Many babies start talking late as a result of which parents get worried. This is because parents just want to hear their baby utter the first word. Delayed speech in a child can take place due to several factors. According to the experts, those who start talking late pick up words and sentences faster than the kids who start talking early.
Normally it is found that a child usually starts uttering a word or two by the time he/she reaches one year. Slowly it keeps increasing and begins to use a combination of words by the age of 2 years. However, if the child does not talk even after completing 2 years, it does not necessarily mean that he/she is having a speech problem. There can be plenty of reasons behind your child talking late. Some of them are:
- Boys: Usually a baby boy talks a little late than a baby girl. The general lag is about one to two months. It is mostly seen that by 1.5 years, a baby boy uses 30 words on an average but a baby girl uses somewhere around 50 on an average.
- Premature Baby: These babies usually take a longer duration in carrying out their normal activities like walking and talking. By the age of two, these babies are generally found to talk just like any other kid of his/her age. According to the pediatricians, parents while checking on a premature baby’s development one should take a note of their due date instead of her birth date.
- Children with ear infection: If a child had ear infection when he was a newborn, it might result in delayed speech as poor hearing results in late talking in children.
- A talkative sibling: If a baby has an elder sister or a brother who is very talkative, they usually start of late as the need for talking goes down.
- It is also sometimes seen that all the other activities are normal for a child except his/her communication. It might be due to the fact that he/she is more attentive to other things than speaking out.
- It has been noted by the speech pathologists that nearly 50 percent of the multiples face delayed speech problem. Some of the factors leading to such a problem in multiples are low birth weight, premature birth, as well as medical intervention during birth.
Parents should spend as much time as possible with the kid as the more you communicate with the child, the better will be the result. Try to involve your kid in activities in which he/she is interested in like singing song or dancing and interact with the child during such activities. You can make your child say a repetition of words or get him a toy phone that motivates a child to speak.
