Toddler Speach Development
84What a great question, and one I have asked many times to many people recently as my 2 year old is still not wanting to talk. Notice I said not wanting to, not that she can't! In seriousness I have noticed a few things during my daughter's development and one of the major concerns I had was the fact that she was not talking at all when she turned two. My mother has a Master's Degree in early childhood education and she gave my husband and I some useful tips.
The first thing we were doing was saying (amongst ourselves and friends) that she was underdeveloped in this area and it bothered us greatly. My mother put a stop to that very quickly. There are multiple levels that are used in gauging a child's development social, physical, music, speech, emotional, etc. Our daughter was and still is not talking very much but it is not that she is slow or can't it is that she has been nurtured and we "know" what she wants so we just do it.
The first thing we had to do to get her to start talking was to alter our behaviour with her. This is another point that we noticed with others that we knew, if the parents didn't pay much attention to the child, the child was actually speaking much earlier but they had no choice. If they didn't speak they were totally ignored. Our daughter on the other hand had been prepped to be independent and yes I admit it, we did and still do to a degree jump for her when we know what she wants.
Some simple tips we have incorporated in the house are to move her snacks and things out of reach. She can no longer just point to them to let us know what she wants. She has to say the word (or at least mimic us) to get it. As she is getting a little older she has definite things that she wants and does not want. By making her speak, we are helping not just her but ourselves. We waste a lot less food when she tells us exactly what she wants!
Another thing we have done is to start having her ask others for things if she wants them. For example when we go to the rock wall, she has to ask the people there for a harness. This again gets them verbally communicating and if they don't, they don't get to do what they want. I promise she has always found a way to let them know what she wants!
Another good thing to incorporate are songs. The melody and sing song is easier for the child to follow and while we go a little crazy after hearing "I like to eat, I like to eat, I like to eat eat apples and bananas" 20 times a night, she is picking it up. Nursery rhymes, rhyming words, etc.
Make it as much of a game as you can. Another thing we do a lot is she will name body parts now and we will point to them on ourselves. We used to say the words for her to point at herself, now she tells us.
Be prepared to take more time to do the things you normally do with them during this stage. Our home used to be set up where she would open the cabinet and point to what she wanted so breakfast/lunch/snack were pretty fast. Not so anymore. Now she wants to point, but we make her say something, and if she doesn't do it right away we say things we know she doesn't want. Again just getting her to hear the words. A typical snack time here now goes:
us: Would you like a snack? Her: Yes, (runs to the kitchen). us: What do you want? Her: (grunt and point) us: Oh you want ketchup? Her: No, (grunt and point making fishy noises. Now at this time I know she wants Gold fish, but I can't give them to her until she says the word) us: Oh you want broccoli? Her: No, (grunt point etc). This continues for 2-3 minutes until she gets frustrated and tells us "Gold fish." At which time she actually gets them.
Another thing I was doing as a mother was speaking for her. Such as when my husband would come home I would say, "Honey tell Daddy what we did today. We went to the playground didn't we? and to the Y?" Never once giving her time to get a word in edge wise! I still catch myself doing this, and I probably will for a while, but that is part of the curve.
Just have patience and if the child gets to 3 and is not speaking at all you may want to look for more professional help. Until 3 though as long as they are communicating they are on "age appropriate" behaviour, we just have to alter our behavior!
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
They all definately have their own personalities, and I think with the first we often worry more! It seems that it takes that one for us to realize that they are going to survive despite us!
Yep, I agree. :) My older one however is 25, so I did forget a lot since then, and my second was almost like the first :)
If there was a large gap between the first and second, the second may have felt like the "oldest" child. I have read as well that siblings aid in the speach process as well (unless the oldest is like I was and always speaks for the younger!) No control issues here lol
i have the same problem with my son who's now 3. he does talk but normally kids of his age can already compose a sentence that you can understand. He knows how to sing, the tone is there, but you can barely understand the lyrics,well, thanks for writing this hub :)
mhei- for us as long as we knew she COULD talk we were OK. She has finally started talking now, and one of the new things I have incorporated is that she must ask not only my husband and myself for the things she wants but also others if we are out. For example when we go to the Y she must ask the people operating the stations for what she wants like her harness, or to turn on the slide or mushroom. This helps her to enuciate what she wants as I won't help them to understand her. (Luckily places like the Y are good with children and help me out.)
wow thanks :)
Our doctor told us to do basically this with everything except for food and drink but he's a strong-willed little 20 month old. The very idea of the tantrums that would ensue gives me the shudders! He understands 100% but just isn't putting out any verbals, he's my first though and as others noted, I think that means more worrying. :) I like the idea of making it more of a game but have to figure out how to make that work, he definitely responds better to such tactics rather than being pushed.
Jessica- With the first as with mine I think we definately worry more! Our daughter just turned 3 as an update and is still not able to be understood by most, (including at times my husband and myself). My mother gave me another bit of helpful advice when we just saw her and it was this.
"No one ever asks IF a child will start walking, they will do it when they are ready" (again I fully understand some circumstances are different but we are not addressing special cases here). The same is true with talking. My daughter definately CAN talk she just does not want to half the time.
Finding games sounds harder than it actually is, and I promise as he gets older and truely wants something when you don't just give it to him he will definately figure out how to tell you :)
Keep us posted any and all tips are greatly apprechiated and boys and girls are so different I love hearing all the different things that work for different people!
Misha says:
14 months ago
LOL My middle one, Sasha, was pretty much like that. But we did not bother altering our behavior. We prefered (and still prefer) to show him he is loved as much as we can. All comes in a due time, and by three he was talking just fine :)
His younger sister, on the other hand, started to talk around a year and a half...