17 months and only says 3 words. Should I be concerned?

[Paloma123]

My girl can only say, Dadda, Nanna & Mamma.

She understands what I say when I ask her to show me things, or ask her to get me something or show me the picture of whatever it is I'm the book (flower, beaker, car etc). She understands what I am saying and asking her and she can nod and shake her head but makes no attempt to say yes or no.

Should I be worried? Someone told me she should be saying over 6 words by now and then a new word every week thereafter?

 

[AngelUK]

Over here they expect 5 words, not including mummy and daddy, by 18 months. And they are only concerned if children do not have that when they are about 20 months. And from my own experience with my twins I know what a huge difference a month can make in speech development. So I would not worry just yet

 

[Paloma123]

Ah okay so 5?! I'm in the UK too

So what happens if she doesn't get up to par? What could it be an indication of? Who do I tell? The doctor? X

 

[AngelUK]

We talked to the HV. But seriously don't worry just yet!
One of my twins, Sebastian, had no words at 20 months and only 5 at 22. At 20 months we went to the Health Visitor drop in centre and talked to her about our concerns. She referred us to a speech therapist who came to make an assessment at our house when the twins were 22 months. She diagnosed Sebastian as speech delayed by 6 months or more and was going to refer us to speech therapy, which she warned us would take a while. 2 months later they finally called with a place in a group. By that time Sebastian had had a speech explosion and is now fast catching up. When I told them this they said they would come back to us in 3 months and make another assessment and if he has caught up, they would discharge him. I stopped counting his words about 2 weeks ago but then they were at least 150.

 

[Willow82]

Reuben is 20 months and only has three words (hiya, yeah and bye). He can say mama and dada but not in context. I am worried that he's behind but I'm going to wait until he's 2 before raising it with the Health Visitor. Hopefully he'll have had his language explosion by then!

 

[Mrs HM]

I think it's too early to be worried. My LO had hardly any words by his second birthday although his understanding was excellent. Now at 28months he's putting whole sentences of 5-6 words together and is repeating everything he hears, so in my limited experience it can take time.

 

[Leesy]

I read the other day that at 18 months they should have about 25 words and I though that was a load of crap. I have only ever come across a handful of 18 months old that have a vocabulary of that size. My lo has about 10 words (including some he has only said once or twice) so about 5 he uses regulary. He sounds like your lo, he understands alot of things like bring mummy the book etc. He knows how to use his ventolin and to shake it before it, he copies alot of things I do so I'm not worried in the slightest. They all learn at different paces so I would not worry at all.

 

[jd83]

Sounds perfectly normal to me. Neither of my boys had their first words until around 18 months, and still took time to really start building a vocabulary. I don't understand why they have such early expectations in some areas for speech, when many toddlers don't get speech until 18mo-2yrs. Honestly, I wouldn't worry. Just keep doing what you are doing, keep encouraging your lo by using words to point out what things are, do lots of picture books pointing out what things are called, etc. Your lo will get there. I certainly wouldn't worry about speech therapy until after 2 yrs old; at least give lo that long to see how things progress.

 

[Paloma123]

Thanks ladies, I feel better now. I try my hardest to help her along and encourage her so makes me feel crap when you read and hear she isn't up to the standard level. But I guess it's like walking in a way, they all catch up? Thanks again x