What is my toddler saying?!
As parents, we often find ourselves anticipating the first words our toddlers will say. Communication is exciting! However, what you may find is that once your toddler starts talking, the words sound far from the actual word they are saying! They know what they are saying, but do you? Maybe not.
This is when parents often start to wonder . . . is it typical for my toddler to say words this way? There is a good chance that the way your child is saying words is exactly what is expected for their age.
Before we jump into exactly what kinds of errors you can expect in your toddler’s speech, we first want to mention why they aren’t saying crystal clear words yet! The process of talking is quite complex. Think about it: to say a word, you have to know the word, then your brain has to tell your mouth how to say the word, and finally, your lips, tongue, jaw, and breathing all have to work together to make the sounds perfectly. It’s a LOT. As we know, babies are not born with perfect coordination and motor skills - this also applies to speech! Like all other skills, it takes time and development for toddlers to learn new sounds and then be able to put them together. This does not stop them from talking though! Toddlers learn to make do with what they have! As a result, words aren’t clear, but they are still words.
Phonological Processes
Phonological processes are a way for little ones to simplify language so that it's easier for them to say words. At this age, they are still learning how to coordinate their mouth movements for speech development, so simplifying words makes it easier for them to talk! There are many different phonological patterns and most disappear between 2.5-3.5 years, but others may last until your child is five!
My child is using these speech patterns, now what?
Regardless of how your child says words (or how cute it sounds), you should say words the correct way to them! We know how easy it is to get caught up in how cute little ones sound when they talk, but remember that they are trying to speak like us. When we imitate toddler speech and even use their version of words as our own, we are confusing the process of learning correct speech patterns! Sooooooo resist the urge to talk like your child and model the correct way to use words! No need to correct them, simply modeling is enough.
What if my child is using some of these patterns past the age they should disappear?
If you notice your child is using phonological processes past the age they should be, we recommend consulting with a speech-language pathologist (SLP). An SLP will be able to look at all of your child’s communication skills and determine if intervention or follow-up is warranted.
ASHA-certified SLPs can be located by searching the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association website. Click here to access.
If your child is under the age of three and you would like to find an Early Intervention specialist, you can find contact information for the United States here.
Bowen, C. (2011). Table 2: Phonological Processes. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on May 10, 2021
Bowen, C. (2011). Table 3: Elimination of Phonological Processes. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on May 10, 2021.
Lanza & Flahive (2008)
