My son is 2 yr 10 months old & he is not properly talking. He speaks only single words. Can you suggest me what should I do?

At 2 years old, toddlers can say about 100 words, and close to 300 words by the time they reach 2 1/2 years. Rule of thumb says that kids should be able to say one word at about 1 year, two-word combinations at 18 months to 2 years, and three-word sentences before they turn 3 years old. But the pace can vary from child to child. It’s interesting to note that 1 in every 4 children is a late talker. So try not to panic if your child isn’t as articulate as you’d like him/her to be. To understand why a kid’s a late bloomer, here’s a list of typical reasons behind the speech delay: 1) Boys - There’s usually a 2- to 3-month lag between girls and boys. At 16 months, girls are able to use an average of 50 words, while boys use only about 30. 2) Chronic ear infection - Lingering fluid from a middle ear infection is a common cause of speech delay because the fluid buildup makes it hard for kids to mimic the sounds of words they hear. 3) Preemies - Premature babies often reach their milestones later than usual, but they normally catch up at 2 years old. 4) Multiples - Around 50% of multiples has some language delay, according to speech pathologists. Low birth weight, prematurity, medical intervention at birth are big factors. 5) Focusing on other skills - While your child may be speaking fewer words than as expected for kids his/her age, see if he/she is quite adept at other skills like walking. If your child is progressing on schedule with his/her overall development, it may just be that your child is focused on perfecting other skills first before developing the talking skill. It is advised, however, to seek an evaluation with your pediatrician should your child at almost 3 years old speak less than 25 words and is not able to string them together into 2-word sentences. Here are some other signs to watch out for with kids over 2 years old: - can only imitate speech or actions; - doesn’t produce words or phrases spontaneously; - says only select words or sounds repeatedly; - can’t follow simple directions; - has a raspy or nasal sounding tone of voice; - pronunciation is hard to understand; and - is harder to understand than as expected with kids his/her age (parents should be able to understand half of what 2-year-olds say, and about 3/4 of what 3-year-olds say). Sources: - http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/language/speech-development-in-toddlers/ - http://www.parenting.com/article/speech-delays - http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/not-talk.html#

Hi Sapna, Your son is still in his speech development phase and has not passed it that you should be worried that he is not talking in sentences. I have a friend who has twins and are almost the same age as your baby, and they too speak single words, like, didi, or name of my daughter or other children they interact with, or mumma, papa, no, car, etc. I do not think there is any reason as of now to get hassled thinking that he is not talking in a sentence. He is learning and trying to pick up so many things at the same time, example, talking, teething, observing all things around, understanding what everyone must be telling him. So, he is trying to pick up so many things at single time, and he might be taking time in some areas, and let him do that. All you should do is, encourage him to talk more and interact with him more. More you will talk to him, more he will pick up things. Talk to him in small sentences which will be easy for him to speak than framing long sentences. He is too young to expect him to be perfect right away. Some children do start talking by now but there are others who don't. And it is perfectly fine.

Speaking from my personal experience, my firstborn does not speak at all until she is three and a half. Prior to that, she only call papa, mama and milk but understand everything we told her. I was told she might have speech delay as all her peers was talking non-stop at age of two. I was so worry at the negative comments by other people but my husband assured me and ask me to give Hee space/time to develop at her own pace after some of our own research to rule out that she has speech delay. One fine day, she start talking and she speak in perfect statement: "Mommy give me the milk". It turn up my girl is a perfectionist like me and only talk or do stuff that she can do perfectly if not, she will just observe other. Today at the age of four, she talk non-stop the moment her eyes open; we often joked that she is a music player with the spoilt "stop" button.

My son was born preemie (27 weeker)he has a speech delay and so his pediatrician referred us to a speech therapist and he is also attending a specialized pre k class 4 times a week.His speech started progressing when we enrolled him to pre k special program..also my son tends to learn more with visuals (based on his teacher during his evaluations) so we let him use ipad to watch kid shows (under limited hrs and supervision).Now he can talk straight sentences..Just a reminder not all kids are the same though so the best recommendation is to go to your pediatrician first.

Hi, Firstly, I would say do not worry as all children have their own developmental time. Some kids start speaking early some late. Some get their first tooth at 4 months while others come after one year. If he is able to speak that one word clearly means that there is no problem in his understanding of the word or in his speech. He can say the word properly. Just that he is taking his time. Talk to him more and more and make him pronounce words with you. And there is no harm in seeing a speech therapist to take an overview of the situation.

To encourage him to speak, you yourself should speak a lottttt with him. It need not make any sense. Not teaching him to speak. But speaking to him like you do with any adult. They learn by observation. Wait and see he will speak thousands if words by this time next year. Some children take their own time. Even my sisters daughter didn't speak till she was three. They took her to a speech therapist. Didn't work. My god now she speaks nonstop. 😂

Some kids speak later. I have a friend who has a 20 month old boy that doesn't speak much while my girl (who is now almost 15 months) started saying words at about a year old. My friend did point out that so far all the kids she has seen who are late speakers have better motor skills. True for my girl. She is better linguistically but her motor skills aren't that refined. If you're really worried then check with a pd.

different children start speaking at different ages, and some do so even around the age of 3. while i would say don't worry too much yet, it is a good idea to speak to your child's doc and see if they recommend a visit to a pediatric speech therapist. keep talking to your child all the time and stress on the words and sentences. ask questions. ask about things that interest your child. and read out a lot.

Hi! My 2 yo son is not yet talking properly. We had him assessed by a devt pedia when he was 22mos and was initially diagnosed with GDD cannot rule out ASD. We want to give him all the help we can so we enrolled him in a therapy center for OT and SLP. He's been there for 17 sessions now and He is not yet talking butbwe saw great progress in his behavior and started babling words.

hi sis my son start talking at age of 7months like dadada and papapa at 9months he talked better like hearty cat dog bird and now at age of 1yr and 6months he can talk 3-4 words straight even love you mama. my secret instrumental music since baby and eye contact po ginagawa ko momshies..until now instrumental music po sya, no tv and no cp. books at few toys lang sis..😊😊