whats normal for a 17 month olds speech?

[leahtaba]

Ive just been reading about speech development and its got me thinking about my DD as most people were saying how their LO's had up to thirty words by now and beginning to form sentences whilst my DD doesnt talk yet.

she used to say mamma dadda and hiya before she started walking but since she learnt to get about she stopped saying them and now only has one word- Taa (thanks) which she says like GAH whenever she gives you something or takes something off you.

she is very bright and very active to the point I try and sit her down and point things out to her but she just wriggles away and goes off to play. She just isnt interested.

Does this sound normal for her age? Im not sure how much she understands as shes either running about non stop or having a tantrum, shes hard work haha. but she does give me a kiss when I ask so its not her hearing or anything.

What were your LO's like at this age?

 

[MrsButterfly]

When my boy started walking 17-18mths he virtually stopped saying anything. He had a big understanding but gave up most of his words. He also did the gah for ta!

In the last week or two his speech has changed so much. He's saying new things daily and copies noises and words I say.

They are all so different and I think before 2 its difficult to assess if there's a problem or not as some kids take a bit longer for that explosion.

 

[AngelofTroy]

I'm not sure there is a 'normal'. Micah has 100s of words and speaks in 3 word 'sentences' (e.g. "uh oh, banana broken" or "more puzzle pease" ) but of his group of peers we see regularly, 2 have no words at all yet, 3 have a few single words they use a lot, and 2 are similar to Micah. They're all typically developing children according to the staff at our toddler group, and they will probably all even out in a few months. It's just like the physical milestones, Micah commando crawled before 5 months, some of them crawled at closer to a year and one never crawled but bum shuffled much later on and took his time walking… you wouldn't be able to tell now though as they're all toddling about at a similar pace!

 

[Noodlebear]

Lucas doesn't really talk, sometimes we're pretty sure he's actually trying to say something and then he won't do it again for ages. Our childminder is sure that he says 'Cat' when their cat comes in the room but if he does that's it lol.

 

[shellideaks]

Parker knows some words, but doesn't really say more than one at a time. She says;

Hi, hiya, bye, ta, cat, Peppa, daddy, baba, again, more, uh-oh and there she is (only when playing peekaboo, I count it as one word cos I think she thinks it is lol).

Most of the time she just speaks a load of waffle! She still isn't walking full time either though, she can walk albeit very wobbly but prefers to crawl if she wants to get somewhere quickly.

 

[SaraEmily]

Eliza is 16 months and has a few words. She says hi, hey, bye bye (or just bye), night night, daddy, and she started saying ball a few days ago. She's also recently starting putting the words together saying hi daddy or bye daddy.

From what I see on these forums she's progressing fine but she just got referred for early intervention yesterday so who knows..

 

[missk1989]

Isaac is almost 17 months and says loads of single words and has started using phrases like "where you gone?" and "there you are". His understanding is great too and he can point out loads of animals and bring me things i ask for. His friend a month younger though says very little. you can babrely make out anything other than mama daddy but he is advanced in other areas and has even started fetching his nappies to his mum when he does a poo! I dont think you can really compare!

 

[Reno]

DS1 doesn't use many actual words, but makes a lot of sounds for different things! Like we know 'wuh-wuh' is balloon etc!

Don't worry too much at all - one day she'll be talking non stop!

We're at 22 months now and he says some two-syllable words (just random things like 'money' and 'yo-yo' but isn't at two word sentences yet! Although I do get 'mama' followed by his noise for train when I come home from work, so we're getting there!

 

[AngelUK]

Sebastian is speech delayed and we have seen a speech therapist who told us that by 18 months they expect toddlers to be able to say and understand 5 words (not parroting), not including mummy and daddy. So anything more than that is good!
ETA one month can make a huge difference in a child's development. Dominic had about 10 words at 18 months and at 19 I couldn't count them any more. So don't get too anxious!

 

[Sour_Skittle]

My little one is 18 months. Developmentally wise she was fast on being physical... But not with talking.

She knows, but only says when prompt; momma, hi, yay, eww, and hot.

She's not really interested in learning words. I guess she thinks momma is the only word she really needs to know.

But with my first she was developmentally slow physically wise but at this age knew a million different words and could point out 30 body parts.

They all develop so differently, that i think it's too soon to worry

 

[Willow82]

Reuben is 18 months and can only say hiya. He says mama and dada but not in context. He babbles a lot using different sounds and it has become more conversational in tone recently. He can understand requests to drink his water etc but doesn't point to objects if I ask him too. He still isn't walking yet either. He's done 8-9 unaided steps and can walk holding on to my hand but doesn't seem interested. I'm at the point now where I'm beginning to worry. He just seems so behind compared to most other toddlers.

 

[mwah_xx]

I've never really stopped to count the words my LO says but he's saying some words and it looks as though he's thinking other things through. We have mama, dada, uh oh, goooooal (daddy teaching him football!) ball, a fair few animal noises, and raaraa ooo ooo (from raa raa the noisy little lion, generally shouted as he is bringibg the ipad/phone to me to play it!) Bye bye with waving....and probably a few more that I can't think of!

Today he's learnt my friends name and "more"

And to be honest I think he probably thinks he's saying more words but I havent a clue!

Everyone is so different and as long as you see development and understanding I dont think I'd be too worried.

 

[Noodlebear]

Reuben is 18 months and can only say hiya. He says mama and dada but not in context. He babbles a lot using different sounds and it has become more conversational in tone recently. He can understand requests to drink his water etc but doesn't point to objects if I ask him too. He still isn't walking yet either. He's done 8-9 unaided steps and can walk holding on to my hand but doesn't seem interested. I'm at the point now where I'm beginning to worry. He just seems so behind compared to most other toddlers.

Sounds like my LO. If you're worried then speak to your doctor or HV but doing 8/9 unaided steps and using a conversational tone doesn't sound indicative of a problem imo. Just that he's taking his time.

 

[Nat0619]

From what I see on these forums she's progressing fine but she just got referred for early intervention yesterday so who knows..

What?! Intervention at only 16 months when she's already joining words? Very premature in my opinion.

 

[jd83]

there's such a huge range of what's normal with speech for babies. Some pick up words before they turn 1, others don't have any words until 18-20 months.

DS1 and DS2 both started picking up words around 18 months. You'd never know DS1 didn't have any words until 18 months by how much he talks now, lol! NONSTOP! DS2 still only has just a few words, as he has just started picking them up. But he is showing interest in learning new words now, and loves for me to point out what things are called in his picture board books.

 

[Nat0619]

ETA one month can make a huge difference in a child's development. Dominic had about 10 words at 18 months and at 19 I couldn't count them any more. So don't get too anxious!

This was exactly like Ciara. Had said around 30 words by 18 months but only about 5 of these were said regularly. Others had been said once or a few times then disappeared! Her language exploded literally as she turned 18 months and by 19 months I'd lost count of her words (was over 100). By 20 months she was into hundreds of words and joining 4-5 words together and counting to 10. Now at 22 months she never shuts up . Can count to 30, recite the alphabet and sing nursery rhymes.

 

[Zephram]

My LO is 16.5 months and has too many words to count, wouldn't like to hazard a guess but I think he'd be getting close to 100 or even more. He has started saying some simple two word sentences too, 'mum, poo' and 'mum, more', he also says things like 'stay still' when I'm changing his nappy, because he's heard it so many times, haha.

 

[jd83]

My LO is 16.5 months and has too many words to count, wouldn't like to hazard a guess but I think he'd be getting close to 100 or even more. He has started saying some simple two word sentences too, 'mum, poo' and 'mum, more', he also says things like 'stay still' when I'm changing his nappy, because he's heard it so many times, haha.

Mine yells "BUTT!" repeatedly while getting a diaper change, from hearing me say I need to clean his butt. LOL!

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Sebastian is speech delayed and we have seen a speech therapist who told us that by 18 months they expect toddlers to be able to say and understand 5 words (not parroting), not including mummy and daddy. So anything more than that is good!
ETA one month can make a huge difference in a child's development. Dominic had about 10 words at 18 months and at 19 I couldn't count them any more. So don't get too anxious!

I agree with this comment. My pedi also said 5 words by 18 months and anything more is bonus.

 

[Mrs R]

My LO is 16 months and has a huge amount of words. She can repeat EVERYTHING and knows how to ask for most things she wants. She is miles ahead of where my other 2 children were at her age.