# Can't say "S" or "F"



## seemfrog (Mar 30, 2006)

Just wondered when I should be concerned that my DS (28 months) can't pronounce "S" or "F" yet. He has a pretty great vocabulary, but is still hard to understand sometimes. He has made a huge improvement over the last couple of months in that area and is speaking in short sentances. His twin has always been ahead verbally (and he has always been ahead physically), I know it bad to compare, but when they are right there in front of you developing together...

examples:
spider = giger
star = tar
Flower = gower
Fly = guy

you get the idea.

thanks for your thoughts!


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## MaterBum (Aug 11, 2005)

I'm no expert, but I was concerned with one of my twins here lately, too. She can get going into these elaborate sentences, but then you can't understand her. And s's have been tricky for her, and p's. Anyway, I talked to the ped about it and here's what she suggested for now: Whenever you think of it, not just after he/she has said a word without the correct sound on the front, have him/her say the trouble sound independently. So for s's, I have my kids (not just her so she doesn't feel stressed or picked on or like she's doing something "wrong") pretend to be snakes and go around saying sss ssss sss. Then we talk like snakes....sss ssss sssorry. sss ssss ssspooon. With 'p' I had them each try to blow my hair by making the sound really exaggerated and then do "p" words hard enough to make my bangs blow out of my face. It made them all giggle to do these games. Now she is beginning to use these sounds naturally at the beginning of words.

My ped explained that just seeing if they can consistently say the sound, even if not combined with the other words with sounds, is the first step in identifying a true speech problem, if there is one. She told me to try this for a few weeks to see what I thought. She didn't recommend any speech intervention until age 3, though, since my dd is already talking in sentences (unless she wouldn't have been able to make the sounds independently at all). It sounds the same for you, just sounds, not a speech delay per se. Oh, and the other guideline she gave me is that by age three, strangers should be able to understand 80% of what your child says.

I hope this gives you some ideas/help to start feeling better and assessing the situation for yourself. I'm not typically a worrier about my kids' developments, but I know what you mean about the twin thing. When one is talking at you as clear as the bell and the other one isn't, it's hard not to make comparisons and worry!


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## fritz (Nov 9, 2005)

My DS is 31 mos now, and it's only in the past month or so that he's started to say "f" at the start of words. He's still working on "s" at the beginning, but can now say it at the ends of words. He's talking in longer sentences (and mimicking more of what we say) almost every day, it seems. He's working on it, and he'll get it eventually. I wouldn't worry, especially if he's making improvements, as you say he is.


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## redpajama (Jan 22, 2007)

I wouldn't worry. My son will be three next month, and he still has trouble with S and F in some contexts. For example, he can make the "s" sound okay, but if it's followed by a t, he leaves it off, so:

Sam = "Sam"
but
Star = "Tar"

He doesn't do it that way in *every* "st" word, either. He pronounces "store" correctly, and "story." And "stop." But he says "tranger" or "sranger", and "tar" or "sar."

With Fs, he has trouble if it's at the end of a word, so:

Frog = "Frog"
but
Off = "Oss"
and
Half = "Hass"
and
If = "Iss"

He has a few other little things like this (some of his Rs don't come out quite right), but I don't worry about it much. He had constant ear infections during his second year, and probably wasn't hearing well all the time during that time (a critical time for language acquisition). Now that his ears are clear, I hear distinct improvement in his diction, and I'm confident that in another year or two, these little discrepancies will have resolved themselves.

A while back, someone on here linked to a chart online that showed the different common mispronunciations, with explanations of why they likely occurred, and the age at which you typically see them resolved--does anyone remember? I forgot to save the link, but it was really interesting, and I'd love to see it again.


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## basmom (Jun 4, 2006)

Don't worry.
/f/ and/s/ are both fricative sounds (air is "partly blocked" by teeth, tongue or lips) and these tend to come in later. I think the "normal" range is up to age 6 or so! ...and blends like /st/ /fr/ etc. are even later!

practice the sounds in isolation (just "sssss" like a snake, or water running)- give a verbal cue like "put your teeth together and blow" for /s/ and "put your teeth on your lip and blow" for /f/- try using a mirror so your child can see how their mouth looks....and don't push it! Have fun!


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## snoopy5386 (May 6, 2005)

my DD does this too, she is younger but she say things like moan for phone and the like. I think it is pretty normal.


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## mamatoni (Aug 2, 2007)

my son, also 28 months, has a hard time with "f's (always inserts p's)", "l's" and "s's (only at the beginning of the word)". Fruit snacks in our house have become "Poot Nacks". I think it is pretty normal and leads to some amusing pronouciations.

I love the snake idea, I'll try that with DS!


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

my 39 month old ds has the same issue. sort of.

he can say 's' when it's in front of a vowel but not in front of a consonant.

snake= nake

but sound= sound or silly = silly

really, it's the only speech "difficulty" he has and i kind of hope it sticks around for awhile because it's so cute.

though there was the baby sitter that freaked out after he said, "i like my big 's'tick" she thought he meant something else....

it seems like you are getting good advice as far as dealing with the issue if you want, i just wanted to add my experience.


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## seemfrog (Mar 30, 2006)

thanks for all the thoughts/ideas

We actually do make animal sounds a lot, and he can do "Ssssssssss" when pretending to be a snake, just won't start words with it...

I just tried it out on him (just now) and he did "Ssssssssss" fine, then I was doing "F" and we were facing each other so he could see where my teeth and lips were and he was copying (he loves to watch and observe and do), so I went "Fuh Fuh Fuh - Fly" and he went "Fuh Fuh Fuh - Fuh-GUY"
(Guy is how he normally says Fly...)

I wonder what some easier ones are... Funny, Fun, Farmer...


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## lirpasirhc (Oct 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *seemfrog* 
thanks for all the thoughts/ideas

We actually do make animal sounds a lot, and he can do "Ssssssssss" when pretending to be a snake, just won't start words with it...

I just tried it out on him (just now) and he did "Ssssssssss" fine, then I was doing "F" and we were facing each other so he could see where my teeth and lips were and he was copying (he loves to watch and observe and do), so I went "Fuh Fuh Fuh - Fly" and he went "Fuh Fuh Fuh - Fuh-GUY"
(Guy is how he normally says Fly...)

I wonder what some easier ones are... Funny, Fun, Farmer...

Hi OP. It sounds like your DS's phonological (sound patterns in words) development is right on track. The "giger" for "spider" and "gower" for "flower" are a little unusual, but I don't think you should be worried at this time. Some kids use "phonological processes" (their own sound production rules) to simplify words. Other children do not. Playing with sounds is a great, fun, relaxed way to make your DS more aware of how he is producing sounds. However, be very careful not to add the "uh" sound to the end of the targeted sound (e.g., fuh-ly). You could try playing with "fuh fuh fuh" but don't add that "uh" sound to words. IME it's very difficult to get kids to stop adding the "uh" to words once they have learned that pattern. I'd also advise you to be cautious about using a prolonged sound at the begging of words (e.g., sssssssnake). I've also seen many kids who were stuck using prolonged sounds, and it took a long time to unteach the habit. To prevent this, I might play around with prolonging the sound (e.g., sssssnake), but the 1st time the child says the word with the prolonged sound, I give lots of praise and then say, "Now lets say 'snake' with a tiny 'ss.' Snake." Good luck with this. Your DS is so lucky to have such a great mama. I wish all of my students' mamas paid as much attention to them.


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