5 things to stop

doing to get your child

to start talking
#1 - STOP ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS
Have you ever been in a conversation with a friend and they’re
just firing questions at you, but not really giving you a chance to
respond or reciprocate?

Not an enjoyable interaction, right?

Your toddler feels the same when you’re asking him too many
questions! “What’s that? Who’s this? Where’s daddy? What’s the dog
say?” Sound familiar?

Toddlers don’t like being constantly quizzed and put on the spot,
and it actually tends to limit verbalizations and stop interactions.

Try this instead… For every 1 question you ask, make 3 related
comments to reduce pressure and keep your interaction going!

SPEECHSISTERS.COM
#2 - STOP SAYING, “SAY ___________”
Remember the days when your mom would nag at you, constantly
telling you what to do?

Not your favorite childhood memory, is it?

Your toddler feels the same when you put pressure on them to talk.

We often do this with our toddlers by prefacing our desired word by

directing them to “say _______.” “Say Mama. Say Dada. Say bye- bye.
Say night-night.”

Does this sound familiar? Toddlers don’t like being under pressure
to talk. You can reduce this pressure by eliminating the word “SAY”.

Instead, repeat your target word up to 5 times during the

interaction, “Mama... mama... mama.” Give it a try!

SPEECHSISTERS.COM
#3 - STOP STEALING COMMUNICATION
OPPORTUNITIES FROM YOUR CHILD
Have you ever flown first class? We have only once and it was
amazing! You don’t need to ask for anything. Blanket and pillows are
handed to you and food and drinks are delivered to you on a platter.

Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

This is how your toddler feels when you anticipate their every need
by giving them what they want before they have an opportunity to
ask for it.

Our toddlers love this, but unfortunately it is not helpful for

developing expressive language. A better approach is to manipulate
the situation so your toddler has to communicate in order to receive a
desired object or action. For instance, place preferred toys out of
reach so that your little one has to communicate in some way (e.g.
point, gesture, grunt, sound, word) in order to receive what
she wants.

SPEECHSISTERS.COM
#4 - STOP TEACHING ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE TOO SOON
Here’s a task for you… Call up a friend and try to have a
conversation with them using only letter names, numbers, colors
and shapes.

Ha! Conversation isn’t going to go too far, is it?

Your toddler may enjoy learning about letter names, numbers,

colors and shapes, but if he can’t say “Hi” or “Help” and only says
“blue”, “one” and “circle”, how functional will his language be?

Learning academic concepts is very important, but when a child is

just learning to talk, functional word categories such as objects,
actions, locations, and greetings are a better place to start!

To help lessen your toddlers frustration and get their needs/wants

met, try starting with the following words instead; “hi/bye, help,
more, all done, eat/drink, up/down, in/out, on/off, open/close,
Mama/Dada.”

SPEECHSISTERS.COM
#5 - STOP EXPECTING TOO MUCH, TOO SOON
Remember when you first met your spouse? Did you start planning
your wedding the day after your first date? Probably not! Building a
relationship takes time and usually follows a sequence.

This is also the case with language development.

As much as we would love for our toddler to wake up tomorrow and

start talking in sentences, that’s not a realistic expectation.
Expressive language development typically follows a hierarchy;
cooing > babbling >imitation of sounds > gestures > gesturing with
sounds > single words > two word phrases > 3+ word sentences >
conversation.

So, if your child is at one level, your goal is to work to get them to
the next level.

SPEECHSISTERS.COM
Time to Talk
AN ONLINE COURSE FOR PARENTS OF TODDLERS 15 MONTHS TO 36 MONTHS

The Time to Talk course will teach you what you can do at home during your everyday routines to
maximize language learning opportunities! This course is designed for parents of toddlers between
15-36 months old who understand language but are not saying as many words as they could.
It’s a 2.5 hour course divided into 10 modules with each module revealing an evidence-based speech
secret, designed to get your little one talking. In each module, we also show real, video
demonstrations coaching parents through the strategies while parents carry out the strategies with
their children.

BUY NOW

Talk on Track
AN ONLINE COURSE FOR PARENTS OF BABIES NEWBORN TO 14 MONTHS

Talk On Track is designed to help YOU learn how to help your baby meet his or her communication
milestones. In this 1.5 hour course divided into 8 modules, we reveal evidence- based speech tips
using our “I TALK” technique designed to get your little one talking on time
and meeting their milestones! This course also comes with a 24-page workbook and a list of
45 functional focus words that are easy for babies to say. Talk on Track will show real, video
demonstrations of parents implementing these tips with their children, and just like with The Late
Talker, you can integrate all of these strategies into your everyday routines!

BUY NOW