Your Kid Talks Funny

When your kids start to talk it is really amazing. All of a sudden, what was once a series of well-inflected grunts morph into the beginnings of words and you can"t get enough. But after a few years of talking under their belt, your kid might still be having trouble pronouncing certain letters. My 3 1/2 year old daughter cannot pronounced "L" sounds. They always come out as hard "Y"s. For instance, Lollipop sounds like Yah-yee-pop.  

It is natural to worry that your kid has speech problems. Of course you worry about learning disabilities and speech impediments. I used to tease the living hell out of those kids when I was in school. I"m not proud of it at all. In fact, I am appalled with how cruel kids can be to others. But the simple fact is kids tease and it breaks my heart to imagine MY kids being the one teased. To top that off, it has tremendous ramification to the learning process and how your kid can succeed in our society.

There are key benchmarks in speech development that you should know about before you start thinking your kid has issues. In some language development charts, new benchmarks are achieved up to age 8! Here are a few important sounds in the english language and when most kids are able to make them:

At 3 Years:
h as in he, zh as in measure, y as in yes, w as in we, ng as in sing, m as in me, n as in no, p as in up, k as in car, t  as in to, b as in be, g as in go, d as in do

At 3 Years, 6 Months:
f as in if

At 4 Years:
l as in lay, sh as in she, ch as in chew

At 4 Years, 6 Months:
j as in jaw, s as in so, z as in is

At 5 Years:
r as in red

At 6 Years:
V as in Vegemite

At 8 Years:
th as in this

At 8 Years, 6 Months
th as in thing
[All ages are listed as Ages by which 75% of children tested in a study accurately used the speech sounds]

As always, it is important to have your pediatrician weigh in when it comes to developmental issues.
Good luck Noodads.