Speech delay?

Question

My little guy is 22 months old. As we get closer to his birthday in October, I find myself dreading it. He is the most amazing little boy who I love more than anything. But everywhere, I read that my boy should be saying 50 words by age 2. He doesn't say anything but Da! He's so skilled at playing with his toys, stacking,playing etc. But he just never speaks. 
Are kids really speaking so much at this age? Is he really behind? I read him 15 times per day. I narrate everything. I know he can hear me. Should I call the doctor now or wait for the 2 year appointment?

Answer

My son says the same words all the time:
Da
No
Ice
Yezz for yes
Roars like a tiger or bear lol
He can say but rarely says:
Mama
Dog
Blue
(And some other words but I for the life of me cannot think of what they are)
He is so smart tho. I ask him to do something and he will do it. He points to things he wants. He figures out how to do stuff. He’s a smart little 21 month old. I do worry about his speech. But the pediatrician didn’t seem worried. I ya w heard of kiddos one day just randomly start talking out of the blue. I’m assuming he will do this. We read to him and what not. Guess we will see how he is once he hits 2 years old. I totally understand the worry. I’m right there with you.

Answer

I have a similar thing with my 1 November baby. The only thing he says with any regularity is mama. He has an older brother who is almost 4 now who was exactly the same. Said about 10 words, mama, dada, uh oh, wow sort of things when he turned 2. Got referred to speech therapy when he was 27 months. Due to delays he didn't see anyone until he was 3 by which point he was talking fine and was immediately discharged. I wouldn't immediately worry, just keep an eye on the situation, they talk when they're ready.

Answer

I think the call is up to you. Our daughter will also be turning 2 in October and doesn’t really say much either. It is stressful! Her receptive language is great! We also read a lot to her and narrate everything. But her expressive language is minimal. 
Our pediatrician did not seem concerned at her 18 month appointment. He said he has been seeing lots of toddlers our daughter’s age who weren’t talking a ton. He’s been seeing this a lot in the past year, perhaps a side effect of quarantine and the pandemic? 
Regardless, if he was concerned he would have told us to check back in before her 2 year check up. But he didn’t. He said to keep doing what we’re doing. We are looking at online speech help resources to see if there’s more we can be doing at home. 
I am contemplating going straight to a speech pathologist for an evaluation, but I haven’t decided yet. My daughter still manages to communicate very well even if she isn’t using a ton of words. And she is definitely showing an interest in speaking as she continues to babble more and make new, different sounds. 
I’d say follow your mommy intuition!

Answer

My son is the strong and silent type also. My PTA person has us write down the words he does say and add to it as it grows definitely helps me see that he is actually learning words. She said they don't have to sound perfect but just be consistent for that one thing. Like Fafa is a dog Frieda he knows and he always does the same sound for helicopter or plane. Or he always makes an "uh" noise everytime for car. She also said signing words counts as well. She said pronunciation comes later. Though he doesn't talk a ton, once I started writing everything out they started adding up. Here is how I list it all out. So I would say we are at around 29 "words".

Answer

My daughter is at about 10 words. But her doctor isn’t concerned and wants to wait until she’s 2 for the evaluation since she said she could flip a switch into speaking any time. My kid has always been on target for milestones, just has little interest in talking.

Answer

No reason to wait on the dr. The earlier you can get him some extra help, the better. I got my son into speech therapy without his dr. He’s only been in a month and we are already starting to see improvement! It was so hard for me to accept that he was behind, but it’s been amazing to watch him blossom with the help of his speech therapist. She’s even taught me how to speak to him to help him better understand.

Answer

I am a speech language pathologist and have worked in early intervention so I am probably biased to thinking it is always helpful. In the US , early intervention is a free service. They will
Complete an evaluation to see if your child does indeed qualify by being behind same aged peers. Then with you and your family priorities in mind you would develop goals and a schedule for therapy (generally one time a week around my area). Early intervention is supposed to be done in your house or your natural environment and it is typically a provider giving you support and strategies that work for you, your child and family. I would say if you are concerned, reach out to the early intervention providers in your area. Or you can wait til 2 and talk with your ped. I would listen to your mom gut. The norms are50 words by age 2. The norm is what 90%of 2 year olds are doing.

Answer

My daughter still doesn’t say much either but improving all the time. My son was annunciating sentences perfectly at 2.5. My nephew didn’t really talk much until he was 5! All kids develop differently. If you’re really concerned tho there is no harm in calling your doctor.

Speech delay?

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