hard to understand 2 YO

[caedmyn]

My 26 month old is very hard to understand.  I understood him ok when he was saying one word at a time, but now that he talks in sentences, I have a hard time even catching one word out of a sentence.  I think he will need speech therapy but I talked to my 5 YO's speech therapist and she said that since he seems to have plenty of words, she would want to wait til he's three to work on his sounds.  He's fairly good at communicating by pointing (or climbing to get whatever he wants), but I think sometimes he gets frustrated because he's not understood.  I get frustrated too because he'll be insisting on something and I have no idea what he's saying.  I can try to teach him some sign language but idk if he'll do it...the only thing he'll sign is "please".  I've tried to teach him "thank you" off and on for about a year and he still won't do it, nor will he do other signs that I've done since he was 6 or 7 months old like "all done".  Any tips for getting him to sign, or for helping him communicate for the next year or so until he can start speech therapy?

[carriede]

Not understanding a 2 yo (and the frustration that comes with it) is very normal. I agree with waiting until 3 years old to make a decision on therapy. I doubt it will be a whole year until you (and maybe just you) can understand him enough. Unless there's some other known disability that might complicate things.

[prairiewindmomma]

Has he been checked for a tongue tie?

[displace]

At two years old, the general guideline is understandable speech 50% of the time.  With added frustration, I’d seek a referral and evaluation now.  Sine a doctor orders the referral, you don’t need to go by what the speech therapist says, necessarily.    Plus, at two, early intervention takes care of it (usually free) in most states.  Some early intervention even has self referral, so you don’t have to go through your doctor.

[Chris in VA]

If you want to supplement with signing, try concrete nouns instead of concept words or social words.