Grandson not talking at almost 3

I am no expert, but feel that he will one day just start talking, probably in sentences. Obviously the speech therapist will know best.It sounds like home life is not very relaxed, so anxiety may be the cause.
There is a recent similar thread in the "ask a gran" category entitled "19 months and not talking" which you may find useful.
Hope he is soon chattering.

My cousin didn't speak till he was three but then whoosh, out it all came. We all worry about developmental milestones. My grandson didnt sit up till 11 months and walked at 22 months but at 3 1/2 he has taught himself to read.
What I am trying to say is that they all do things at different times. However it does sound as if his parents laid back attitude might be contributing to this. I personally have no patience with the latest fad for what I think of as late toilet training.

There are heaps of reasons for being 'slow' to speak. Ranging from being deaf to being a child with a dummy in his mouth all the time to being a child learning to speak two languages. The little boy upstairs has an English father and a French mother - so his language skills in both are about 6 months behind his peers. However, he is learning 2 languages and will catch up on both. Children who have dummies in their mouths all the time speak really unclearly for obvious reasons. My GD was slow to walk but talked very early and at 3 her verbal skills are impressive. All children are different and plenty don't talk well for some time and then when they do you can't shut them up. I do think if his parents are concerned it is good idea to ask for professional help rather then leave it.

My son was slow to speak and unclear - turned out he was a little deaf...the thing that really helped him was my starting to teach him to read, at about
3 1/2. I think it made the words clearer to him and he got more practice.

Hannah'sgran posting like an old hand there. We had another thread on similar vein a few weeks back. I will see if I can locate. Is he a first child?

Here is the other thread so you might like to read comments there too.
www.gransnet.com/forums/ask_a_gran/a1191214-19-months-and-not-talking

Yes, but if there are any developmental problems the quicker they are picked up the better. Whether a child is just a slow talker or not, if they are not talking by three then the parents should be pressing for a rapid referral to a speech therapist. Remember that recent programme about a social worker dealing with a non-speaking child of three and the concern that if the child did not receive the help it needed before it was four the opportunity for proper speech development might be lost. Now I am certainly not suggesting that Hannahsgran's grandson has a deprived background of any sort as the televised child did but a child's brain is developing all the time and areas of the brain dealing with things like, speech, hearing and sight can atrophy if these skills do not develop at the right time.

Seek help and if the day of the appointment the child wakes up speaking perfectly correct English with a vocabulary beyond his age just give a sigh of relief, but still go to the appointment

I agree. But how is she to tackle a very sensitive DIL on this?
Tackle son maybe?

My youngest grandson is nearly 4 (in May) and although we could understand him, when he started at the nursery last September, they were concerned about his speech levels and suggested a speech therapist. He has just finished a course of 6 lessons, one a week, and although he`s still not great, his speech has improved a little, and he`s now stringing sentences together. My DIL is a little bit touchy, but eventually came round to suggestions by the nursery teacher, but if your DIL is really unapproachable, then maybe getting your son on side will help?

When you say not a word , do you mean that literally, as in not even "yes, no, ta (for thank you, although I didn't use that as I hated it) bye, more, again" etc?