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What Causes Delay In Speech In A Child?

Posted on Wed, 12 Apr 2017

Question: Hi Doctor my 23 months old baby boy still not talking apart from very few words like mama,yaya,bibi etc .
He is very active everything is normal but he is not speaking .He will observe everything we do and do the same thing but we instruct him to do some thing he will not listen and some time if we call him also he will not turn but if we say bye bye he will turn immediately .I am very much worried .Please let me know what to do .Me and my husband both are working and my parents taking care of him

Answered by Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Although it appears to be normal,suggest you to consult a pediatrician

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thanks for asking on this platform

Now a days delayed development of language milestone is a very common complaint.
Mostly this is due to nuclear family(in nuclear family interaction is less particularly if both the parents are working),use of electronic material (TV XXXXXXX etc also delays language milestone).
I won't get overly worried as your baby is active,interacting and speaking mama,dada.
Still I would suggest you to consult a pediatrician for auditory evaluation (hearing function) as hearing problem may also cause delayed language development.

I hope this helps.
Please let me know if you have any queries.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (10 minutes later)

My baby hears but wat type of hearing problem cause delay in speaking

Answered by Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (17 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
No need to worry if he hears normal

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for follow up

Sometimes hearing defect (hearing at high tone or poor hearing)may cause delayed speech although it is uncommon.
In your case if you are sure that his hearing is normal and also he interacts normal then there is nothing to worry much.
Just give more time to interact with him.Name the surrounding things frequently and repeatedly to increase his vocabulary.
Limit watching of television.A baby should not watch television more than 1 hour per day.
If you find that there is no improvement even after taking all these measures then please consult a speech therapist.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy

Follow up: Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (4 minutes later)

My baby ishearing but my worry he is not responding or listening to us .He is responding to other sounds rhymes etc.He is not giving attention to us giving more attention to TV Rhymes and vessels etc

Answered by Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
He will respond gradually

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Here I would request you to not to loose your heart and continue trying by interacting more and more to him.Nothing more than this can be done right now.
I am sure he will respond to you gradually.
If still you are worried consult a child psychiatrist to alleviate your anxiety.

Thanks

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar