Late Talker Check-in?

coffeeandbooks

Hey guys, I was hoping to check in with other mom's whose LO's are not very verbal yet.   My LO just turned seventeen months and is only saying three to four words regularly and I am starting to get nervous.   Our pedi doesn't want to do anything till he is two, and looking at the guidelines in our county it appears he might not qualify for EI though I have decided to call anyway.

I was hoping to ask a few questions of you ladies and maybe we could check in more regularly to help and support each other.   Would any one be interested in this?

Here are my starter questions.

1.  How old is your LO?

2.   How many words is your LO saying?

3.   What has your pediatrician recommended?

5.    Have you done an early intervention intake?   What was the outcome?

6.   Is there anything you are doing in particular with LO that seems to be helping?

7.   How are you dealing in general with this issue?

Thanks so much!

bumpuser3155624

LO was 17 months yesterday.

She says only a few words: momma, no, uh-oh.

At 15 month appt she didnt say anything.

Nothing with early intervention.

We just keep talking and reading to her. We also sign a few things as well.

Not stressing about it since not many kids are talking in her room at daycare so she seems on track.

kelseyhh

1.  How old is your LO?
Emmett is about 17 1/2 months.

2.   How many words is your LO saying?
I'm not entirely sure. Some words that he says really well are shoe, ball, thank you, chicky (our dog) and kitty. He does NOT say mama or dada.

3.   What has your pediatrician recommended?

At the 15 month, she wasn't concerned. Since he was pointing, babbling, and understanding us, she said that she wasn't worried. She thought it was kind of odd that he isn't saying mama or dada, but didn't make any other comments about it. Not sure what she'll say at the 18 month appt.

5.    Have you done an early intervention intake?   What was the outcome?
No, nothing has been recommended for us yet.

6.   Is there anything you are doing in particular with LO that seems to be helping?
We read a LOT and try to encourage him when he speaks. Apparently he says a lot of words at daycare that he doesn't say at home. I think that he sees his older cousin talking and wants to be like him. I'm not sure why he wouldn't say the same words at home though. Every day when I pick him up, she tells me all the words he said, but then I never hear them myself. Sometimes I swear that she's making it up just to drive me crazy!
7.   How are you dealing in general with this issue?

Seeing as I've posted several threads about his lack of speech, I'd say that I'm very anxious about it, haha! Now that he says at least a few words, I'm starting to calm down. When he didn't have a single word at 15 months, I was pretty freaked out. I'm learning to just trust that he'll get there when he's ready.

I really shouldn't be surprised though. It seems as though Em has always reached milestones just a little later than most kids. Every time I freak out that he's not doing something when he should, he does it a week later, within the range of normal.

john5111

1.  How old is your LO?
was 18 months on oct 24th

2.   How many words is your LO saying?
at his 18 month apt he could maybe say a handful in the pst couple weeks hes starting to say alot more

3.   What has your pediatrician recommended?
at his 18 month apt she didnt seem concerned she said they should say 6-20 words besides mama and dada I said he maybe says 6 besides that if that..she wasnt worried.

5.    Have you done an early intervention intake?   What was the outcome?
No I just try and read to him all the time and point to things in books and around the house, he fully understands everything and follows direction

6.   Is there anything you are doing in particular with LO that seems to be helping?
I recently downloading a couple apps on the ipad and have practicing letters and numbers that way he loves it

7.   How are you dealing in general with this issue?
I am trying to just give it time and its so true in the past couple weeks he picked up some words on his own without me trying to say anything for instance on halloween toting people kept saying happy halloween to him and all of a sudden he said Happy on thew ay home over and over and now he cant stop saying it.. I think I need to just let him do it on his own vs trying to get him to say a word over and over.

bishbecraycray

I think this is a great idea. It would be nice to have a check in !

Here are my starter questions.

1.  How old is your LO? 

He's one of the oldest here... 19 months next week 

2.   How many words is your LO saying?

5-6, but is starting to try and repeat words now

3.   What has your pediatrician recommended?

At his 18 month appt, she said not to worry and we would revisit the issue and talk about early intervention if nothing had changed at his 2 year appt

5.    Have you done an early intervention intake?   What was the outcome?

6.   Is there anything you are doing in particular with LO that seems to be helping?

There are some books, in particular, he really likes and will try to repeat more words than normal, so we've been reading those every evening.  Also we've been signing a lot to avoid frustration on both ends 

7.   How are you dealing in general with this issue?

I feel like I'm dealing a lot better than I did with DS1 who was in speech therapy for 7 months. He started right before age 2 1/2 and stopped at age 3 (no longer qualified because he caught up). I realized throughout the process that he was just a late talker... don't get me wrong, speech was great and they were so awesome, but his natural language burst coincided with when he was in speech anyway. So I don't necessarily think it was speech therapy that helped him, as much as just waiting it out. That makes me more relaxed this time around and not so worried... I feel confident he will catch up ! That's not to say we don't still have a lot of frustration with the issue, since he has clear wants and needs but trouble expressing them. 

TheFutureMrs.O

How old is your LO? 17 months

How many words is your LO saying? Shoes, daddy, dog, doggy, hi, bye bye, uh oh, mama, dada, cheese

What has your pediatrician recommended? DS got tubes last month so at his 15 month appt dr. Suspected he'd have a word explosion after they were placed. As the audiologist said he has mild to moderate temporary hearing loss at the time of test due to constant fluid and 11 ear infections in 1 year. I don't see the word explosion happening so I plan to ask at his 18 month appt (end of the month) what he thinks.

Have you done an early intervention intake? What was the outcome? No.

Is there anything you are doing in particular with LO that seems to be helping? We read a lot. And repeat things. He does understand a ton. And he does babble a good bit. I have a feeling he says other words but we don't understand what he's saying.

How are you dealing in general with this issue? I'm doing ok with it. It worries me a great bit though as my co-workers kids are around the same age and saying soooo much more.

surpriseaddition

@TheFutureMrs.O My LO had tubes placed in late June. She seemed pretty behind on talking to me at that point. (Had just a couple of words at 14 months).  She is now 18 months (as of Oct. 30) and she is saying tons of words these days. I do think the constant fluid in her ears and infections were holding her back, and it wasn't until about 3 months post-surgery that she started picking up lots of words. Of course that could have also correlated with when she'd have a big influx in words anyway, but I know my older kids were much earlier talkers and I wondered if the ear thing was contributing to her delay. However, for us, it wasn't an overnight thing that she had so many words right after the surgery. GL ladies....the words will come in time.

coffeeandbooks

Thanks for all your responses, ladies!  It is super helpful to get all of your perspectives.   I went ahead and called EI but didn't get a response yet from them.   In the mean, I am reading to him a ton and working on getting him to repeat sounds.   He is a very active kid, and I talk to him all day but there a few times a day I notice that he quiets down enough to really focus on language usually first thing in the morning, bath and bed time so I try to make the most of those times.

I also wanted to share this blog with you all too...I think it has some good strategies.

https://teachmetotalk.com/2008/01/24/what-works-strategies-that-help-toddlers-learn-to-talk/