Our son just turned 2 years old (24 mont
Ask
Our son just turned 2 years old (24 months). He was born full term.
At home, I speak Spanish to him and my husband speaks English. ight now, he has about 15–20 words total between both languages (about 8 in Spanish like "agua", "leche", "mamá", "perro", and about 10 in English like "ball", "more", "car", "bye"). He doesn't consistently put two words together yet (occasionally he says "más milk", but usually just single words).
At his 2-year checkup yesterday, our pediatrician told us: "He is behind on speech milestones. You need to stop speaking Spanish at home immediately. Speaking two languages is confusing him and causing this delay."
My mother-in-law agreed and now wants us to only use English. I came home sobbing because Spanish connects him to my parents and our whole culture.
1. Is bilingualism actually causing his speech delay or confusing his brain?
2. How do we count his vocabulary and two-word combinations across both languages?
3. Should we really drop Spanish, and what concrete observations should we record for a formal speech-language evaluation?
Answer
Bilingualism is not causing your son's speech delay — the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is explicit that learning more than one language does not confuse children or cause speech or language delays. You don't have to choose between his Spanish and his development; they aren't fighting each other.
Source: https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/learning-more-than-one-language/
**1. Is bilingualism the cause?**
No. ASHA, the NHS, and the broader research base all say: two languages do not cause delay, and dropping a home language is not a treatment. A true communication problem shows up across **every** language the child uses — and right now he has words, gestures, and an early two-word combo in both languages. That's the opposite pattern.
**2. How do you count across both languages?**
Add them up.
| | Count | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | ~8 | agua, leche, mamá, perro, … |
| English | ~10 | ball, more, car, bye, … |
| **Combined vocabulary** | **~18 words** | |
For two-word combos, count code-mixed ones like **"más milk"** the same as same-language ones — mixing at this age is expected. His occasional "más milk" is in fact the milestone on the 24-month card ("more milk").
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones/2-years.html
**3. Drop Spanish? No.**
Dropping Spanish will not raise his English word count. It will cost him the connection to you, your parents, and your culture, and it removes the language where you are his strongest model. ASHA: keep using the language you are most comfortable with.
**What the 24-month card actually expects him to do (what 75%+ of children this age do):**
points to things in a book when asked; **says at least two words together ("more milk")**; points to at least two body parts; more gestures than waving (kiss, nod). He is reaching some of these (gestures, occasional combos, pointing) and isn't yet reaching others consistently. That is worth watching and worth a formal look — it is not the same as a confirmed delay, and "do not declare a speech delay from a two-word count" is literally on the 2-year card.
**Observations to record (so the next clinician has data, not impressions):**
| Item | What to write | When |
|---|---|---|
| New words | Each new word, in which language, what it means | weekly |
| Two-word combos | Even code-mixed ones like "más milk" | weekly |
| Gestures | Pointing, nodding, shaking head | as they appear |
| What he understands | Can he follow "give me the ball" / "dame la pelota"? | monthly |
| Consonants he tries | m, b, p, t, d, … — list them | monthly |
| The advice you got | Quote it, date it, so the next person knows | today |
**Next step:** Ask for a referral to a **licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP)** — pediatricians screen, SLPs evaluate. If he passes the SLP's evaluation, you keep doing exactly what you're doing (Spanish + English, no drop). If the SLP finds something real, you've caught it early, and the right SLP for a bilingual family will not tell you to drop Spanish.
The pediatrician's framing is wrong on the cause, but the *concern* (small vocabulary, not-yet-consistent combos) is reasonable to take to an SLP. You can act on the concern without acting on the cause they gave you.
**Where are you based?** The route to a speech-language evaluation, and any public early-intervention door, is different in each country — and I'd rather hand you the right one than guess.