Terrified of walking the same path again

I have been very relaxed about B.
He is my second child. 
He was not born prematurely.
I am more confident and have had no concerns about him at all.
But today something knocked me sideways.
A friend with a baby of the same age is saying Mama, and has apparently been saying Dada for a while.
Another friend with a baby of the same age has been saying Dada for a couple of months too.
As with C at this age, I am yet to hear a consonant from B, yet alone a recognisable word in context.
Like C, there is no babble, no chatter in his cot in the mornings.
No ba ba ba, ya ya ya.
I hadn't really thought about it until today.
He is 10 months old next week.

 C and B at approx. 10 months old                                          

Talking Tips For Kids - A Review

C is still on the waiting list for Speech Therapy.
Apparently we are nearly top of the list but as things stand at the moment we are still waiting.
In the meantime we were asked if we would like to review a Talking Tips For Kids video by Speech Therapist Fiona Barry.

I was already familiar with Fiona's work through aricles she had written in the Telegraph and thought this an excellent opportunity to get access to some additional resources.

We were asked to review the "Wise Words" video which is aimed for parents of children aged between 1 and 2 years.  Obviously C is slightly older than this but this level best fitted her speaking ability.  Wise Words focusses on when children are beginning to learn lots of single words but not yet joining them together.

I have become more defensive about C's speech as the months have gone on as the comments that many make are particularly unhelpful and usually imply that C's speech issues are due to a fault in my parenting, something I refuse to accept.
My personal favourite which comes up again and again is...

"My son/daughter has great speech but that is because I have read to them everyday from an early age"
I am well aware of the importance of reading to young children and have also read to C from an early age, often 3 or 4 times a day.  We have an extensive book collection and since the age of 18 months she has also visited the library once a week meaning we have a constant stream of new and interesting books to read.  I really enjoy reading to C so a lack of being read to is not the root of C's speech issues.

I therefore began watching this video with a little trepardation but was pleased to see immediately that Fiona's clear, concise tone did not sound patronising
Much of what she says I was already aware of from my own research previously.
For example the importantance of getting down at the same level as your children and engaging in fun, imaginative play; however having this information all together was helpful to collect my thoughts.

There were a few little gems that were new to me though.  The most fundermental being not to constantly question your child, particularly with pointless questions you know the answer to.
This I am definately guilty of!  In an attempt to get C to speak, I am the Queen of Questions....
What colour is that train? 
How many wheels does the car have? 
What animal is on your T Shirt?
In my defence it was one of the more effective ways of getting C to speak however the video has made me take a step back and either wait for her to describe the item off her own back or if not for me to simply tell her what it is.

Also as a result of this video I have been trying to add more songs into our every day activities.  My favourite time is in the car when there are minimal distractions.
Our current favourite in Old MacDonald.  I sing the main words but pause at the animal names and noises for C to fill in the blanks.  C has taken to this really well and I am definately seeing an improvement.  She is even started joining a couple of words together at the chorus e.g. "woof woof here, woof woof there".
I am hoping that as she sees these improvements in herself it will improve her confidence to try new words.

I have tried a similar approach with certain key books e.g. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle and Bill Martin, Jr.  Because the text is simple and repetative, and is associated with clear pictures, C is now able to have an attempt at all the animals in the book when i pause .

"Brown _____ Brown _____ what do you see?  I see a Red ____ looking at me"

Just this week she has started to make an attempt at "horse" and that is purely down to using this technique with this book.
It is so great to see these improvements
In the past month I really do feel her speech has come on so much.
In May she had 10 words, now she has 25!
For a child of 28 months she is still well behind where she should be but to double her word tally in 2 months is pretty impressive!

 

At only £1.49 each the Talking Tips for Kids premium videos are great little aids for parents wanting direction with regards to their child's speech. They are useful in encouraging you to step back and look at the practices you are currently using with a more critical eye.  I can certainly see I got into some bad habits.
There are also shorter free videos which address particular issues or areas.

Disclaimer
We were given free access to one premium video from the Talking Tips for Kids website for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Difficult Week

Last week was a difficult week.
Now C has turned 2 there has been a flurry of activity into her health.
Before now it has been a waiting game.
Now they are ready to take action.

Garden Sounds

As part of our efforts to get C to speak we have been advised to spend time getting her to listen, so she can clearly hear the sounds that are being spoken.

Last weekend we sat in the garden and listened.
The sun was shining and there was little breeze so we listened to the sounds of spring around us.
The cooing of a pigeon.
The cawing of a crow
The rat-a-tat of a woodpecker from the woods at the back of the house.
The tweeting of a little bird somewhere in the hedgerow.
The meowing of one of our cats trying to get our attention as we listened.
The bleating of newborn lambs in a nearby field.
The whirr of an aeroplane in the distance.

Turning Two with Speech Delay

As many of you who are regular readers of my blog will know, C is not really talking.  At 23 months old she can say Yes, No, There, That and Mama.  Dada has also come in the last month.

At 15 months the average child can say 5-6 proper words.  C could say none and the only sounds she was making were “throat sounds” (grunts and groans) and not “mouth sounds” like baba, gaga, mama, dada etc.  I was concerned that without these building blocks she didn’t have the tools to move onto proper words.  When I mentioned this on my blog, many commented that I was overreacting, that by 20 months everything would have caught up and she would be on a level with her peers.  Unfortinately it appears it was me that was right...

Follow Up Speech Assessment - 20 Months Old

When C was 16 months old we took her for a Speech and Language Assessment at our local Children's Centre.  It was not the fact she was not saying the five or so words you would expect from a child her age, but more that she was not doing the usual babbling.  No Mamama, Dadadas, Bababas etc.  The only sounds she would make were guttural throat sounds, nothing that required her to use her mouth and tongue.  I was worried that without these essential building blocks that most children develop at 9-12 months then she had nothing to build on.  The upshot of that appointment was that they agreed with my concerns and would reassess in 4 months time to see what, if any, improvement she had made in that time and decide on a course of action.  

....So here we are 4 months later....

Five Little Monkeys

As part of improving Celeste's speech I have been taking her to two "Bounce and Rhyme" session at local libraries each week.  Here we sing a variety of fun action songs as well as more traditional nursery rhymes.  As yet we haven't seen an immediate improvement in her speech but she is starting to pick up the actions to many of the songs which is very cute to watch.  I thought I would share her latest accomplishment.  I have never seen her do this until today...

Speech and Language Assessment

On Tuesday I took Celeste to see the Health Visitor.  She was 16 months old exactly and it was to be our first trip for almost 6 months.  There were two main reasons for my visit, firstly I felt I ought to get her weighed and measured after all this time, and secondly I wanted to speak to her about Celeste’s speech.  I have tried to step back and not be a pushy parent but is does concern me that she is not making any of the sounds and babbling expected of a young toddler, let alone any words.