17 month old, very few words?

[DebbieF]

My son will turn 18 months old next month and only says a handful of words. (bear, ball, mama and "isha" for fishy) He points, waves claps etc. Our pediatrician told us at his last appointment that if he hasn't had an "explosion of language" by his 18 month appointment we might have to explore some kind of speech therapy? How many words do other children this age usually have? My daughter had a ton of words by this age and I can't help but worry why he doesn't..

 

[Willow82]

I think my son had only a few words at that age. I was worried especially as a health visitor told me that he should have 50. His language exploded after 2 and he soon caught up. He never shuts up now!

 

[AngelUK]

That is so weird what different info ppl are given! We saw a SALT for one of our twins who had no words at all at 20 months and she told us that by 18 months she is looking for 5 words! So I think by that assessment he is spot on! My son had his explosion at 2 and is perfectly fine now.

 

[Rainbow82]

DS is about the same age and says mama and mumma
Milk
Kitty
Doggy
Shoes
Birdies
Pretty
Uh oh
Ta dah

Not too different to your LO and Some of them he doesn't pronounce well eg for milk he says mamilk. Shoes he only started saying the past few days and actually sounds more like susies, he likes to shout it while clouting me over the head with his shoes.

ETA we were told by our HV that they look for 5 words at 18 months but wouldn't worry unless they didn't have 5 words at 2. My nephew only had about 4 words at 2 but by 2 and a half he was talking in full sentences and at his 2.5 yr review with HV she said he was ahead so I wouldn't be worrying just yet.

 

[_Meep_]

Wtf! I know plenty of TWO year olds who only have a handful of words and aren't putting any together yet, and nobody is remotely worried. While the guidelines are in place for a reason, the spectrum is huge. I actually think right now that the guidelines are a little unrealistic as so, so many children AREN'T speaking by 18 months/2 years and still end up perfectly fine.

Your son sounds great - he's made a start at communication and will only improve from here.

 

[SpringCrane]

Mine only had a handful from 18-22 months, when it exploded. Overnight. Sentences. Crazy.

His pediatrician said she wouldn't worry unless he had less than 25 at 2, and even then, she said she'd likely realistically wait until 2.5 to initiate therapy (perhaps she says this about all, or maybe based on what else she saw in my son's development that kept her from feeling concerned).

Your son seems right on. The language explosion really seemingly comes from nowhere. Something to look for to reassure yourself is his listening skills. Reading, talking, and singing are all really important, so just keep it up!

 

[Gym knickers]

I don't think my DD2 had many words at all at 16m but now at 21m she speaks in full sentences and has at least 200+ words- it came from nowhere! I know plenty of two year olds with only a few words and it came to them all- kids just do things at different times. I definitely wouldn't worry yet.

 

[rosegarden620]

That seems verbal to me!
Our little girls words are:
No
Stop
Ly-ah (sister Lyra)
Mia (sister)
Mama
Dada
Thank you (sounds more like theh-theh)


Hmmm...do they have to be enunciated to be considered words lol??

 

[minties]

Thomas had no words at 17 months. He only started to talk at 23 months and was 'normal' by 25 months and was speaking in short sentences.

Sophie said her first word at 16 months so probably had a handful of words at 17/18 months.

Both talk very well and Thomas has a big vocabulary that his school teacher is impressed with.

 

[DebbieF]

Thanks ladies, you are all making me feel so much better. I am a member of another forum and in his birth club the other momma's are bragging at how many words their kids already have, how they are stringing words together etc.. I don't know why I even bother going on that site, it makes me crazy!

 

[StillPraying]

My dd is 18 months andsays very little words and not very clear:
Mo (more)
Deedoo (thank you)
No
Mama
Daddy
Shishy (sissy)
Keedee (katie)
Baba (bottle)
Ju (juice)
Me (anytime she wants something

Her sister was much different, she had full sentences before she was 2

 

[SarahBear]

I thought I typed a response to this thread, but I don't see it! Anyway, Violet had about 3 inconsistently used words at 12 months, 10 words by 14 months, more by 16 months, and a huge language explosion at 17 months and putting 2 words together by 20 months, and speaking in long sentences by 2.

Then along came Leo and he's been saying "dis" for about 6 months. At 17 months, it seemed like he was in the middle of a developmental leap (which he was) that I had suspected would lead to a "language explosion." Instead of a "language explosion," however, he gained a couple words. He will use "mom" and "dad" with more accuracy and purpose now and also likes to say "hi." For a little while he was also saying "bye." He also said "nana" for "banana" a few times. I'd hardly call that a language explosion! He's 18 months now, by the way. His other communication skills, including language comprehension, are really good though. I've been trying to encourage him to talk more, but I suppose it will happen when it will happen.

 

[_Meep_]

Thanks ladies, you are all making me feel so much better. I am a member of another forum and in his birth club the other momma's are bragging at how many words their kids already have, how they are stringing words together etc.. I don't know why I even bother going on that site, it makes me crazy!

Just remember that this is likely to be exaggerated a lot of the time, if not outright crap. Once one woman brags, everyone else feels like they have to keep up. Parenting Wars! As if it even matters ...

I've seen some hilarious threads where someone or other has claimed verbal prodigy because their four month old has started to babble 'Ma-ma-ma-ma' ... a sound which most babies will make at some point. But the warring mother will swear he is referring to her by name.

And I'll never forget sitting in a restaurant when my LO was about a year old, and the parents on the next table had a boy about the same age. His mother glanced over at us and then pointedly raised her voice while she was talking to her husband, in order to say: '... and just look at him! The fact remains that he is doing things that other children his age simply CAN'T DO!'

Her kid was waving a fork around.

 

[JumpingIn]

Um. My son is nearly 16 months and says nothing but beh, deh and gee gee, which cover everything. I wasn't even a bit concerned! Quite a few perfectly typical children don't produce many proper recognisable words until they're 2!

 

[Mafi419]

My LO is 21 months and doesn't say much...he says "mama" and "mom" (he has two mummies)...sometimes he says "bread", "mush" and, sometimes, "water" (all of this in our native language - Portuguese - these are the most common words a baby can say)...but that's about it, he doesn't even make animal sounds! But the pediatrician is not worried because his development is within the "normal" range and he says that boys might take a little longer to start talking and he doesn't advise speech therapy before 2 years old!

 

[george83]

My ds3 is also 17 months and only says a handful of words and I'd say only 'mum' is actually said completely properly.

Just to make you feel a million times better though my ds2 is 2 years and 8 months and only says mum, yes, no correctly and only a small selection (maybe 5 more) of other words but almost correct. Our hv saw him at 2 years and said to wait 3 months. At 2yrs 3 months I had a phone call from her to say wait 3 more months. After that I pushed for a hearing test which pretty much came back clear. At his 2yr 6 month follow up she said that as his comprehension is good he wouldn't be referred for speech therapy and we just have to wait it out. He's starting preschool today to see if that helps but if it hasn't made a difference by christmas im going to look into private speech therapy

 

[Vickie]

DD only had a handful of words at 18 months of age. I was told they were looking for 5-10 words and that she was within range of "normal" She is 8 now and her vocabulary is very good.

 

[SarahBear]

I thought I typed a response to this thread, but I don't see it! Anyway, Violet had about 3 inconsistently used words at 12 months, 10 words by 14 months, more by 16 months, and a huge language explosion at 17 months and putting 2 words together by 20 months, and speaking in long sentences by 2.

Then along came Leo and he's been saying "dis" for about 6 months. At 17 months, it seemed like he was in the middle of a developmental leap (which he was) that I had suspected would lead to a "language explosion." Instead of a "language explosion," however, he gained a couple words. He will use "mom" and "dad" with more accuracy and purpose now and also likes to say "hi." For a little while he was also saying "bye." He also said "nana" for "banana" a few times. I'd hardly call that a language explosion! He's 18 months now, by the way. His other communication skills, including language comprehension, are really good though. I've been trying to encourage him to talk more, but I suppose it will happen when it will happen.

I think he's actually starting to try saying more things. We just don't always understand him. He repeated "duck" the other day and tried to say "deer."

 

[rsimmons]

There is nothing to worry. my son started speaking after turning 20 months old.

 

[DebbieF]

He has his 18 month appointment tomorrow and I am curious what the doctor will have to say. His list of words as of today are mama, bear, ball,"isha" for fishy, and he attempts to say shoes and shirt which come out as "shush" and "shir"