2 1/2 Year Old Only Saying 5 Words!

Lots of 2 1/2 year olds, that have older siblings, do not talk. They don't need to talk, everyone talks for them! :) as far as the kicking and screaming, she's two, it happens.

My youngest did not talk as early as her sister. It seemed like she was delayed. Nope. She never stops talking now. No need to worry.

Mom could always have her evaluated through Early Intervention - their services are free in every state and they may determine she really is okay, or there are some things they need to work on to help her catch up. It doesn't hurt anything to give them all a call. Not sure how to bring it up with the mom though, since I know some can get really prickly if they think you are questioning or criticizing their parenting. Maybe ask HER if SHE is concerned about the little one's speech and vocabulary?

She talked to her pediatrician, who told her not to worry about it and provided the reason. She will have a 3 yr well-baby check-up, and the pediatrician will ask about verbal skills again (and also will notice, as the pediatrician should talk to the child). It's not going to be a significant issue to wait until the 3rd bday. My daughter was barely verbal at 2 1/2, but she'd been in an orphanage until 2 and then didn't know English. However, it took until after 3 yrs for her to start talking up a storm, even though she'd had excellent comprehension at 28-30 months. Later, she needed speech therapy for other reasons, but her vocabulary was/is incredible.

You are trying to have your friend decide not to trust what her pediatrician has told her and instead think there is an issue with her daughter. My experience is that I've had "helpful" friends (and strangers) make suggestions to me about things that I've discussed with my doctors and professionals. It annoys me when they take it upon themselves to give me their opinion. If I ask for their opinion or help, it's one thing. If not, it's not their place. Your friend has eyes and ears (and other children) and has discussed this with a professional who told her not to worry about it at this time. If it were me, I would let it go. Two year olds hit, kick and have tantrums for many reasons. Yes, she may be a bit speech delayed, but a 2 yr old's vocab is less than 20 words. So, she wouldn't be able to express her feelings even with a few more words or recognize the emotion to put with the word yet.

It is very common to not be a talker when you have older siblings. My experience is that if the child can communicate what thier needs are through signing, pointing or trying to talk that they are usually fine and just taking a slower time getting there. My daughter was a motor mouth at 18 months, couldnt shut her up for anything... my son is 2 now and barely says anything.. expecially if his sister is around but he does try to talk when shes not up in his business. If your friend is not concerned, then I wouldn't make it an issue. The hitting and kicking thing could also be that she has older siblings and is likely frustrated.

This is tough because it is someone else's daughter, not yours, so you have to be very careful.

My 3 year old has a speech delay. I said something to my ped when he was 18 months old. She did what she could to rule out other issues. She had his hearing checked as well, just to be sure. She told me that there wouldn't be much a speech pathologist could do but that she would refer him if I wanted to (and that she would have her own child evaluated if it were here, just to be safe). I did have him evaluated. He was evaluated at 18 months, again at 24 months and again at 2 1/2 years. That's when he started therapy (not much they can do with him before then except give me ideas).

I realize that what many other moms said is true - there's probably nothing to worry about, she probably just has older siblings talking for her, she will probably grow out of it and start talking soon, lots of kids have a sudden "language explosion" and never stop talking.

I knew the chances were my son would be just fine without any help. I was not willing to take that chance. He has been receiving services for about 9 months. He is doing much better, saying more things, speaking more clearly, more and more willing to try and say things. He has a ways to go, and it's obviously that he gets really frustrated sometimes when people have trouble understanding him. But over all, it was absolutely the right decision.

What can you do? Probably not much. The first thing that comes to mind is just that if you are there when she is obviously trying to communicate and is frustrated, you could make a very understanding comment either to the girl (that Mom overhears) - "It's hard when people don't know what you want. Can you try telling me again? I really want to help." - or to Mom - "Oh, it is so hard as a mom when you know she wants to tell you something and she just can't communicate!"

I realize the hitting and kicking is also part of being 2 1/2, but that doesn't mean that she isn't frustrated. It must be so hard to be that age and not able to communicate your needs.

She isn't hitting and kicking because she doesn't' have words. My daughter talked like most 4 year olds at 2.5 and that didn't stop her from biting or kicking or pushing! Hitting and kicking is normal at that age, and it isn't about words.

If the mom isn't worried, I wouldn't say anything. She knows better than anyone else if there is something wrong with her child. A lot of 2.5 year olds don't talk, and a lot of them especially don't talk when other people are around.

Please do not ask her if she is worried! I had a friend tell me she was worried about my daughter's speech. All it did was upset me!

Hi, I'd encourage her to call the Parent Training and Information Center that serves Santa Clara Co, and ask for a FREE Child Find speech evaluation. At 2 a child usually has around 200 words.
Parents Helping Parents (PHP)
Sobrato Center for Non Profits
1400 Parkmoor Avenue, #100, San Jose, CA 95126
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I hope this helps!

My dd is an only child and didn't start talking until a little older than 2 1/2. Once she started talking she never quit. She also actually had a huge vocabulary when she started talking and near perfect pronunciation. I used to joke that she had been practicing and just didn't let anyone know until it was perfect. :-)

Anyway she is now a High Ability student and completely excelling in school.

All kids hit milestones at different times. If the mom is not concerned and the pediatrician is not concerned then I wouldn't worry about it especially if she has appropriate comprehension.

I'm shocked that people are telling you to back off and say nothing. This isn't about coming between the parent/pediatrician relationship. Pediatricians are not infallible. They CAN be mistaken, and while most children do develop in most areas at their own pace the fact that this little girl speaks only five words at 2 1/2 years old is very concerning to me.

It's not too early to have this little girl evaluated by a pediatric speech pathologist, who is the real specialist on children's verbal skills. Your friend can contact her local school and get in touch with their Birth-To-Three Program or equivalent since the girl is still under three years old. The school will evaluate her speech for free, and if there's any reason for speech therapy they'll do that free of charge as well.

It's much better to start early... the earlier the better when it comes to learning delays such as with speech, especially if there are other associated issues that are found in the evaluation.

I would gently encourage your friend to have the school's Birth-to-Three do an evaluation "just to be sure" since they'll do it free of charge. Summer school programs are in session right now across the country so it may be possible to get a PPT.

I say this as a mom with a special needs child. I wish I had someone make these suggestions to me sooner because there were people who suspected my daughter had Autism before I did. They noticed her delays, as did I, but I assumed it was "she's going at her own pace." She could have had therapy much sooner than she did and we could have had help for her so much sooner. In fact, one of my SIL's said something to my husband over a year earlier and he never told me. If he had said something to me, I would have had her evaluated and gotten the diagnosis and gotten her speech and occupational therapy and everything else she needed.

The child is more important than how you think the mom will respond.

My older son was an early talker, my younger son a late talker. My younger son had suffered from chronic ear infections, and didn't hear well until he had tubes put in so the fluid could drain. He also had a brother who could tell us what he wanted or needed. Anyway, he was diagnosed a "late talker" at about two and a half, and he spent about two years in speech therapy. He also started nursery school at the same time. Words came pretty quickly after his surgery. I'm not sure if it was the intervention that worked, or if he just grew into it, or both. He won't stop talking now.

I think you need to mind your own business.

My daughter is 5 1/2 now and she barely said any words before her 3rd birthday. My pedi also told me not to be concerned until after she turns 3. Sure enough, like clockwork, she turned 3 and suddenly had a ton of stuff to say! She talks JUST FINE now. Stop trying to see something that isn't there.

Let your friend be the mother. This isn't her first rodeo, she's asked the pedi. Leave it alone.

How many older siblings are there? My sister has 10 kids and her youngest is 2. He hardly talks when I'm around. In 2 hours, he might say just a few words or nothing. I think his development is fine though. Also, I know my sister says he talks more at home.

My first child did not talk at 2 1/2, I was urged to check her speech by a speech pathologist. She was evaluated in the low range of expressive speech but was typical for her receptive speech, so her speech turned out okay in time and is an English major in college.
However, my third child also did not talk at 18 months. Our pedi consoled that we were too anxious for her to talk since she was our third. At 24 months, he said let's wait until she was 2 1/2 at which time we took her to the speech pathologist who referred us to see Early Intervention. She was diagnosed to be in the Autistic spectrum.
In my case, the pediatrician was arrogant and ignorant to the signs of autism and wasted our valuable time.
My sister had a friend who was researching on Autism at the time and had asked me to look into it, but we had always held out our little hope and the denial. I had wished that she could have told me more concrete info on autism to convince me...
Don't know all the details you see about this little sweet girl, but I think you have to be informed to make a judgement call in order to be helpful for your friend.