Three of the biggest mistakes parents make when they want their child to talk and how to avoid them

Do you ever just wish your child would talk more?  Then this is an important article that could make the world of difference to you.

As a parent you have an enormous influence on your child’s talking in those critical first 5 years.  You need to be aware of the mistakes you can make that can have a negative impact on your child’s talking skills.

Let’s start by looking at how many words your child should be saying…

Age	Number of words used
12 months	2-6
18 months	20-100
2 years	200-300
3 years	900+
4 years	1500+
5 years	2500+

 

That is some massive growth happening in a very short amount of time!  If your child doesn’t hear the right amount and type of talking during these critical early years they can have trouble learning to talk, the gap between them and their peers can widen super quickly and you will spend more time in therapy trying to close that gap.

By learning to talk to your child in the right way with the right amount of words you can help them develop their talking skills at the right rate.  They will keep up with their peers and you can avoid expensive therapy.

“We hear so many parents being told to just ‘wait and see’ by people who are not qualified Speech Pathologists.  Do NOT wait and see.  There is a huge amount of evidence that shows getting help early leads to the best results and NO evidence that the ‘wait and see’ approach does.”

So, if you want your child to talk more then read on and find out three of the biggest mistakes you could be making when talking to your child.

Mistake #1 Asking lots of questions

This teaches your child a very limited range of words and does not teach your child the different ways we can use words. Asking ‘what’s this?’ when you know they know the answer is pointless! Watch the video below to find out what you should be doing instead.

 

Mistake #2 Saying “say”

We see this one all the time!  You may hear yourself come out with “say dog”. Prompting your child to “say” something can often have the opposite effect and their lips will shut tight.  Instead, model the word or sentence you want them to try to say and wait while looking expectantly at them.

 

Mistake #3 Talking too much

You may find yourself talking constantly or using long sentences thinking ‘the more the better’. But actually this doesn’t work.  They’ll put getting a word in or imitating you in the too hard basket.  So, try saying a short sentence that is 1 or 2 words longer than what your child uses and leave silences so your child can say something if they wish (count to 10 in your head before talking again).

 

If you want to know more about how we can help get your child talking contact us here and one of our friendly staff will be in touch.