18 month speech...

[SjandPeanut]

My son hardly says anything.

He can say a few words in context- dog,duck, bye bye, keys, cat, down up, open and out ( as an instruction to the dogs).

He says 'dock' a lot and I've no idea what I means. I also think he can say kiss and 'there you go' as he says ' therligilo' when he hands something to someone.

He doesn't say mama or dada he mostly grunts/ 'hmms' and points or whines.

He understands a lot more than he says. I bought some flash cards today and laid some of them out all mixed up. He was able to point to boots, dog, apple, banana, socks, bed, tree, pig, and a couple more. He can follow instructions like - get you shoes, put your hat on, find daddy, tell Merlin and Sally to get out, wave.

He just makes no attempt to speak. I was going through the flash cards and he just stared at me, pointe to the card then pointed at himself. He doesn't babble much at all. And he doesn't babble in response to someone taking to him.

At his age I had over 100 words ( my brother had 180- but is a Mensa certified genius lol)

Should I speak to the HV or GP about this?

 

[seoj]

My LO was similar at 18mos- she still (at almost 2) doesn't say too much, least I don't think so- but, she is well beyond where she was at 18mos. She copies words more, strings 2-3words together and she understands almost all of what we say/tell her. I do feel she's a smart cookie- just not a big talker for whatever reason.

I wouldn't worry much at 18mos- I have plenty of friends who's kids weren't big talkers till closer to 3yrs- so it's fairly common. I'm sure my LO is maybe behind the "average" but she is learning and talking more every month- so long as she's progressing I'm happy

 

[Saphira]

My 21 month old barely says anything either. I'm not very worried though because like your lo she shows she understands by reacting to a question or command, whatever it may be. Some just take a bit longer to speak! It is a big deal afterall. A friend of mine told me her lo didn't say much until around her 2nd birthday then just took off with speech from there. She told me to enjoy the "quiet" time, haha!

 

[Boo44]

What is the 'norm' for an 18 month? I'm not actually sure

 

[hayz_baby]

Sounds better then my lo! It's sounds like he has picked up a few words. I read somewhere that an average of 5 for a 1 yo is good. Sometimes they have an explosion of words. It's the understanding that's the most important thing. My lo is like yours, what words he does say are more spuds then words and altho we are awaiting our speech therapy referral no one is overly worried about him right now as r understands so much. We saw the hv who was impressed that at his age he is dry overnight. My lo is also very good with his hands too. Encourage where u can by reading, giving him the chane to speak, (I know that's obvious but like pausing when asking questions for example) giving choices, talking as much as poss and always ensuring you respond to him. Encouraging sounds is good like "cow goes moo, what noise does the cow do?" The flash cards are still good. Get your hv to assess at 2, but it may b worth checking his hearing just to rule out (could hear but may b muffled) and go from there! Good luck x

 

[sequeena]

Thomas said mum at 18 months. Now at 25 months we get hiya and uh oh. So your LO sounds very on track to me.

 

[little_lady]

Isabelle was like this at 18 months, she had probably 10 to 15 words. Now at 2 she has about 1000 and learns new ones every day. So don't worry too much!

I would just talk, talk, talk all the time. Point to and label objects, read books, narrate what you're doing.

 

[aimee-lou]

According to the 'baby centre' thing online an 18month olf should have a dozen clear words.

Eddy is 16 months and it said that he should have about 7 - He says 'hiya'/hello, bye, night-night (all while waving), dylan (the dog), 'thereyougo' and a couple of other little noises that I think are going to be words soon, Like 'Errrrr' for Earl, and 'dih' which I think will be drink lol. He also has a couple of signs for 'all gone' and 'finished'.

For ages he would only say 'duh' over and over and it got to me lol. He babbles constantly....tbh, I am enjoying the fact he doesn't talk to me much. I have a nearly 4yo who can talk all 4 legs off the proverbial donkey! lol

 

[luz]

He's more than fine! The fact that he's stringing words together to form small sentences is fabulous! My son was hardly speaking at 18 months and now he's 22 months and jabbers all day long. Sometimes it just takes a little longer.

I was really worried about my son's speech and had a speech therapist come out around 18 months and she said all he needed was 5 purposeful words.

 

[Wildfire81]

Mine recently said "oh crap". I have no idea where he picked it from, we do not say that.

 

[luz]

Mine recently said "oh crap". I have no idea where he picked it from, we do not say that.

this made me laugh! for the longest time mine would walk around saying a word that i could not figure out for the life of me. then one day my dog started barking and i said 'oh shut up!' and he walked over and yelled the word at her and i was mortified that he had learned to say shut up and was walking around saying it all the time!

 

[Rose_red]

My DS is 20 months and only says hiya, dad, mum, what's this, yes.
Not alot really but he talks away in his own little jibberish language!

 

[capegirl7]

My dd is just about 18 months and says: Mom, dad, bye, hi. up, again, please, I do, happy, yes, nods no, baby, all done. Nothing too crazy but definitely understands EVERYTHING. Babbles a lot too

 

[x__amour]

I got this from https://www.babycenter.com/0_milestones-13-to-24-months_1496589.bc:

"Each child develops at his own pace, but talk to your child's doctor if your toddler: Doesn't speak at least six words by 18 months or two-word sentences by 24 months".

He sounds just perfect.

 

[bananaz]

I've read that by 18 months kids should have at least 5 words, and it sounds like your son already has more than that. I wouldn't compare him to you or your brother, having 100+ words at that age isn't typical.

 

[SjandPeanut]

Thanks everyone.

I don't know why I get so stressed out by it all, but I get stuck on what he can't do rather than what he can.

He is super bright ( well I am biased lol) he can do things that I think are really advanced- he can open the toddler catches on the cupboards after one attempt. When he was less than a year he worked out he could move his toys, then stand on them to climb up on his toy chest.

I don't go to any groups so I don't know many small kids to compare him to- and. we haven't seen the HV or had any health / development checks since he was about 3 months old.

X

 

[Boo44]

My 15 month old says

Mama, dada, ga-ma (grandma), ga-da (grandad), there, gone, uh-oh, car, lawnmower and hoover

I'm not joking, lawnmower was like his third word after mama and dada. He is machinery obsessed! He also does actions to songs and points to body parts and spins his hand round going 'zzzzz' to signify the washing machine. He definitely understands more than he says which I think is normal. He sounds the same as your son and I don't think you have anything to worry about x

 

[SjandPeanut]

Boo- playing the washing machine sounds adorable!

Nico can point I body parts, play 'heads, shoulders knees and toes' he can point to mummy's ears / eyes ( he will even take my glasses off to point to my eyes) and point to daddy's mouth.

He recently started pointing to his mouth when he sees food or wants to brush his teeth.

I don't know why I get so hung up on it. It doesn't help that I will read a thread on autism and think ' oh my god Nico does that too' then I see him banging his head back for fun ( yeah really), or spinning when he is dancing and I'll think ' right he has autism'.

I'm so freaking neurotic is getting silly

 

[wendzwoo]

Poppy didnt say a lot at 18 months, just a few words and now she doesn't stop talking!

 

[Boo44]

Boo- playing the washing machine sounds adorable!

Nico can point I body parts, play 'heads, shoulders knees and toes' he can point to mummy's ears / eyes ( he will even take my glasses off to point to my eyes) and point to daddy's mouth.

He recently started pointing to his mouth when he sees food or wants to brush his teeth.

I don't know why I get so hung up on it. It doesn't help that I will read a thread on autism and think ' oh my god Nico does that too' then I see him banging his head back for fun ( yeah really), or spinning when he is dancing and I'll think ' right he has autism'.

I'm so freaking neurotic is getting silly

It is pretty cute! His 11 year old cousin taught him to do it and he's frighteningly clued-in about how the washing machine works and where it 'lives' (in the garage) and how to put clothes in. I think he'd live in the garage if we'd let him as this is also where the lawnmower lives and the hand-held hoover lol. I know what you mean about being neurotic though I'm the same. Jack has to have 'closure' as we call it - if you just picked him up and took him out of the garage he would break his heart in two. However if we systematically say 'bye lawnmower, bye Hoover, bye washing machine' he will happily wave at them and leave the garage no problems. You read all sorts about what requiring strict routines can signify... But I've decided I cant live like that!