February 2012 Moms

Speech Question

Hi everyone! My son had his 15 mo. appt last night. He has had 6 double ear infections over a few months, and just had tubes put in mid may. He got another infection shortly after and is finally on the mend. There were obvious signs that he couldn't hear well due to infections. My pediatrician said we should probably go see a speech therapist because he isn't saying many words. He babbles all of the time and says a few words. Anyone have a similar situation with a child who had tubes or chronic ear infections? Thank you!
Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker BabyFetus Ticker

Re: Speech Question

  • No experience with that, but our ped does language screens at 18 months.  I wonder if now that he has tubes this would be a wait and see time or if the ped wants you to work with a therapist to try to make up ground lost while he was not hearing well.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Loading the player...
  • I think its a combination of time lost + also a new baby coming. She doesn't want him to regress in speech. I have no issues going to get a consult and get help, I just know that he is finally hearing clear now and wondering if speech will kick in soon.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker BabyFetus Ticker
  • No tubes, and only 2 infectiosn ever... but DD doesn't say many words at ALL.  she babbles a ton and uses only a couple words regularly.  I can understand his concern because of the lack of hearing for a while, but I wouldn't stresss. GL!!
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • We had 15 ear infections, 8 of which were double ear infections.  Both ears ruptured and we had tubes done just after 8 months in Oct.  She has had no issues with hearing yet and can repeat back to us when we try and teach her new words.  I would be glad that your ped is concerned already and is wanting to get it checked now.  I know how bad ear infections can be and her hearing/speech being affected was always a concern for us but she seems to be doing well even with all the ear infections.  GL, I hope you can get some answers but I wouldn't be too worried yet.  Our ped said she needs to know 4-6 words by 18 months.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Not us, but a good friend of mine did. Her DD had a ton of ear infections and once she had her tubes put in they experienced an explosion of speech/communication. Can't remember how old her DD was at that time though. Probably wouldn't hurt to get your LO evaluated. Better safe than sorry. 
  • How many words does he say? My pedi said that at 15 months, they only expect them to say about 5 words, and that doesn't necessarily mean clear words... but words that you can make out.
  • As a Speech Pathologist, I am a little surprised when I read these boards and kids are getting speech evaluations and therapy so young just for not having words at 12 or 15 months. Its been a while since I worked with kids this young, so maybe I am a little outdated, but I wouldn't be concerned until 18 months that he isn't saying words. There's a lot of precommunication skills to look for too like pointing, and showing, and following directions. I would expect a speech delay in your case due to the ear infections. Most kids once they get the ears cleared up catch up quickly. My LO has 2 words right now and never had an ear infection. We're just keeping an eye on her language development right now and hoping for some more development in the next few months. She will probably wind up in speech therapy eventually since both DH and I had speech delays.
  • We have not had a lot of problems with ear infections, but my kids were referred for speech at 12 months. We went through the early intervention process and they qualified, once it was all done, at about 14 months. My kids weren't responding even to their names or mimicking sounds. Now, they respond to their names, and at our request, throw things away, get their coats, hats, or shoes, get items like balls or books, and point at their bellies, ears, heads, toes, noses, and mouths. They obviously understand much more now and their receptive language is great. DS still has only 2 words and DD has none.  But we are making progress!
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Thank you so much for all of the responses! This weekend was wild, he tried to say so much and was just having all of his own little conversations. He understands us and reacts, just doesn't say words clearly so I think we are going to follow the pedi's instructions of waiting another month to see how he is doing. Thanks for all of the feedback!
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker BabyFetus Ticker
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"