Hi Joy!
You might find the article “Speech and Language Development Milestones” helpful. It gives you an idea of how many words children should have depending on their age range. It also lists activities you can do to help encourage language development! It is always good to have your child evaluated to rule out any delays and to get some speech therapy as early as possible – if that is recommended. Most pediatricians will refer to speech therapy if there are delays in communication development. A great way you can encourage your step son to use words is to offer two choices. For example, at meal time, you say, “Do you want milk or water?” At snack time, “Do you want pretzels or crackers?” Getting dressed…”do you want your red shirt or your green shirt?” And wait for him to use any verbal response and praise him for using words! i.e. say, “Good talking! I like when you talk to mama!”
Keep me posted! And like I said, suggesting an evaluation is always a good idea – the earlier you can begin speech therapy the better!
Heather 🙂

LOL… too funny Daja!!

Hi! Thank you so much for your comment. I hope my post on pacifier use was helpful to you.
I can see why you are concerned that this child may be using the pacifier too frequently and unnecessarily. We know this could lead to a habit that is very hard to break. If this habit persists beyond age 3-4, it may become a dental issue and then can become a speech issue. If I were working with this mom, I would continue to share with her just how much you see her child growing more independent of the pacifier. This is big step. It is great that the child is demonstrating the ability to self-regulate and soothe without the pacifier at nap time. You could also try to introduce another favorite object or activity and see how he responds so you can tell mom that he also enjoys another object/activity when he may be getting fussy. For example, in the post I wrote, a favorite toy or song can work for this alternative soothing strategy.
It’s also a really good idea that you sent home a newsletter to give parents some information on pacifier use. It is so important to educate parents. In this field, we are learning new information all the time that can help our kiddos! During the hours that this child is in your care, you can keep encouraging independence of the pacifier and decrease the “in the mouth all the time” behavior.
Sometimes our job as early childhood educators is a difficult one, but the best thing you can do is educate mom (which you are doing) and help encourage the child to talk, sing, play, and nap without a pacifier in his mouth. Keep reinforcing speech (you mentioned the child has limited speech) with verbal praise. For example, “I like when you talk!” “I like when you use words!” Read books together, go for walks and name things you see, play finger-play games, and sing nursery rhymes. Try to introduce other comforting toys/routines when he/she gets fussy, and if they are successful, share with mom! : ) Keep me posted on how this little one is doing!
Please let me know if there are any other questions you have. I am happy to help you in any way I can.
Heather
M.S.CCC-SLP