Nervous and worried .

[tinytoes]

Tomorrow is Aoibheanns 18 month check up . As some of you may remember the public health nurse made some comments about her speech when she visited the house for lilys heel prick test . So I have been working and trying to help her along , but now I am worried about what else she is going to say . I know every mummy worries about how thier child id developing but I am so flipping anxious now ! Does anyone else get like this before a check up ? I swear it feels like an exam or something ! Especially as they will now know about what happened to Lily and will probably be already judging me

 

[tinytoes]

Aaaaagh `!

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

I hope everything goes ok xx

 

[Princess81]

Hope she's ok Hun xx

 

[Hope81]

why would anyone judge you about what happened to lily? i am sure they are relieved that you did everything you could and with such a good outcome.
don't worry about speech development. babies have their own personal rhythm of doing things.

i hope everything goes perfect

 

[Esoames]

good luck! and try not to worry xx

 

[Minchin]

best of luck, hope it goes ok. They wont judge you but yes after everything I can see how you might feel that. You are a great mummy...like one of the girls said baby's speech has their own pattern of development xx

 

[tinytoes]

Thanks girls , I reckon Im being silly really Its just been a stredssful few days !

 

[tinytoes]

Ugh well she reckons lily is a bit underweight but I thougt she was ok she is 9lb 12 oz As for Aoibheann she is doing ok but she needs to have her leg checked as her foot turns in slightly and it may be a hip issue ? She is also on a waiting list for speech therapy not becaue she needs it now for sure but because the waiting list is over a year long and if she doesnt improve in a year at least she wont have to wait . But she is developing well with everything else . So I'm a mixture of anxious and relieved .

 

[keepontrying]

Sorry but she referred your 18 month old for speech therapy?????

What exactly is she saying is wrong with her speech?

 

[tinytoes]

Sorry but she referred your 18 month old for speech therapy?????

What exactly is she saying is wrong with her speech?

Seems a bit insane doesnt it ?? Aoibheann doesnt speak much . Well she speaks lots but have many words if you get me ? Just mammy and daddy really . But she is well able to understand us and do what she is asked to . So I'm not overly worried .. well I wasnt

 

[keepontrying]

Sorry but she referred your 18 month old for speech therapy?????

What exactly is she saying is wrong with her speech?

Seems a bit insane doesnt it ?? Aoibheann doesnt speak much . Well she speaks lots but have many words if you get me ? Just mammy and daddy really . But she is well able to understand us and do what she is asked to . So I'm not overly worried .. well I wasnt

Really you should not worry, her speech is not delayed at 18 months of age!

The early years foundation stage used throughout the UK almost as a national curriculum for children 0-5 states this under the development stage -Language for communication 8-20 months

■■ Take pleasure in making and
listening to a wide variety of
sounds.
■■ Create personal words as they
begin to develop language.

Take pleasure in making and listening to a variety of sounds will be any noise she randomly makes! and how young children will often repeat that over and over.

Personal words are things such as 'botbot', 'noonoo' or any other non word words (IYSWIM)
She is overreacting, if your child babbles, squeals, chatters then dont panic now.

Im surprised that she was able to make a referral in my area no one can be referred until 3yr old!
x

 

[titch]

Sorry but she referred your 18 month old for speech therapy?????

What exactly is she saying is wrong with her speech?

Seems a bit insane doesnt it ?? Aoibheann doesnt speak much . Well she speaks lots but have many words if you get me ? Just mammy and daddy really . But she is well able to understand us and do what she is asked to . So I'm not overly worried .. well I wasnt

Really you should not worry, her speech is not delayed at 18 months of age!

The early years foundation stage used throughout the UK almost as a national curriculum for children 0-5 states this under the development stage -Language for communication 8-20 months

■■ Take pleasure in making and
listening to a wide variety of
sounds.
■■ Create personal words as they
begin to develop language.

Take pleasure in making and listening to a variety of sounds will be any noise she randomly makes! and how young children will often repeat that over and over.

Personal words are things such as 'botbot', 'noonoo' or any other non word words (IYSWIM)
She is overreacting, if your child babbles, squeals, chatters then dont panic now.

Im surprised that she was able to make a referral in my area no one can be referred until 3yr old!
x

really 3 years old? That can be too late. Speech & langauge therapists assess a childs development to make sure theres nothingunderlying going on. Yes it can be normal for a child not to be saying words at 18 months, but it can also be a sign of other problems, and the person qualified to assess this is the speech & language therapist. Im a speech and language therapist and when I get children referred who are already 3 it breaks my heart cos they havent got long til school starts then, and its hard to get their skills up to speed for them to cope. When the parents tell me they were concerned at 18 months but the health visitor said to wait I think WHY?! The younger a child has intervention the less intervention they need. Id rather see an 18 month old 3 times and discharge them when theyre 2, than see them at 3 and a half and have them in therapy for a year or 2 as well as having to work with school to make sure their delay doesnt affect their access to education.

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

Lacey didn't get referred until she was 3 either! She's 5 now and has caught up with everyone else her age although we didnt see anyone when nursery wanted to refer her cos of the year long waiting list!!

 

[titch]

you can check your childs development here http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/Parent/Directory/Progress-Checker.aspx

its only a guide, but referring for SLT doesnt mean they need therapy, it means they need someone with more expertise in the area to check. Its possible to have a langauge delay at 18 months. Please dont wait.

Im disgusted to hear about these long waiting lists. In our dept we're achieving a target of seeing all children within 10 weeks of receiving the referral. We got 100% of referrals meeting this target last year.

 

[tinytoes]

you can check your childs development here http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/Parent/Directory/Progress-Checker.aspx

its only a guide, but referring for SLT doesnt mean they need therapy, it means they need someone with more expertise in the area to check. Its possible to have a langauge delay at 18 months. Please dont wait.

Im disgusted to hear about these long waiting lists. In our dept we're achieving a target of seeing all children within 10 weeks of receiving the referral. We got 100% of referrals meeting this target last year.

Hmmm , I think what I will do is go through my gp and get an referal straight away . Looking at this link Im thinking an assesment as soon as possibl would do no harm .

 

[titch]

yeah, no need to panic or anything, like I said, its perfectly possible that shes absolutely fine. But seriously, speech and langaueg therapists would rather see a child and do a proper assessment and reassure you, than not see a child until its left too late to make a big difference. You should be able to find contact details of your local dept on that website too, and they dont mind if you ring up to ask how long the waiting list is. It varies so much, proper postcode lottery.

 

[tinytoes]

Thanks for the sound advice Titch I'll take her to the gp when I go for my six week check-up .It would put my mind at ease and at least if something needs to be dealt with it will be done straight away .

 

[Minchin]

good luck hon. good to have the inside knowledge from Titch. xxx

 

[tinytoes]

Id actually be lost without her x