Compared to adults, children are far more likely to have ear, nose and throat issues, some of which may delay speech development indeed. I would certainly discuss this with your ENT specialist

enlarged adenoids but not keen for surgery as no sleep apnoea. will see private speech next week for her opinion

Yes, a speech pathologist will be able to give you some further information around speech and speech targets.

so apparently his ears are blocked with wax. going to get an xray to check adenoids as his nasally. hope we can get some good results

I wouldn’t jump to surgery if the only issue is his speech. Unless there are other symptoms (sleep apnea, constant bouts if tonsillitis etc) I’d try speech therapy first.

If you are really concerned though I would suggest seeing an ear nose and throat specialist.

Good luck!

My Daughter (age 4y8m) is currently going through investigation due to enlarged tonsils, difficulty with some speech sounds, etc. I took her to the dentist on monday, and as soon as the dentist saw her she pointed out that Miss 4 is a mouth breather, and that would cause the enlarged tonsils. We are currently trying to stop her sucking her thumb and doing nose breathing exercises to try and change this without surgery. Her tonsils are so big that her tongue doesn’t fit in her mouth properly, so I hope it starts working soon!

thankyou! went to a public speech service who said he was fine but teacher says she cant understand him at times (nor can I) so she wants private speech.
I’m not sure ent will do surgery just for that as he doesn’t have infections. just a though. I think they are doing hearing asessments at school soon

My son had intermittent hearing loss with severe bouts of tonsillitis & ear infections which affected his speech. Once he had the surgery we started speech therapy to get him back on track & fortunately he improved in the first years of schooling.

Adnoids* removed ( not armour). I must also add that the speech wasn’t the main reason for surgery, the trouble breathing, always being sick etc was.

My 3 year old son just had both tonsils and armour removed and it was the best thing we did. He had difficulty with his speech and after visiting numerous speech pathologists who assured us that their was no speech delay or anything else we got an ENT review who advised that he needed surgery. He no longer snores, no longer wakes 100 times during the night and has much clearer speech.

With one of my kids he was always sick and needed to have surgery at 3 year old to have his adnoids and tonsils removed, He went into hospital a sick little boy with snoring issues as well. He come out of hospital and even though he had just had operation. whils still asleep from it had stopped snoring and had a better skin colour straight away. Since he only is ill occasionally compared to before.. Before he had operattion he had selective mutism but it took two years for that to stop as he got more confident with his speech along with a lot of speech theropy after it was done. Fast foward a few years he is just the same level as any other child…

My son had speech for a couple of years & our speech pathologist recommended we see an ENT specialist as he had a lot of tonsillitis & ear infections in the past. He did have enlarged tonsils & ENT recommended we remove them or wait til he grows into them. He grew into them & has no speech deficits at all & rarely has a sore throat anymore.He is now 12 & is the one who is always asked to speak in front of assemblies & is the head of debating teams etc.

I need to add that he had been battling tonsillitis and ear infections constantly from around 18 months, so that was why we decided on surgery. The speech improvements were an added bonus.

It helped in the case of my son. We didn’t realize that he was having intermittent hearing loss. Once he he his tonsils and adenoids out and grommets inserted, he was a different child. His speech came along in leaps and bounds, especially in the clarity department. He no longer snores as well and is much happier (and exhibits less behaviours) now that he is getting a more restful sleep. He had just turned 4 when he had it done. He’s 6 now.

I would be investigating other options first, surgery is such a big deal, you want to avoid it if you can. My son had some speech therapy when his speech was lacking. It worked for him

I’d certainly be looking for professional medical advice – from a couple of different sources – before considering something as drastic as surgery. Speech problems are so common, and pronunciation difficulties persist well into school years for so many children. 4 is still so young. I’d see what a few different experts say but be looking at speech therapy first for a few years if that was an option.