Q Good day, Doc. I am concerned about some-thing. Is it normal for a child, nearly four years old, to still have very unclear speech? For example, the child says 'toot' for foot and 'tood' for food and basically cannot pronounce words. At age three plus, is this normal doc, or is there something wrong with her speech that needs to be checked out? If yes, kindly provide ways of going about this. I thank you and look forward to a response.
A At ages three on to four or even five, some children still lisp or mispronounce consonants like f, v, s, z, b, p, m, w and h. If your child, at age four, uses sentences of up to eight words, can name common objects in books (like chair, table, cat and dog), is able to name three or more colours, can repeat four digits when told clearly, understands over and under and can follow three-step commands, such as 'go to the the table, pick up the book and take it to me', you will realise that your child is fine mentally. If the mispronoun-ciations continue up to five years old, you should get the child tested by a speech therapist.
QMy four-year-old daughter keeps crying for her tummy. I took her to the doctor and she gave me vermax and cataflan about one month ago. Every now and then, my daughter still cries. She sucks her finger, so I am wondering if her tummy ache is due to gas. So, could you please tell me what's wrong? I really need your help.
A You need to take your daughter back to the doctor right away and tell the doctor what has happened since she took the medicine. If, for some reason, you are unable to take your child to the same doctor, go to another doctor, and take the medicine bottles with you and let the other doctor know what has happened.
Q My daughter and son, who are three and five, respectively, are always playing games about monsters. Everything is that the monster is going to bite you and they are always hiding from monsters. Is this normal?
A A lot of the TV shows and cartoons are about monsters, a lot of the storybooks are also about monsters and so monsters will be a part of children's daily life and thinking as this is what they see. Since you are not comfortable with this type of talk, you should sit your children down and let them know that this is not acceptable at home and give them educational games that they can play. You can also show them how to play hide and seek without a monster being involved. The more you play with and guide your children, the more they will follow what you do, as you will be the fun and positive example.
Orlean Brown-Earle, PhD, is a child psychologist and family therapist. Dr Brown-Earle works with children with learning and behaviour problems throughout the island and in the Caribbean.