When should we worry?

[John Tabacco]

Our daughter was born with a cleft palate, and it was repaired at 7 mos., she has had no ear infections, and there have been no developmental problems since the surgery. But shes 15 mos now and is not starting to make the normal sounds that a child of her age should. She says mama, nana, and yum yum, but we cant get her to make any new sounds. We thought because we never made any repetitive sounds before the surgery, shes a little behind. At what point should we be alarmed. She has a speech therapist that comes to the house twice a week. Someone please respond. Concerned Dad. Thank You

[Good Luck]

Don't know if that is a typical cleft issue. People with clefts have a greater probablility of developing problems above the neck (ie hearing). Talk to the doctors.

[jacksmom]

My son is 20 months old, and doesn't have a cleft and has just started using a few words. If your daughter appears to understand you, and follows commands like "give that to me", she's probably fine. I think everyone worries about their child being a late bloomer - whether the child has a cleft or not.I think one of the reasons my son talked somewhat late is because I am a stay-at-home mom and he does not have an older sibling (or peers at daycare) to copy. Now that he's talking though, he's definitely making up for lost time - and seems to be picking uo words very quickly. I'm sure your daughter will do the same.

[Tyler's Mom]

Most states offer some type of early intervention programs. Use the internet as a resource. They can determine if your child needs any type of speech therapy. Because my son has a cleft lip & palate..he is currently receving speech therapy once a week at 9 months of age. It is payed for by your tax dollars and is limited to children 3 and under with any type of developmental delay. Is it something worth looking into.

[Hunter's mom]

My son is now 15 months old. He has had both his lip and palate repaired. We just got back from a visit with his doctors & his speech therapist seemed to think that 5 or 6 words was right on target for any child his age. We only see her every three months or so, but she said we shouldn't feel concerned until he was around 2. But as any concerned parent I think we all tend to fear the worst. If your daughter's speech therapist doesn't show concern, I would say just relax and continue working with her.

[Christopher's Mom]

Christopher was having speech therapy at 6 months old. He had cleft lip/palate. He didnt say his first "recognizable" word until 15 months. He is now almost 7 years old and talking wonderfully. Only a little nasality is showing. He is getting ready for his bone graph to be done in about 6 months or so. If you need someone to talk with ...email me at LovLyLdy24@aol.com

[Nicole]

I hear you. My son is turning seven. I have had him in speech therapy since he was 9 months old, much like you are doing. I had a lot of people have trouble understanding him, so I was very worried. Then we went into Kindergarten. What I found there was very interesting. Out of that group of 20-5 year old's, there were many who were harder to understand than Evan Michael, and they had nothing wrong with them!! I know how hard it is not to worry, I still do it myself. My son is about to have the palate spreader put on, so likely next summer we'll have the bone graft done. He has bi-lateral lip and palate affected, couldn't be more beautiful. Please feel free to contact me anytime nicole67@gdi.net