Children develop at different paces and may take their time to learn to speak or express themselves. However, if they have been missing several speech milestones, such as not babbling by 6 months or combining words at 2 years, it’s worth consulting a pediatrician.

Speech Delay in Children: When Should Parents Consult a Paediatrician?

Every parent waits eagerly for the day their little ones will start speaking. However, if your child has reached a stage where children their age are speaking normally, but they haven’t learned to speak yet, it may raise concerns.

You may wonder if this is what speech delay in childrenlooks like; will my child catch up? Or is it something that requires medical attention? We’ve clarified everything you should know about speech delays in children, when they are normal, and when they should be paid attention to.

What is Speech Delay in Children?

Every child develops at a different pace, and difficulty speaking the right words or forming sentences could just be normal. Some children normally take time. Here, expressing language and understanding are two different concepts.

Some children can respond to their parents through gestures and can understand what people are saying around them. They may also act accordingly, but have a hard time using verbal language to communicate.

This is different from children who may not understand instructions, recognize familiar faces, or use gestures, such as pointing to their favorite toys, when asked.

Knowing the difference will help a pediatrician in Mulund figure out which tests to order and what kind of support the child needs.

When Do Children Normally Learn Verbal Communication?

Here are the speech milestones you must know:

6 Months: Most babies around 6 months start babbling, responding to familiar sounds, or making sounds like laughter or squeals.

9-12 Months: Near their first birthday, they may learn single words and become familiar with gestures to express their emotions. They may say “mama”, “dada”, or the name of their favorite toys.

18-24 Months: They can follow instructions, point to objects, and may use small words to express their needs, such as “water”, “hunger”, and so on. Their vocabulary continues to develop rapidly by the time they turn two. Most are able to combine words to form meaningful sentences, such as “please come mama”, ” want milk”, or “give toys”.

3 Years: Children speak fluently, ask questions, form sentences, but may still make errors. However, by 3 years, most have learned to speak, understand language, and follow instructions.

When Does Speech Delay Require Medical Attention?

It’s best to seek medical advice if your child experiences speech delay. Do not wait for them to miss several speech milestones. Here’s when you should consider taking them to a pediatrician:

• Your child doesn’t make any sounds at all or makes very few sounds at 6 months
• They haven’t been using gestures, such as waving goodbye, pointing to things, or smiling by 12 months
• They can’t speak a single word by 16 months
• Your 2-year-old child can’t join two words together to say something meaningful.
• Your 3-year-old’s language isn’t understandable, or they can’t understand simple instructions or follow them

Seek immediate care if your child, who has learned communication skills, gestures, and speaking, suddenly loses all their abilities.