2 year old not talking...am I doing something wrong?

[mommyfrog]

That was my suggestion too. Make her say the words when she wants something. If you don't see an improvement in her speech in a month or two, I'd get her speech evaluated. Also, and you may already be doing this, when she does have a one word request, like "milk", repeat back to her what you would like her to say "May I have some milk please?" Don't make her say it, just put her request into a whole sentence so she knows exactly how it should sound. Eventually she will say it.

[DalesWidda]

Well, not sure if this will help you, but my daughter turns two next week and talks a lot! Like "give me a popsicle", counts to ten, says the alphabet, "mama help me", "go away", all kinds of sentences. I would say that compared to my other two girls, she is ahead. My friends daughter is the same age and all she says is hi and mama. THat's it. She had an evaluation done and was told she is doing everything she could do to help her and to give it another six months. That being said, that would put her at 2 1/2 and that is your dd's age. I would def get an evaluation. I do think that dd3 talks so well because she has two older sisters that yap all the time. So, maybe you could talk more to her if that's possible? I agree, maybe her expressive language skills are lacking. Only one way to find out. Good luck!

[Minniebees]

It's not you. Kids learn to talk no matter what their parenting situation is like. My oldest is a YAPPER. OMG, she started talking at 10 months old and hasn't shut up since.

My third one is slower to talk, but she is delayed in all areas. I have spent the least amount of time working with her out of all 3 kids, and she still knows quite a few colors and shapes, even though I never sat down with her to work on them, and she can count to 10, as well. Even kids in horribly abusive or neglectful homes learn to speak. It's not you.

My second one has autism, and didn't speak at all until he was 3, and then his language was really bizarre until about 4 when he started being able to actually speak. He still has a severe articulation problem, but his actual sentence structure and vocabulary are above his age. his conversational skills suck.

Anyway, the fact that your child has great receptive language is very reassuring!! Ds didn't have any receptive language. Zero. Zilch. Nada. People told me he was just putting on when he didn't know his name or the word no, but he wasn't. He looked like he was profoundly deaf. Even now at 6, his receptive language is not where it should be. I don't worry about my dd's language (she's 3) because she does speak, it is just at a level you'd see a 2.5 year old, and she has great receptive language.

[SJwith2girls]

Have you had her ears checked?

My middle dd was really slow to talk. At 18 months she had 6 words when she should have 10-20. Then at 2 she had 10. Turns out she had fluid in her ears. I was told that while her hearing was muffled she could understand everything but it affected her speech.

Everyone I spoke to said why didn't they pick it up. Well at 18 months her ears were fine. She wasn't sick and didn't go to the doctors again till the 2 year check up. During that time I never once saw her tug at her ears or complain that they hurt.

We had a couple of rounds of antibiotics that didn't do anything.....then had tubes put in her ears. They worked. Within a week I asked her a question and she repeated it right back to me. (nearly fell over to hear her say so much in one go) The ENT said while it is only a 5-10% hearing loss with the fluid it can really affect them when they are still learning speech. While she had a great vocabulary within a couple of month, her pronunciation was slightly off so she did require some speech therapy.

[ralenth]

I only read some of the responses, but I'd get her checked out. She's 2, right? Call early intervention, it's free. I have an almost 8 year old who at 2 didn't talk much, and when he did start talking, I was the only one who could understand him. The ped told me it was normal, and he'd catch on. Yeah, right. In kindergarten he was diagnosed with apraxia. Basically the wires in his head are crossed. He knows what he wants to say, but it doesn't always come out right. He's gotten 3 years of speech, and is so much better, but still struggles. And my biggest regret? Not following my gut. It is so much easier to overcome when you catch it early. If he'd been getting speech at 2, I am guessing he wouldn't need it now. I am not saying that is your childs issue. I don't know, but honestly? If you get her evaluated, one of two things will happen. She'll qualify for help, or not. And if she does? It's only going to help her.

I got my youngest evaluated at 3, by th schools. Because of her brother, she qualified for a speech playgroup, which was great. She's since been cleared, and is doing wonderful.

[myall4him2]

I was getting concerned about my 2 yr old too! She JUST started saying almost everything just recently lol It's like one morning she decided to use her words! I would give it a little time. She seems smart as a button, she's just waiting for the right time to start talking!

[nohollyhomaker]

I would get her evaluated. It isn't you and it could be nothing but she may have an issue where she needs help.

[Pyrodjm]

Originally Posted by knlrachel It sounds like her receptive language is great but her expressive language might be delayed. Do you require her to talk? For example, when she wants something, does she have to use her words, or can she point, maybe say please and get it? I would try giving her times/motivaton to talk and encourage her to use her words. She might just be a quiet girl, but I would probably call early intervention for a free evaluation if she was my daughter. JMHO. Hope all goes well. I have a lot of experience with early intervention and they are awesome and you don't need your doctor to refer you!!

ITA with all of this. I would also recommend referring her for an evaluation before she turns 3. It does not sound like she has many words or any 2 or 3 word phrases. These would me expected in a child turning two. Hopefully, she is just a late talker, but the eval can be very helpful and it's fun for the kids.