Getting a Speech Delayed Toddler to ask to Nurse

[KathrynH]

I am looking for help on how to get our speech delayed son to communicate the desire to nurse.

Our DS is 15 months old. We have been using the sign for milk and saying "milk please" before he nurses since about 4 months old. In the past 6 months he has only made the sign to me 3 times. The only way that he ever asks to nurse is by bringing me the Boppy we keep in his room (an impressive feat for a 1st percentile toddler). However, he will not bring me the Boppy if we are outside of his room, so this is not really an effective means of communication.

At 15 months he only has 1 word. Although he vocalizes often and is capable of making a variety of sounds, he cannot seem to form words. We are starting speech therapy this month. His receptive language seems to be on target.

He communicates some of his wants/needs by pointing. However, he does not seem able to communicate the need to nurse. I know this is frustrating to him. There are times when he is fussing and I will eventually say, "Do you need milk please?" His face will light up and he'll even nod at times. 

Any advice?

[chel]

My dd was the same.  Around 22m she came up with "ney" for nursing.  Until then she would just lean sideways in my lap.  I tried with signing, but she only picked up "more".

[NewBeginnings1]

My 16.5mo has up-ticked verbally, but still has issues saying milk. I know he has the capacity to say it. Many times he will sign it, but only after I have come on his level or picked him up. It seems to me like it is such an important need to him that he thinks that I should just know that he needs it. I got him to understand the sign early on by signing it to him while I was nursing and then pointed to my breast. 

This is an off the wall idea, but I taught my son to point to a potty sign on the bathroom door when he needed to go, so I would let him in. Every time I put him on the potty, we touched the sign, signed and said "potty". We made it apart of the routine and made it fun. It worked. All that to say, maybe you could have a sign (of the boppy, or even him nursing) on a wall where you typically feed him, so that he can move to it and point at it. (* Downside here being when you are away from home.) But maybe something like this could build a bridge of communication between you both. 

Kids seem to love cause and effect reactions. If I push this button, the ball rolls down the track, etc. See if you can use that to your advantage.

Best of luck

[foreverinbluejeans]

My grandson was 3 before he started talking and he is almost 3.5 and talking in short sentences. My 3 sons talked at a wide range of ages. It can be frustrating for the kids that talk late. I'm surprised you need words at all. My boys would crawl on my lap or pull my shirt ect.

[KathrynH]

Originally Posted by NewBeginnings1 
 

This is an off the wall idea, but I taught my son to point to a potty sign on the bathroom door when he needed to go, so I would let him in. Every time I put him on the potty, we touched the sign, signed and said "potty". We made it apart of the routine and made it fun. It worked. All that to say, maybe you could have a sign (of the boppy, or even him nursing) on a wall where you typically feed him, so that he can move to it and point at it. (* Downside here being when you are away from home.) But maybe something like this could build a bridge of communication between you both. 

This is an interesting idea. I might start this over the weekend. Thanks for the idea!

[KathrynH]

Originally Posted by foreverinbluejeans 

My grandson was 3 before he started talking and he is almost 3.5 and talking in short sentences. My 3 sons talked at a wide range of ages. It can be frustrating for the kids that talk late. I'm surprised you need words at all. My boys would crawl on my lap or pull my shirt ect.

I'm surprised he doesn't pull at my shirt or at least point. There seems to be some disconnect in his understanding of communication... Maybe not a "disconnect", but definitely an undeveloped area. DS seems to understand what others say to him, but has difficulty getting his wants/needs across to others. He will point at things he likes or finds interesting. Sometimes he points at things he wants (not my chest) but it is not uncommon for him to not point at a need. He just melts down, poor little guy. It's a liitle hard to explain the gaps I see.

My DH was 2 before he really started talking, so maybe there's a genetic component? I know the speech will come, I'm just trying to help him communicate some of the more important things until then.

[tooraloora]

My DS (17 months) just recently started really talking. At 15 months, I was getting concerned and considering speech therapy, but ultimately decided to wait a little longer. He had said a few words here and there, but only once each, so I'd started to think maybe it was just babbling I'd read too much into. Just when I started really worrying, his communication skills took off. I kept at it showing him signs and giving him words before and during various activities (like nursing or eating), and one day I guess it just "clicked" for him. He's been reliably asking to nurse (instead of just trying to rip me out of my top) for probably almost a month now, by signing "milk" and saying "nurse" (which is what I had been doing prior to letting him latch on for a few months). He is picking up new words nearly every day at this point. We're actually having little conversations now. Just a couple months made a big difference. Just keep at it. He'll be chattering your ear off before you know it. 

[KathrynH]

Originally Posted by tooraloora 

Just keep at it. He'll be chattering your ear off before you know it. 

Thanks for the encouragement. You might not be far off about "chatting my ear off." my MIL has told me that when speech-delayed DH finally did start talking (after 2 years) she couldn't ge him to stop! :)