AIBU to expect my 20 month old DS to say more than a few words.

[AddictedToCoffee]

My 20 month DS doesn't really say that many words...he's been saying dada for a while and has just recently progressed to saying mama in the last month or so(finaly!!). He is able to say a handful of words, and his only phrase so far is 'there you are' (once he even managed 'there you are mama!!).

Should I be worried that he doesn't seem to want to repeat words after me, although he is able to understand pretty much every instruction? Why does it make me feel like a faliure when other children his age seem to say so much more than him?

[woopsidaisy]

My DS1 was well over 2 before he started talking. Think first DC-especially if boy-can be a bit "slower",but if he is saying the odd thing I wouldn't worry about it. Once they start there is no stopping them...then you will be thinking of the good old days when you didn't have a constant chatter going on.

[dinkystinky]

Yes - DS2 is 22 months and still only says a handful of words. He understands a hell of a lot though. Each child is different so dont sweat it - he'll talk lots when he wants to and you wont be able to stop the chattering...

[Quenelle]

My 18mo doesn't say Mummy yet. He said Nana the other day though. Or it might have been banana...

[5GoldenFimbos]

My ds was over 3 before he starting talking properly and now he talks non stop, doesn't say much at school but definately makes up for it a home. Prior to that it was pretty much gobbledegook and I used to be the only one that could understand what he was trying to say.

[MerrilyDefective]

YABU.(a bit anyway)

DD is now 22.
She didn't talk until she was well over 2 years old,probably nearer 3.
We took her to a speech therapist for advice on how to encourage her not to scream and point at what she wanted but to ask.

Therapist said we were expecting too much and that she'd be fine,all children are different.

She is fine and we were worrying too much.

[KaraStarbuckThrace]

YABU. My DS was assessed at 2.1, and nursery nurse said she thought he might be speech delayed as he didn't say much more than "mum" "that" "dodie" and "car".

Fast forward 6 month and he turned into a little gobshite It was a big explosion of language! Now he is 2.11 his nursery are saying is speech is quite advanced!

Children develop at different rates and not always in a linear fashion.

Your DS will speak in his own time, and if he is already understanding instructions he is doing great

[werewolf]

Mine was over 3 before she said any proper words.

She talks a lot now, though!

She was my first dc, the others talked sooner. Is ds your first?

[staranise]

DC3 has just turned 2 and has about 10 words, none pronounced well and none strung together. Speech therapist said this is slow but not unusually so. He's been referred for a hearing test. I'm not worried about his comprehension as he can follow instructions, is very responsive etc but I wouldn't be surprised if he has eg, a glue ear.

If you're concerned, speak to your HV but I think I would wait a couple of months as 20 months is not unusual at all - particularly for a boy (and also if he has older siblings).

[pumperspumpkin]

Sounds much like DD who has just turned 3 and is now a little chatterbox, but until really about February/March time this year was jabbering on with absolute nonsense and not really saying much, let alone putting words together.

Because she was born early, she was still being seen by a consultant and she referred us to audiology - showed moderate hearing loss because of glue ear and she now has grommets. I would second what everyone else says about relaxing for now but in a few months if you are still worried then go to the GP or HV and ask about a hearing check so at least it can be picked up if there is something there.

[EdgarAllenSnow]

YABU.

DD said little until recently going to nursery @3 - she obviously didn't have enough reason to talk to her losers of parents!

my sister didn't say anything until 2.5.

no problems now.

[staranise]

TBH, I am told endlessly that I'm worrying too much but I'm not anxious about it at all - it's just that if he is speech delayed there are things we can do to help him eg, the speech therapist has given me some great tips on how I play with him etc.

[AddictedToCoffee]

DS in an only child and not sure whether this is a help / hinderance to his speech development? Have been taking him out much more to play groups recently to encourage him to want to talk.

I don't think I would worry as much if i didn't have mum and MIL sounding soooo disappointed / concerned everytime they ask me if he's learnt a new words and I say no!

[llareggub]

With DS1 I noticed that very gradually his babbling started to sound more like words, until I realised that he'd had words for things for ages, they just weren't recognisable to me. He seemed to explode with language; once he got 5 or 6 words, suddenly he jumped to lots of words.

DS2 is the same. He is 19 months or so and comes out with the odd recognisable word but still lots of nonsense.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

Don't worry - ds1 was just the same. When he was 22 months old, I was in hospital with ds2 (6 weeks old) and spent some of the time making a list of all the words that ds1 could say - and it was a pretty short list, even when I included all 'his' words - you know, the ones that we knew meant something and could interpret, but no-one else would have understood - like corcukcuk for helicopter.

By the time he hit primary school he had caught up completely, and in fact was a total chatterbox. He was obsessed with trains (dh works for the railway) and ds1 would back people into a corner and talk trains to them until their eyes glazed over and they lost the will to live - lol!