Speech worries - 21 month old

Hi, my daughter is 21 months old. She'll be 22 months in 2 weeks time.


I'm a little worried about her speech development. I see a lot of toddlers her age who can speak very well and I'm starting to worry.

She can say more than 30+ words but they are not very clear. She'll say "ba" for "bus", "lite" for "write", "oon" for spoon. "ye" for "you" etc. She can say less than 10 words clearly, mainly names of people like mamma, pappa, che che, yee yee, por por, yer yer, ma ma, pak pak (she sees my husband's Chinese family daily).


I'm just wondering, should I be worried? Do I need to get her checked.


Other than that, she's doing really well. She can understand our instructions and can do all actions to songs.


I just wish she could talk more.


Should I get her checked or is this normal?


I know she doesn't have problems with her hearing because she's usually at the door waiting for me when she hears me opening the door with a key.


This is my first child so I'm not quite sure what to expect.


My hubby needed help with pronounciation when he was young apparently and we do speak to her in both English and Canto at home.

wouldn't worry May. My daughter is 26 months old and sounds much like your own daughter. If you read the book "How Babies Talk" by Golinkoff, you'll learn a bit more about how speech development works. She is WELL WITHIN range of what is considered "normal." Most bilingual children have a "delay" in their actual verbalization of many words. Every child is different. Emily now says over 100 words, but for a while she was stuck at around 30. She speaks about 50/50 English and Korean and now can often verbalize the same word in both languages. She'll see a fountain and get all excited and say "wa-duh" and "mool" (korean for water.) Be patient -there is this exponential leap that kids make - each in their own time.


My friend suggested I keep track of the words that my daughter speaks and I did. It was pretty exciting to see and the jump that they make when they suddenly add to their vocabulary in leaps and bounds! You might try it too - I just made it on excel and keep track (even now.)


Usually they say at age 3, if you're noticing significant lag, then get your child tested.

i agree with hkchoichoi - my son was checked at 24 months because of the same case - delay in speech. he turns 3 next month and even the doctor who had him checked a year ago was surprised at how he has developed. Be patient. Keep talking and reading to her. Helps a lot.

While I agree with the above posts, I would err on the side of safely and have your daughter checked if you are concerned.


In addition, have you tried baby signing? A lady who posts here called 'joshmom' teaches this, or you can get a book. It might really help you increase communication with your daughter.


My mother has told me I was a vey late starter, and that the doctor told her not to worry 'I would catch up later'... it was true (and yes, I made up for it!)


BUT, a friend had a baby that was a late starter, and she suspected something was wrong... had him tested at less than 2 years old and it was disgnosed as Autism. He is now almost 5, and has been in special programmes for 3 years. His communication is MUCH better, but he still has issues. Early internvention is important when it is a problem.


Now saying all of that, because your daughter is responding to things, doing the 'action' songs, etc... it does sound like she is developing wonderfully. (the friend's baby was NOT doing these things and NOT making eye contact anymore). But for peace of mind, an evaluation might be good.

She is really fine. My 2 daughters were quite different. The first was probably at your child's stage at 2. And she said "nonia" for "sonia" until almost 3!


The second was much earlier, and now at 3 still has a lot of funny pronunciations. I was a little concerned 6 mths ago about this but have noticed many have gone.


The main thing is that I could always tell they were active, responsive, communicative.


At almost exactly 2.5yrs both suddenly understood the difference in the 2 languages, and suddenly stopped trying to use Chinese on me, and stopped using English with their grandma. Amazing, from one day to the next, like that!


The funny thing is they often seem to regress a little before they increase speech also. Not sure why, but they seem to realise a grunt and point is as good a way as any to get something. And saying the word is much harder.

Hi everyone. I'm so sorry for my silence, I've been away in China.


Thanks so much for sharing your stories and advices.


Based on your stories, I think I'm going to wait a few more months before consulting a speech therapist to see how she progresses.


Joshmomm, I would love to see your chart to get an idea on how I could do one for my daughter. I'll pm you. Like you've suggested, I'm also trying to repeat what she says correctly and then get her to attempt it again. She does it willingly but it's still coming out wrong. When she does that, I just hug her and say, "Very good" or should I be saying, "No, try again"?


Regarding signing, she does a lot of that... she didn't learn it from me, but she picked it up from watching her videos... ie. she can sign butterfly and say "but"(short for butterfly"), putting two fists together if she wants potoates (from the Wiggles) and putting two hands together in a "mashing" motion if she wants mashed bananas and she'll say "ya ya or na na?" for bananas (I can't work out her sounds sometimes). I'll try to sign more with her although I really don't know much about signing.


One thing's for sure, though, I'm feeling a lot better about her speech - thanks so much to all of you :-) :-)

Joshmomm... thank you so much. I saw your chart and I did a similar one this morning to try it out. From memory, I could think of at least 110 words my little girl could say (not properly but at least able to verbalize). It really helps. I thought she could only say 30+ words as you can see from my original post but in fact, she could say so much more!!! I haven't even counted the ones I've just remembered but have not included in the chart. You've definitely put my worries into perspective. I wish I had done so earlier like you have.

Now I can't construct one with the words she understands but can't say yet.... because there are too many now and I don't really know what she does or doesn't understand.


When I went home for lunch, I started pointing to different objects in our apartment and I asked her, "What's this?" and she could tell me and I didn't even know she could (obviously not properly... she'd say "t" instead of "tv" but she said "chair" correctly etc.


I remember when I first started taking note of her speech, I could only think of about 13+ words that she was saying (probably at 14 months)... and now, look at her....


She doesn't look me in the eye when I talk. She's too busy looking at the videos or playing with her toys.... she only looks me in the eye when she's angry, want something or making funny faces at me.


I'm feeling a lot better and will try speaking in sentences to her. I've never really spoken to her like an adult. I keep thinking she doesn't understand so I've been saying simple words like, "Go work" or "Mamma sleep".


I'm now pretty sure I'm doing the right thing by holding off a visit to a speech therapist.


Thank you.... :-) :-) :-)


PS: Joshmomm, is that a simpler way to do the words that she understands but can't yet speak?

MayC,



I haven't read all the replies above. But, just in case nobody has said it already, it is completely normal for toddlers who regularly hear two (or more) languages to be a few months behind the curve.