My son just turned 3, and I’ve started to notice that he’s not speaking as clearly or as much as some of the other kids we see at the park or in our playgroup Sometimes he mispronounces words in ways that are hard to understand, and a lot of the time he just points instead of saying what he wants. It’s hard to know what’s normal for his age because I feel like every kid is different, but I can’t help but feel concerned.
I want to support his language development, but I don’t know where to begin or what’s even helpful at this point I talk to him all day and read books with him, but it still feels like we’re behind. Has anyone gone through this? What can I do at home that really helps? I’d love any tips or reassurance
Same boat My daughter does the pointing thing constantly and I’ve been wondering if I’m doing something wrong It’s hard not to compare but also feels impossible not to
Totally understand where you’re coming from, Mia We were worried about my son around that age too. What helped us a lot was narrating everything, like, over the top narration You’re putting the block in the box,” or “Do you want the red cup or the blue cup?” It felt silly at first, but it helped him connect words to actions
Also, one of the best tips we got from a speech therapist was to wait, like, give him 5, 10 seconds to respond after a question I didn’t realize how fast I was jumping in to fill the silence Slowing down and giving him space really made a difference
You’re not alone and it’s great you’re tuned in Early support makes a big difference
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We’re kind of in that weird place too. My son is also 3 and sometimes he talks a lot, but it’s like his words are mushed together or he skips sounds Other times he’ll just grunt and point. It’s so confusing because I know he can talk, but he seems to prefer not to Do you feel like your son understands you when you talk? I always wonder if receptive language vs expressive matters more at this stage?
Ugh I totally get this. It’s so hard when you’re constantly hearing every kid develops differently but you still feel like something might be off. That was me last year. My guy used to just make noises and point a lot toobOne small thing that helped us was using picture books without words, so we’d just look through them and make up stories together It gave him room to say something without feeling pressured to say it right
You’re definitely not alone. Just being aware and asking these questions means you’re doing great
Wow, thank you all so much. I’m tearing up reading these replies. It really helps to hear that others have been through the same thing and that there are simple things I can try I think I’ll look into early intervention just to get a baseline, but I’m definitely going to try slowing down and modeling more. Appreciate this community more than I can say 
My daughter didn’t say more than 10 words until she was almost 3. Everyone kept telling me not to worry, but I was freaking out inside. I knew other toddlers her age who were speaking in sentences already! We ended up seeing a speech pathologist who said she was just a quiet observer. No delays, just not a talker yet.
What helped the most was slowing down my talking and giving her chances to chime in. We also started using signs (like more, help, eat) to reduce frustration and that seemed to unlock more words over time
She’s now 5 and talks constantly Don’t be afraid to ask for support early, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong, it just gives you tools You’ve got this
You are seriously not alone I feel like I’m constantly second guessing if my little guy should be doing more Some days I hear him babble whole stories to his stuffed animals and the next he’s like mute in public I’ve started to just focus on connection over performance, and it’s taken a lot of pressure off both of us
Hey Mia, totally normal to feel unsure here I’m a former preschool teacher and worked closely with a few speech therapists. Here’s a practical tip we used all the time: expand and model. So if he says car, you say, Yes, red car! or The car is going fast! It helps build vocabulary without correcting him directly
Another thing: limit screen time as much as you can and replace it with face-to-face time. Even background TV noise can reduce the amount of words kids hear Also, those toddler speech cards with real photos (not cartoons) can be surprisingly effective! We used them during snack time and he started naming items faster than I expected
You’re already doing the big things, reading and talking a lot, just keep going!