tell me about your 2 year 4 month aged child please

[Dawnlouise30]

HI,

so my DS2 is 2 years 4 months and is so very different to how DS1 (who is now nearly 6 ) was at that age.

Ds1 was: chatty, knew all his colours, counted to ten, played with anything and everything and was fairly boisterous (still is).

DS2 is : fairly quiet. is speech delayed - he doesnt talk in any kind of conversational flow and his language that he does use is basic. He will for example bring me a drink and ask "open it", or will say "sit down" when its tea time. He makes brum brum sounds when playing with cars and choo choo sounds when playing with trains. he repeats a lot of what we say and when doing this he says more ... for example i asked DS2 to tell daddy to come on and DS2 said "come on Daddy", or i may say to him mummys monkey and he will repeat that.

When you ask him a question such as ' where is his brother' he doesnt respond, he doesnt even look for him. but if you say 'where is your head, shoes, nose etc' he will point. he will follow instructions (fetch shoes, socks etc) and can solve problems (ie he knows to get a chair if he wants to reach something high).

He isn't that into jigsaws and when we do them he struggles to fit the pieces into an inset puzzle without help. however he can easily place his montessori cylinder blocks in the right slots.

He only ever plays with cars (lines them up on the sofa for hours) and trains which he also lines up, unless we have the train track out then he will play with the track as well. He likes books but only looks at them with us and if we ask him where something is in the book it is hit and miss if he will show you.
he will rarely engage in imaginative play with the food, but doesn't like it if you or another child tries to join in.

If you count 1, he says 2, 3, 5 so he is getting the idea. but no idea of colours or shapes at all.

Outside he climbs well, can ride a balance bike, but not a scooter. he is very wobbly when walking and running and often falls over, and is hesitant when going down steps/ curbs outside.

the childminder (he has been going 1.5 days a week for three months) says he is coming out of his shell a bit more - he used to just watch the children but now he does follow them around a bit. he doesnt talk in a conversational (even babble)sense, but will say "thank you" when prompted and will ask for her to "open it" for drink / snack. he will say "my choo choo or my toy" if a child tries to take something off him.

to me, he seems a bit in his own world, but im not sure if it seems that way because DS1 was and still is so outgoing and chatty and in your face. DS2 may just be shy, but im not sure.

he technically failed his 2 year check and was rechecked recently with a different questionnaire but appropriate for his age and he failed that as well.
he is waiting on referrals for paediatrician over his wobbly walking and speech and language over language delay. He has just been seen by ENT and will be having his tonsils and adenoids removed due to obstructive sleep apnea (this will be done in 4 months or so)

as well as the childminder he sees his cousin who is two weeks younger than him most weeks (and up until recently saw him twice a week for two full days - they play parallel to each other with his cousin sometimes trying to play with him but DS2 often doesn't respond - he is clearly aware of him, and will sit next to him but no attempts to interact with him), he goes to a music class (is shy there and clings to me), and tumble tots (has been going for 18 months but is still clingy to me) and he swims in a swim class with me (very hesitant of teacher) - so i do feel he has the opportunity to mix with others but doesnt really bother.

i guess i just dont know if him being so quiet is a worry, or if im overthinking things.

thoughts????

 

[babyjan]

Hi

I have two boys too. A 6 year old and 2 and 4 month old. My first born was saying a lot at this age. He’d answer simple questions like ‘how old are you’ and ‘what’s your name?’ He knew colours and things.

Ds2 doesn’t say much at all, he mainly babbles and barely repeats anything. He does understand things like point to your nose, head, eyes etc and can follow instructions like close the door. We’ve filled out the form to try get him referred for SAL. He loves cars and trains and lines them up a lot too!

Have you seen a health visitor to express your concerns? I think that’s the best thing to do. We spoke to them about my son lack of speech and his tantrums that result in him hurting himself.
It might be that your LO is shy compared to his big brother x

 

[Dawnlouise30]

Thank you for your reply.

Health visitor is aware and that's how we managed to get the referrals made. He may just be quieter than his big brother, its just strange having a quiet boy. Xx

 

[dani_tinks]

Hi, my little girl doesn't speak properly yet either, where as my first born boy has never had an issue with language. Our HV has referred us to the speech therapy department, haven't heard from them yet though! Apparently it can be totally normal at this age, so i'm trying not to panic, but I know it's understandable to have concerns - especially when you're used to such a chatty child!

 

[nessaw]

Hi my dd is slightly older-2y7m. She is behind in her speaking. Her understanding is spot on but she only uses 1 or 2 words at a time although she knows lots. She will whine if there's a problem rather than use a word. Whine isn't quite the right word for it but can't think of a better one. She gets very frustrated and has only just started calling for mummy/daddy. She wasn't babbling much at 10 months but the hv was happy with her socially. She was behind at 2 yr check in speech and we were given info re speech therapist drop in if still worried at 2 and a half. We went last week and they felt she had some good communication skills but needed social communication skills. They've referred her for a series of at home appts with a speech therapist but it's a 6 week waiting list. There's also a few flags for autism so they put her on the waiting list for that assessment-more as a get on it sooner than later case. She has lost a few things e.g. joining in with action songs and hi/bye. But hi/bye has returned the last couple of weeks and she sings along with things like paw patrol and sleeping bunnies.
She knows some numbers and will count along-steps, objects sometimes. She know some colours and will use them on occasion. She generally doesn't answer questions and doesn't use yes/no or nod/shake head. She follows 2 step instructions really well. Hervoice is quite high pitched and she's just realised who her reflection is and 'talks' to it a lot.
She is at home with my husband and goes to swimming once a week and playgroup once a week. So has socialising activities but she is never in a situation where she has to make her needs known to a stranger. I do feel some of it is down to this-we both know what she wants so she doesn't verbalise it. We're now making her wait and say the word for some things. Some of it is also that her personality is such that she will show us she can do something then not doing it again til shewants to-she rolled once at 4 months then didn't do it again for ages. She crawled at 8 months and walked at 15 but in between wasn't interested in holding hands to be helped to walk. So I also think she might be biding her time til she can do sentences. The other week she just came out with "Sharon at the door" when a friend came down the path and yesterday I swear she replied "I said please" when my dh told her to say please for something!
I didn't worry about any other development stage other than this. It really concerns me-I'm a teacher and have seen many spedch and language issues but it's very hard when it's your own child.

 

[Kiki1993]

My daughter is 2y2months and she’s kinda similar. She has said around 40 words (not all clear) and a couple two words phrases BUT she will say something and it say it for ages and prefersto mainly babble. Taking is very much her terms if I ask her t say something she won’t. I phoned health visitor and she said she’s sounds on track and her other dev was above her age range. She said as long as her understanding is there speech will follow she sounds a bit stubborn, and if by her review which should be January then they can put her name down for speech and language I feel I’m concerned and if they think she needs extra help. She gets plenty opportunities to talk, she goes to lots of groups and we narrate everything for her. Last week she has been speaking more but again only if she wants to and its only if she’s in the house or around familiar people. I don’t think she is overly shy becuase she babbles in front of strangers butwont use the words she knows. And Shen often has words that she says for awhile then doesn’t say for weeks or months then starts sayingthke again. Every kid is different and least health visitor could refer if needed that’s what Im thinking when I worry. Health visitors ca get the process started for waiting now lists so even if they suddenly come out in a speech explosion then you just don’t useyour space but least you’re on it so if that doesn’t happen the hepinghand is there xx