As the mother of a child who is speech delayed and has been diagnosed with having a mild-moderate hearing loss in both ears you should act now. Michael is 22 mos. He failed his newborn hearing tests so I knew he had some hearing loss. You need to contact an Early Intervention program for an evalution for speech and also see an audiologist for hearing tests. You can have them do the BAER test or an ABR test. I opted to have an ABR test done under sedation which provided me with the true results of his hearing loss. We do speech therpay every two weeks, what my insurace doesn't cover the EI programs pay, they are state affiliated. Michael will be wearing hearing aids soon as well. From what I have found, hearing loss is not a disability one can see, very hard to understand, etc. Your pedi can recommend an audiologist and you can find EI via a google search, etc. When looking for an EI program as some states have many, ask for a program that offers speech therapist (SLP). I have had to change EI's twice as one could not offer me speech services as they had so many clients and not enough SLPs.

my daughter had ear infections constantly beginning around 9 months old and I became worried about her speech around 18 months. She had tubes put in her ears and that seemed to help. But it could be a variety of issues- I agree with Jamie- talk with your doctor or call your local early intervention office -I believe they have these in most state and let them do an evaluation.

I am not a good frame of reference because my daughter has always been behind in speech but my suggestion would be that if you are concerned, call your local Early Intervention office and request an evaluation. They will set up an appointment and come out to your house and do an eval. If she is on target then awesome, you will be reassured that everything is fine. If she is indeed behind then they will set her up for speech therapy. It is really a win win situation. Keep us posted on how it goes!

Ok, well my daughter was born at 30 weeks and seemed to hit all her other milestones right on time. But I am worried about her speech. She is 27 months old and can say a few two word phrases, but does not really speak in sentences. I see other kids her age and a little bit older than her conversating in full sentences. She is very smart. We will ask her her colors and shapes and she will tell us. We talk to her and read to her all the time, but she mainly just says one word or two word phrases to get her point across. When should we start to worry?