Should I be concerned about his speech?

Ds2 was a late talker compared to my other two kids. He is a bit of a lazy kid, only does things when HE wants to :D About 4mths back he suddenly started talking 24/7, lots of words we didnt know he knew, he can carry a conversation..........................only problem is it unintelligable! Only myself and sometimes Dh can figure out what he is saying without too many "Huh? Say that again?" but others have zero hope of figuring it out. He can speak clearly when he really wants to get his point across but its stilted at best.

Im starting to worry because its getting worse rather than better. He knows what he is saying, I know he knows what he is saying, he knows I know what he is saying, its just getting garbled when it comes out. Could it be a speech impediment? He does lisp when he talks, he doesnt seem to open his mouth properly when he talks and sometimes he tends to talk a mile a minute.

He is supposed to go to preschool next year and I wont send him if his speech is unintelligable. He currently attends daycare once a week and theyve commented on not being able to understand him at times but he has been going for 6mths so like myself theyve come to be able to get the gist of what he is saying now. His older brother speaks extrememly clearly even for a nearly 4yo so its not a learnt thing.

If you were me would you get a referal to a speech path?

It wouldn't hurt to look into it at the very least. It might even be something physical like his tongue that is easily fixed.

Being concerned is good - mothers the opposite of you drive me bonkers - there was a kid at my daughter's old school who was EIGHT and noone (ok, her big sisters could and they translated for her) could understand a word she said, the school had access to speechies, there were no excuses. And a distant cousin of mine was left until he was well past 4 without ever uttering a word and my grandmother kept trying to tell his mother something was wrong but she refused to listen.

I will not hurt to have it checked. :)

If you know he can talk clearly, get him to stop when he starts to talk fast, start again, and tell him to speak slowly. He will get frustrated with having to do this but it will help him be understood.

id also get his hearing checked!

I'd definitely see someone, it's probably no big deal, but best to get help early if necessary. It could be something that's really easy to fix, and then you won't have to hold him back from preschool (which in fact might be somewhere that will have a positive influence on his speech)!

Good luck hun :)

Yes, trust your instincts and see a dr about it. They'll most likely refer you on for a hearing test first to gauge whether it's his hearing affecting his speech and take it from there.