My son turned 3 year-old last February. He's our only child. He can say some words, but his vocabulary is very limited. He follows directions and commands, but doesn't answer simple questions as:" did you eat today?" I don't know if he doesn't understand the question or don't know how to answer it. His pediatrician believes that is because he is bilingual. Another concern is that he is potty trained but he doesn't poop on the potty, just when on diapers, especially a bedtime. People say things and I am kind of concerned that he may be delayed. Can it be normal?:confused:

Read a child's book in English to him every night and see if the situation improves. You can get books at the library.

Easy one fist. The poop thing is normal. It took till my son was 4 to poop on the potty. If you are concrened about a delay I would get him evaluated. Being a bilingual child does not cause a delay. Parents usually can sense when there is a problem. I would go with your gut instinct

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Originally Posted by Lipenata

My son turned 3 year-old last February. He's our only child. He can say some words, but his vocabulary is very limited. He follows directions and commands, but doesn't answer simple questions as:" did you eat today?" I don't know if he doesn't understand the question or don't know how to answer it. His pediatrician believes that is because he is bilingual. Another concern is that he is potty trained but he doesn't poop on the potty, just when on diapers, especially a bedtime. People say things and I am kind of concerned that he may be delayed. Can it be normal?:confused:

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My advice may be somewhat limited but I'll tell you what I've learned (I'm currently in college to become a Speech/Language Pathologist and work in childcare)...

As far as his language skills, my advice would be to have him evaluated by a SLP... although sometimes the child will "grow out of" the things you have concerns about, It is better to have a professional decide if there is a bigger problem than you may have knowledge of.

*Generally speaking speech should begin to develop at 18 months and continue until age 6
*At age 2, there's "normally' an explosion of speech, where the child is talking and asking questions about their environment etc. often repeating questions to be sure they will make the "right" response...they are learning a lot at this stage
*By age 3, the child should typically have 75% of basic speech/language skills they will have as an adult!...does any of these describe your son???

If not, do not be quick to worry but take the proper steps to have this evaluated so that if there is a problem it can be addressed quickly!

As far as the potty training, children are typically potty trained by age 3 (girls are typically a little sooner than boys) but will still need assistance wiping until age 4 or 5...children develop differently some sooner than others the most important thing is to not wait for them to "grow out of things" before seeking help!

In my job I see children ages 2 and 3 who aren't potty trained and they are also the children that do not speak at the "normal" rate and some have not learned to walk... these things are related, Usually after children master the art of movement they begin to speak and with communication things such as potty training can be mastered.