Physical Reason for Slow Speech?

[JolieFleur]

Sorry, I guess I'm a bit of a worrier but the post about the 18 month old that says full sentences got me started thinking about this one. My son is almost 21 months and doesn't use full sentences. He has plenty of words and I'm not really worried about his cognitive development but one thing concerns me. He wants and tries to say so much more than he is capable of. Its like he can't physically make the sounds necessary for the words he wants to use. One of the reasons that I'm worried is that he constantly sticks his tongue out. I swear (and I'm so embarrassed to say this) that his tongue is too big for his mouth. Has anyone ever heard of this condition? Until now I've never thought to ask a doctor about it but now I'm concerned it will affect his speech. Am I just completely paranoid? Have any of you experienced a physical reason for slow speech? (Not that he's slow... I just see potential for problems KWIM). Thanks!


Jen
Mommy to James (10/03/2004)

[psophia17]

Of the four kids I baby-sat for years and years ago, the youngest two had something like what you describe - I always thought it was that their mouths were too small for their tongues, but I guess a tongue too big for a mouth would do the same thing :P

I don't think they did anything about it, and both kids (now 12 and 15) are totally fine now. I think they both grew out of by the time they hit kindergarten, but by then I was in college, so I can't be sure.

[octmom]

Jen,

I have to rush out to pick up DS at daycare right now, but I wanted to respond quickly to say that I completely understand where you are coming from! My DS is just a few weeks younger than yours (10/29/03) and he is not a huge talker. He stuck his tongue out a lot since birth, but it seems as if he does it less so now. (Maybe I am just used to it!) My DS has picked up more words lately, but his pronunciation is sometimes pretty bad. I haven't been sure if it is (1) normal toddler-speak (not always clear), (2) the fact that he has had LOTS of ear infections and he may not be hearing well with fluid in his ears (he's getting tubes next week), or (3) that his tongue is a bit large and loose, for lack of a better way of describing this.

I am not a medical professional or a speech therapist, so take this as a layperson's advice, but my mom told me that the O.T. at her school (she is am elem. principal) recommended that children with "loose" tongues drink thick liquids, like pudding or thick yogurt, through a straw to help them work different muscles. Sounds a little wacky, but just wacky enough that it makes some sense to me. I haven't done this yet and have tried not to fret over it, but I wanted you to know that another mom has wondered similar things.

HTH!

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[JacksMommy]

21 months old is awfully young for full sentences - sure it can happen but it's not what most kids are doing! I'm no expert but my son has been in speech therapy, so I'll share what I know - I've never heard of a tongue being too big for a child's mouth but I do know that tongue control is a motor development issue. I wouldn't think that at his age it's anything to worry about. Granted, my son was delayed (although at 3 is now at age level) but he often seemed to be tripping over himself verbally to get sentences out (DH used to say "I know there's a sentence in there, just waiting to come out!) and no one was ever concerned about his motor development. Also, if he had signficant motor problems, wouldn't it affect his ability to say individual words as well as string them together? Obviously you can bring it up with your doctor, but I highly doubt it's anything to worry about, based on what you have described.

Laurel
WOHM to Jack, 6/4/02
Baby Madeline 12/14/04

[scout123]

I'm a speech therapist so maybe I can help. Right now he is develoing cognitively and physically at such a fast pace that it is expected for him to have some difficulty with motor speech. I wouldn't not worry about about it or the fact he doesn't use full sentences right now. I have seen some chidlren with large tongues, but it is just that they haven't "grown" into them yet. What I woudl be concerned about is a tongue thrust. Does he push his tongue forward when eating? Does he dribble when he eats? Infants push their tongues forwards to swallow and some children have difficulty learning the adult way to swallow. Also, I hate to say this b/c I don't want to offend anyone, but is he a big pacifer and sippy cup user? These things prohibit them from learning to swallow correctly and can result in a slow developing tongue muscle, therefore it is hanging out alot.
Angie

[JElaineB]

DS was only saying 1 word at a time at 21 months. He didn't put 2 words together until 27.5 months. Definitely slower than most, but not out of the norm, according to his ped, anyway. She had asked if he put 2 words together at his 2 year checkup and when I said no she asked if he knew how to say 50+ words. I said yes and she was fine with that. Now he regularly talks in 3-5 word sentences, so he is getting there. If you are concerned talk to your DS's doctor, but I'm sure he is fine if he knows how to say plenty of single words and is making progress, even if slowly.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[JolieFleur]

Hmm. Thank you for all of your comments. While this isn't something that I'm terribly worried about at this point I kind of wanted to make sure that if this is a problem that we catch it as soon as possible. Has anyone ever had a problem such as this that needed speech intervention? It seems with a lot of these developmental issues the earlier it is caught the better. I picked up a bit from the replies--I think one of the PP had a more accurate description of a mouth that is too small rather than a tongue that is too big. DH has a big mouth and I have a really small one--small enough to have to use the bite plates for children when I get X-rays at the dentist. Hopefully DS didn't inherit my mouth and DH's tongue! Still, I hope and expect that he'll grow into his tongue as a PP mentioned. I am interested in the exercises described by one of the posters. I'm sure DS will be amenable to the solution with a straw--he loves those. DS never took a pacifier or a bottle but we haven't yet "weaned" him from the sippy cup to a regular cup and still drinks several cups of soy milk a day. We have tons of pictures from the time he was a tiny baby of his tongue sticking out. He doesn't dribble while he eats but I'll watch for tongue thrust. He seems to be on target with his speech as he has 50 + words but they aren't terribly clear. Almost everything has a "thh" sound at the end. For example, milk is "mith" and so on. I'll ask the doctor about general motor development to see if he is up to speed. As far as I can tell, he's hitting physical milestones just fine. I appreciate your responses--they really help me to gauge my sons development.

Jen