Non-verbal 2 year old are REALLY hard!

[MarynMunchkins]

I was spoiled by my girls. They both talked - really well - before 2. When Cutie Pie was Shrimp's age, she could say "No, I don't want that! I'm angry!" and I could figure out what she wanted and help her.

Shrimp? :no He just screams. And hits. And bites. :banghead He's driving me insane. ALL of it is because he's a 2 yo boy with lots of siblings and few words. That's really not helping me cope with it. :crazy2 I'm rather looking forward to my other 4 going to school in a few weeks just so I don't have to stay on top of him all. the. time. so no one else gets hurt.

IDK if I really need advice, but sympathy is welcome. And maybe it's comforting for other people to know that just because I've done this 4 times before, it doesn't mean that I have it all down and don't occasionally want to hide in a padded room. ;)

[kiloyd]

:hugheart:hugheart

[Waterlogged]

:hug I remember despising the pre-verbal stage with K. Lately I've been frustrated when she chooses screaming/whining/obnoxious noises instead of words. :doh

[bec28]

I am so glad to see this! Ds is 20 months and non verbal. He knows a lot of signs and is fairly good at communicating what he wants, but oh the screeching!!I feel like that's all I hear all day long. And I don't have any others too look after either. It is so very hard :hug

[Llee]

Ugh. I hope that things change soon and very soon!

[mamapotomus]

:hugheart

[Beauty4Ashes]

I wonder, do your older 4 try to talk for Shrimp? Maybe when they are back in school, he'll feel compelled to talk more if no one else is doing it for him? :hugheart

[Niphredil]

Ugh, I can't imagine! My 2 is extremely verbal and it's still :ph. I think 2 is right up there with 3.5 in difficulty level. All the GOYB and the volume level. :shiver Such hard work.

[Gentle Journey]

:hug2 My first could talk in 5-6 words sentences at 2, my 2nd was extremely speech delayed.

This is what I found helpful, in a spoiler incase you don't want to read it as you didn't really want advice.

Signs. With him just teaching him more to be basically anything he wanted helped a lot. More snack, more juice, the toy...we basically used it as "I want". My next son, I had videos and he learned a lot and really enjoyed signs.

[backtobasicsmum]

I feel you pain, mama! ds3 is pretty much non(english)-verbal. Not too much biting here, but lots and lots of throwing/hitting. Gah!

[OrangeHope]

:hugheart DD will be 3 in October and she doesn't tend to talk much, I'm really trying to work with her on using her words.

[greengirl19]

G has a few words but they're mostly for people and he definitely doesn't even think to speak when he wants something. Just lots of screaming. We're also working on the signing which he seems more open to than using words. And when he gets angry and throws whatever he's playing we're redirecting. I keep saying that things will be easier when we can communicate better.

[klpmommy]

sounds just like R. And following 2 very verbal girls it is esp hard. :sigh

[TraceMama]

:hugheart Right there with you, Mary. :yes2 Speedy was evaluated last week at an 18 month verbal ability, so there's lots of grunting, screeching and screaming. :sigh It's maddening on the best of days. :hugheart

[magpiedpiper]

:hug2

My 2. year old is nonverbal as well. Signing is the only thing that has decreased the amount of screaming/whining/meltdowns, but she doesn't have the signs for everything she wants to express and that inevitably leads to acting out due to frustration.

[hey mommy]

C was non-verbal until he was 3. It was very hard.. ITU your frustration.. S is pretty verbal, but it is still very frustrating.

:hugheart

[kiloyd]

duh! Teach him some signs! :) Can't believe I didn't think of that. Or is it more only a problem when he wants something and doesn't get it?

[MarynMunchkins]

He's learning 2-3 words a week, so I haven't bothered teaching him too many signs. Most of it is sibling fights over "mine". :rolleyes

I know he'll get there. He's just 2. :shrug It's just a really tough stage to parent. :phew

Makes me glad for those 2 weekends a month he's with his dad.

[MiriamRose]

Z is only 19 months and does use several signs, but it sure does get frustrating when he (frequently) chooses to just scream or pinch rather than communicate in any semblance of an effective way. Not to mention he doesn't even have nearly enough signs to communicate all the things he wants and he only uses them after I have prompted him through the whole list of things it could possibly be. :sigh My mother tells me that by 18 months, I was speaking in complete sentences. I can't even imagine what kind of life that would be. :haha

[kiloyd]

Well if he is adding words each week then hopefully this phase will pass quickly.

[FebFaith]

:hug2 I feel your pain. I have a 2 yr old that doesn't talk much either.

[JellyBean]

Oh I so feel your pain! I got two of them right now and the whining is driving me bonkers!!!

[Andrea]

Ugh . . . my ds is 2.5 and he just started really talking a few months ago. It was AWFUL when he was nonverbal. You have my sympathy.

[chasingbutterflies]

R is pretty verbal and he's still frustrating at times. Everything, even things he wants, is "no!" right now on some days. So much fun :giggle

[Anna3:16]

I work with non-verbal 2 yr olds a lot with my job as a speech pathologist....I'm here for advice if you ever want any! :)

[MarynMunchkins]

Well, today, he said about 8 new words. :) I'm not concerned about his speech at all; I'm just waiting for him to get some.

Incidentally, it's really cute to hear him exclaim, "Mmm! Cake! Good!" :lol

[BlissfullyEsther]

I'm right there with you. My barely-verbal 2yo is testing my sanity a little.

Just the other day he began saying "mum" for the first time. "Mum!" is so much nicer to hear than the ear-piercing shriek I used to be summoned with. :giggle

8 new words? That's great! My 2yo is also saying a number of new words each day/week. It won't be long now and we won't be able get a word in edgeways. ;)

We sign heaps with our boys. DS2's favourite is 'biscuit', closely followed by 'milky' (bm), 'drink' (water), 'walk' and 'banana'. At this age DS1 had more than 30 signs, but fewer words. He didn't really begin speaking properly until 3.5yo. Now? "Ok, already, please be quiet for just a minute!" :giggle

[klpmommy]

R actually has quite a few words and small sentences, but he doesn't always choose to use them and screams instead. :doh

[MomtoJGJ]

I remember how awful it was with Grace because she didn't talk until she was over 3 after having Jayden who was full on sentences at 15mo. Julianna didn't talk until late, but she was walking early and laid back, so it was easier with her. I didn't even realize she wasn't talking until she was almost 2.

Evie talks, but it's not the same version of English that I use ;) Generally if me, dh and Jayden are all with her we can understand her, but sometimes it takes a while for us to hit on some words... when that happens she gets frustrated and generally signs don't help because they are new words anyway. But other times, when I DO understand her, it's so awesome! Like just now in the middle of typing this she woke up, came downstairs, said hello to her sisters (hey disders!) and then came in here with me and asked me some questions and responded to my answers! Those times are awesome!

But NOW she's in with her sisters, no one can understand what she's saying, including me, and so there is screaming and hitting. :)

[Cook]

My oldest wasn't even pointing by two and he had maybe 10 words that he didn't usually feel like using. I was trying to be patient and not make a big deal out of it thinking they all catch up eventually. But once it got to a point where I could tell *he* was frustrated by it, I got him some help. That was a huge relief. Still, even with EI, I was pregnant with our THIRD when we started getting him help. It was a very emotionally exhausting time.

Here's the cheery part: Eventually, with loving persistence and lots of prayer, they DO grow and develop. I still always advocate for people to use early intervention services but there is an "after" time in which things are more sane. You get better at handling your little one's individual quirks and they get better at it too, no matter what their developmental need. Eventually, he got more words. He has a friend. He plays (albeit a bit mechanically at times) more politely with other kids than they do with him. He's very wise about people's feelings and he's genuinely developing his own sense of self and importance in the world.

It is SO hard getting through a time where they don't have the words. I would hug you through the screen if I could. Mommas have a hard enough time with the ins and outs of guiding children already but when there is a language barrier, well it IS harder. I think it is amazing that you are reaching out for support. It took me so long to do that. I hope you have a better day just around the corner!! And it will seriously be sweeter in a totally different way than it would be without these struggles you guys face now.

[cyndib]

:yes :hug2
I'm right here in the trenches with ya. My 2nd will be 2 in october and just started saying "Nooooo!". And yes, it's the ONLY word she says. She'll shake and nod her head on occasion but mostly screams or grunts. Grr.

[schmamy]

yep, it sucks. it was bad enough with my first - I imagine it especially sucks when you've had super verbal 2yos. :hugheart

[bec28]

It's been really tough here lately. I'm just so exhausted from having to try to decipher his signs and whines and pointing and desires. He wants to do increasingly complex things, being just like mama and daddy, but he can't quite communicate it yet and the things he wants to do are still so knew to me I just can't figure out what he means. Blah. So frustrating for is both.

[JellyBean]

I am entering a totally new dynamic of nonverbal two year olds!! Mine completely understand each others gibberish!! So they talk in their own crazy language to each other and then run to me expecting me to learn their language instead of vice versa!! :crazy