Twins- Talking

[Deleted]

Any twin moms out there who had issues with their children talking? Mine are 2.5 years old, and I think they are incredibly behind verbally. One of my sons calls his brother by his name. For ex: C calls F by C- even though it is his name.

Sorry that might sound confusing, hopefully it makes sense. I noticed it from being at daycare, I picked them up one day and realized they kept calling C by F. I wonder if this is now making him get confused about his name?

What did you do to encourage speech? I'm just worried about them. I know kids develop on their own pace, but my husband and I have been so preoccupied with moving, finding jobs, housing etc, that I'm worried we have been shitty parents.

Any advice would help! I will probably post this on the toddler board as well, because I'm not sure if this board is for new twin parents or not.

Thank you ladies!

[anakah]

Around 2 years old, DS regularly called DD "brother". He knew who she was when we asked him about sister or used her name, but if we pointed at her and asked who she was he would always say brother. DS has been a little slow in the talking game and I feel like I should've pushed harder for an evaluation for speech therapy. He didn't really talk much until 2-2.5 years old and even then he was super shy at daycare so he didn't talk much there. Only recently at 3.5 has he really come out of his shell and is talking more at school and at home. We just kept talking to him and reading books and trying to engage him in conversations but between work and juggling the twins, I know it wasn't as much as I felt like was needed. If you are concerned, talk to the pedi and get them evaluated. It wouldn't hurt. Also, don't feel like you've been a bad parent. Parenting is hard and you are doing a great job!

[Deleted]

Mar 9, 2015 10:29:32 GMT -5 anakah said:

Around 2 years old, DS regularly called DD "brother". He knew who she was when we asked him about sister or used her name, but if we pointed at her and asked who she was he would always say brother. DS has been a little slow in the talking game and I feel like I should've pushed harder for an evaluation for speech therapy. He didn't really talk much until 2-2.5 years old and even then he was super shy at daycare so he didn't talk much there. Only recently at 3.5 has he really come out of his shell and is talking more at school and at home. We just kept talking to him and reading books and trying to engage him in conversations but between work and juggling the twins, I know it wasn't as much as I felt like was needed. If you are concerned, talk to the pedi and get them evaluated. It wouldn't hurt. Also, don't feel like you've been a bad parent. Parenting is hard and you are doing a great job!

Thank you! One of our twins is talking more then the other. He is chatty, but the other is SO stubborn! He just isn't interested in talking, and let's his brother do all of the talking for him. We just went to the pediatrician and he didn't say much about their talking, just that it is typical for twins to be a little slower when it comes to milestones. They potty trained incredibly quick, probably because they are so competitive. I just find talking is not progressing like kids around their age.

[twinmomma]

My girls talked often and early, but even with that, still got confused on their own names and who was who for a while. I don't think that's an example to be concerned about, but if there are other speech things bothering you, I'd bring it up to the pedi and see what they have to say about it. It won't hurt anything.

I do know that I have several friends in early childhood education who have all said there's a HUGE range in how kids talk between 2-3 years old.

[Deleted]

Thanks twinmomma, that makes me feel a little better. When I was first pregnant, I had a lot of people tell me to be patient, because they may take a little longer with some things. They do have their own language that they completely understand! I just wish they would try a little more with us. I think the worst part is the other people who comment on how much their children are talking, or how ours are not. I guess that is probably a concern of most parents.

[anakah]

Mar 9, 2015 11:42:36 GMT -5 @duckobx said:

My 2 will be 2.5 the end of this month. My daughter talks all the time and was talking before her brother. He still doesn't talk as much as she does.(How can he when she doesn't let him get a word in) But I have noticed that he's about a month behind her in talking. She started using 2 or 3 word sentences in Nov/Dec he just started to do that. When I went for 2 year well check up. I brought it up to the pedi. He wasn't too concerned and said boys usually talk later than girls.

Totally the bolded.  LOL. 
I've heard from so many people that girls talk earlier than boys when we were concerned about DS not talking a whole lot as well.  It makes me wonder if I would be as concerned about his speech development if I didn't have a chatterbox to compare him against. 

[anakah]

Mar 9, 2015 10:35:29 GMT -5 @erin2021 said:

Mar 9, 2015 10:29:32 GMT -5 anakah said:

Around 2 years old, DS regularly called DD "brother". He knew who she was when we asked him about sister or used her name, but if we pointed at her and asked who she was he would always say brother. DS has been a little slow in the talking game and I feel like I should've pushed harder for an evaluation for speech therapy. He didn't really talk much until 2-2.5 years old and even then he was super shy at daycare so he didn't talk much there. Only recently at 3.5 has he really come out of his shell and is talking more at school and at home. We just kept talking to him and reading books and trying to engage him in conversations but between work and juggling the twins, I know it wasn't as much as I felt like was needed. If you are concerned, talk to the pedi and get them evaluated. It wouldn't hurt. Also, don't feel like you've been a bad parent. Parenting is hard and you are doing a great job!

Thank you! One of our twins is talking more then the other. He is chatty, but the other is SO stubborn! He just isn't interested in talking, and let's his brother do all of the talking for him. We just went to the pediatrician and he didn't say much about their talking, just that it is typical for twins to be a little slower when it comes to milestones. They potty trained incredibly quick, probably because they are so competitive. I just find talking is not progressing like kids around their age.

That's great that they potty trained so quickly! Kids will focus on one thing vs. another so all the other kids that have been spending all their brain power on talking probably don't even have potty training on their radar. Your two will get there.

[Deleted]

Mar 9, 2015 12:37:58 GMT -5 anakah said:

Mar 9, 2015 10:35:29 GMT -5 @erin2021 said:

Thank you! One of our twins is talking more then the other. He is chatty, but the other is SO stubborn! He just isn't interested in talking, and let's his brother do all of the talking for him. We just went to the pediatrician and he didn't say much about their talking, just that it is typical for twins to be a little slower when it comes to milestones. They potty trained incredibly quick, probably because they are so competitive. I just find talking is not progressing like kids around their age.

That's great that they potty trained so quickly! Kids will focus on one thing vs. another so all the other kids that have been spending all their brain power on talking probably don't even have potty training on their radar. Your two will get there.

Ya they were shockingly quick with potty training! Maybe I just need to be patient, and keep doing what we normally do. I think we have a lot of pressure on ourselves for a bunch of things, so we are just feeling guilty.

[rayray007]

My boys are only almost 4 months so I don't really have any advice but I have been wondering, when I'm BFing F, for example, and C is fussing, I talk to C and use his name, I wonder if F will think his name is C, and vice versa. Twins must get so confused about their names!

[Deleted]

Mar 9, 2015 15:43:07 GMT -5 rayray007 said:

My boys are only almost 4 months so I don't really have any advice but I have been wondering, when I'm BFing F, for example, and C is fussing, I talk to C and use his name, I wonder if F will think his name is C, and vice versa. Twins must get so confused about their names!

You know what, if I call them by name, they know who is who. But when C talks about his brother, he will also call him C. We just keep correcting him, but it's incredibly frustrating! I do think it is because the daycare had their names wrong for so long.

[ashb62]

Mar 9, 2015 15:43:07 GMT -5 rayray007 said:

My boys are only almost 4 months so I don't really have any advice but I have been wondering, when I'm BFing F, for example, and C is fussing, I talk to C and use his name, I wonder if F will think his name is C, and vice versa. Twins must get so confused about their names!

My boys started responding to their own names at around 5 or 6 months. You might be surprised!

[kels09]

I was told by EI not to worry too much about speech until age 3. Do you have an EI program in your area? They will send some one to evaluate you boys and they can help if there is an issue.

My boys are going to be 18 months and E says more words than L. They only know a few key words too like momma, daddy, cat etc... And that's mostly E. I was worried but the therapist said as long as they are able to grasp the sounds of the letters they will progress in their own time.