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When to get help

When to get help with your child's talking

If you're worried, it's always OK to ask. You know your child best.[1]

  • Checked 2 November 2026
  • 14 sources
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Who to talk to

Talk to your health visitor or GP. They can refer your child to speech and language therapy, and in many areas you can contact the service yourself.[2] See Getting help in the UK.

The NHS website doesn't give one age at which every child should be referred. Each local service sets its own rules.

Signs speech therapists look at

As an example, one NHS service in Hertfordshire refers children aged 2½ to 3 if they:[3]

  • use fewer than 10 words
  • don't understand instructions with two key words
  • don't understand simple "what" and "where" questions
  • are very hard for close family to understand
  • have very little back-and-forth with familiar adults

That service first asks parents to try its advice and groups for 3 months.[3] Your area may do things differently, so ask your health visitor what happens locally.

Don't wait if your child loses skills

If your child stops using words or skills they had before, talk to your GP or health visitor.[4]

What "late talker" means

Speech therapists often call a 2-year-old a late talker if they say fewer than 50 words and don't yet put two words together. Between 10% and 20% of 2-year-olds are late talkers.[5]

Do late talkers catch up?

  • About 50% to 70% catch up with other children by the end of the preschool years.[5]
  • Many catch up by the time they start school, but 20% to 30% keep having real difficulties with language.[6]
  • Most late talkers reach the average range by age 5 to 7.[7]

Signs that catching up may take more help

  • Difficulty understanding words, and a smaller vocabulary.[5,8]
  • Using few gestures. Late talkers who caught up used more gestures, like pointing and waving.[5]

Because nobody can tell for sure which children will catch up, it makes sense to ask for advice early rather than wait.[7,9]

Check your child's hearing

  • Hearing loss can affect a child's speech development.[10]
  • Glue ear (fluid in the middle ear) is much more common in children. It usually clears up within 3 months, but if it lasts a long time it can affect speech.[11]
  • Your GP can refer your child for a hearing test. Young children are tested with games and toys, not words.[12]

Stammering

  • About 1 in 12 young children go through a phase of stammering, and about 2 in 3 of them grow out of it.[13]
  • Stammering often starts between ages 2 and 5.[14]
  • Help for preschool children often works well, so get advice as soon as possible. You can often refer your child yourself.[13]
  • The charity STAMMA has a free helpline: 0808 802 0002.[14]

Sources for this page

  1. Milestones by 2 years · CDC (USA)
  2. Help your baby learn to talk · NHS
  3. Speech and language therapy referral guidelines: 2 years 6 months to 2 years 11 months · Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
  4. CDC's developmental milestones · CDC (USA)
  5. Late language emergence (practice portal) · American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
  6. Late talkers: what we know, and what we don't · The Hanen Centre
  7. Rescorla (2011). Late talkers: do good predictors of outcome exist? · Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews
  8. Fisher (2017). A systematic review and meta-analysis of predictors of expressive-language outcomes among late talkers · Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
  9. About Learn the Signs. Act Early. · CDC (USA)
  10. Hearing loss · NHS
  11. Glue ear · NHS
  12. Hearing tests for children · NHS
  13. Stammering · NHS
  14. Help if your child stammers · STAMMA

Every source was opened and checked on 2 November 2026. All sources