How Does Being Born Premature Affect Speech And Language Development?

Having a new baby is an exciting time in any parent’s life.

However, when your baby is born preterm, it can also be a stressful time as you navigate your birth experience and your child’s early days.

If you have a preterm baby, you might already know that preterm children are more likely to present with speech and language developmental delays or disorders.

However, there is plenty of support available for preterm babies when it comes to speech and language development.

Often, preterm babies just need some support from pediatric speech therapy.

At our speech therapy clinic in Los Angeles, we are very familiar with the speech and language differences preterm children can face.

In this article, we’ll take a look at speech and language delays and disorders in preterm babies, and how speech therapy services can help.

What’s Considered A Premature Birth?

First, what actually is a premature birth?

A typical pregnancy is considered to be about 40 weeks, or 280 days.

A premature birth is when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy.

They’re considered to be “moderately preterm” if they’re born between 29 and 33 weeks, and “extremely preterm” if they’re born between 23 to 28 weeks.

Why Are Some Babies Born Premature?

When it comes to premature babies, researchers aren’t always sure why some babies are born prematurely.

However, we do know some risk factors.

These include:

• Tobacco use
• Substance use
• Previously having a premature baby
• Being pregnant with multiples (e.g. twins, triplets)
• A short time (e.g. less than 18 months) between pregnancies

However, it is possible to have a preterm birth without any of the above risk factors.

The CDC reports that 10.4% of US children are born premature, as of 2022.

How To Tell If Your Preterm Baby Has A Speech Or Language Delay Or Disorder

Preterm babies are more likely to present with speech and language delays and disorders.

They may also present with a speech or language disorder.

When it comes to preterm babies and vocabulary development, early intervention is key.

Early intervention speech therapy can help your child build on their strengths and keep pace with their speech and language development.

Let’s take a closer look at some ways you can tell if your preterm baby has a speech or language delay or disorder.

1. They’re Not Meeting Their Developmental Milestones

It’s a good idea to get familiar with the expected speech and language developmental milestones for your child’s age.

Up to about four months old, children mostly cry to communicate, though they may coo.

Typically, your child will start babbling around 6 months old.

Sometime between 12 and 15 months old, most children will say their first word.

By the age of two, most children can say simple sentences consisting of two or more words, and will have an expanding vocabulary.

If your child isn’t keeping pace with their developmental milestones, a speech therapist can help.

2. Their Vocabulary Is Growing More Slowly Than Expected

Another sign that your child might have a speech or language delay or disorder is if their vocabulary is developing slowly.

There are vocabulary milestones that you can use to figure out if your child’s vocabulary is developing slowly.

By one year old, most children can imitate the sounds of adult speech and speak a couple of words.

By a year and a half, most children have a vocabulary of ten or more words.

They can usually recognize more words than they can say at this point, as well.

At this age, your child might be able to name some body parts, refer to themselves by their own name, and answer simple questions.

By two years old, most children have built a vocabulary of at least 50 words.

But by their third birthday, most children have a vocabulary of hundreds of words.

At this age, most children are able to create simple sentences consisting of three to four (or more) words.

If you notice that your child’s vocabulary isn’t meeting these general milestones, it might be a good time to have your child assessed by a speech therapist.

3. Their Speech Is Difficult To Understand For Their Age

It’s normal for very young children to be difficult to understand at first.

After all, they’re just learning how to control their speech muscles to produce speech sounds.

It’s also normal for them to be less intelligible to strangers than they are to you.

However, by the time your child reaches their second birthday, a stranger should be able to understand about half of what they’re saying.

By their third birthday, strangers should be able to understand about 75% of what they’re saying.

If not, it may be a sign of a certain type of speech disorder, called a speech sound disorder.

Pediatric speech therapy can help.

4. They Don’t Respond To Sound

You might notice your preterm baby doesn’t respond to sounds in their environment.

There could be a couple reasons for this.

Premature birth increases the likelihood of both autism and hearing loss.

If your preterm baby is experiencing hearing loss, it may delay their speech development.

After all, most kids learn language by listening to the people around them speak.

In kids with hearing loss, that’s more difficult.

Speech therapy for children with hearing loss can help your child develop their language skills in conjunction with hearing aids or other adaptive tools.

However, not responding to sounds can also be a sign of autism.

That itself isn’t a speech disorder, but autistic children may still benefit from speech and language therapy for autistic children.

What To Do If You Notice These Signs

If you notice any of these signs in your child, it is a good idea to consult with your pediatrician, as well as a speech therapist.

A speech therapist will first conduct an evaluation to determine your child’s communication strengths, as well as any areas of need.

Your child’s speech therapist will also be able to provide you with tools and strategies to support your child’s speech development in the home setting.

They can help your child develop their speech and language skills through play based therapy, which includes playing games and other child led activities.

Early intervention is ideal for premature children who are experiencing speech and language delays.

Early intervention allows your child’s speech therapist to support your child’s communication development while their brain is still in its critical development stages.

This can reduce the chances of your child’s speech and language continuing to be delayed as they grow.

Book Your Appointment With Our Speech Therapy Clinic Today

If your baby was born preterm and you’re worried about their speech and language development, our experienced team of speech therapists can help.

At Forte Speech & Language Therapy, we’re familiar with the speech and language differences that may present with preterm birth.

We’ll be there to work with your child to help build their strengths and develop their communication skills.

Book your appointment with Forte Speech & Language Therapy today, to get started.