, especially when it comes to childhood development. I recommend looking at milestones as a road map with many routes versus a straight path to the destination. Some littles take the scenic route and acquire language at a different rate than others. With that being said, there are steps parents can take to support language development.
At home strategies:
Use simple language (2-4 word phrases/sentences)
Reduce simple Yes/No questions (Do you want___?)
Use prompts: I see ____, It’s a ____, Tell me ___, You ___
Parallel talk: put words to what your child is doing (The plane is flying, the car goes vroom)
Self talk: talk about what you’re doing
Wait time - Don’t be so quick to speak, be comfortable in silence, make space for the child to respond/ask/initiate
It’s a fascinating process to experience the way language begins with coos, then evolves into babbles, until we finally hear the first word. Typically, a delay in speaking has a few precursors, or red flags, that indicate some concern. For example, at around 7-12 months, you may see limited babbling or a lack of gestures (i.e., pointing, waving). Another sign might include delays in receptive language (understanding what is said, responding to verbal language). Between the ages of 12-18 months, babies typically will say their first words. Let’s talk about what that might sound like.
First words can come in many shapes and sizes. A baby’s first word will not sound like an adult pronunciation. It might not even sound very much like a word at all. To be clear, a first “word” can be in the form of sign language, animal sounds, environmental noises (i.e., choo choo, vroom vroom), exclamatory sounds (uh-oh), approximations (wa wa for water) and words in other languages. At this age, it may be hard to distinguish between a word and a nonsensical string of syllables. So, for it to be considered a word, it must be used intentionally, without prompting and consistently.
By 18-months, toddlers should have produced their first words and be consistently using those words in their day to day communication. At 2 years of age, littles should have at least 25 - 50 words in their repertoire. If these milestones are met in a delayed manner, this is an indicator for late language emergence (LLE). ASHA (2023) states that late language emergence should not be considered in isolation. It’s important to take into account all other language domains to determine underlying causes, other risk factors and/or co-existing diagnoses.
What can parents do?
You are your child’s advocate and voice. Pay attention and monitor the skills that your child is demonstrating as well as those skills that are not developing as they should. Bring these concerns to your pediatrician. You may hear “wait and see.” But, that is your call as a parent. My recommendation is to consider the risk of waiting and increasing the gap of those skills that are already delayed. On the flip side, accessing speech therapy early could potentially reduce the overall length of therapy needed while closing the gap sooner rather than later.
The bottom line is, a child can go from no words to 20 words in a couple of weeks. Language bursts are common and appear to happen overnight at this stage. Late bloomers will typically have a burst of language later than usual but will be on par with all other language skills (receptive and social language). These toddlers will likely catch up to their peers and meet their milestones at an increased rate compared to LLE children. Because it’s hard to know which of the 2 is driving the delay in language development, seeking guidance from a speech language pathologist will help you make an informed decision.
Resources
ASHA (2023) Late Blooming or Language Problem? https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/late-blooming-or-language-problem/
ASHA (2023) Late Language Emergence https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/late-language-emergence/#collapse_2
