To think that an 11 month old does not have 50 words?

[spugzbunny]

I was casually googling 'how many words should my baby speak' yesterday and I came across a thread where numerous people swear blind that their baby can speak 20 odd words, some saying up to 50! Am I right in thinking that's madness? Any more tiny, chatty genius babies out there?

I reckon it’s rare. I started a thread yesterday about words at 15 months old as DS is only saying mamma and dadda and not usually in context! It seems I had nothing to worry about.

@swingofthings
I agree, it makes no difference at all who were the early or late talkers. As I said, we are a family of early talkers and that's it. None of us, except perhaps my DB are unusually intelligent now.

50 words at 11 months is that all? my ds2 was going his GCSE english at 12months an a piano playing maestro at 14 months.

There was quite strict criteria for what counted, eg bickie for biscuit counted but not buh or similar random sound.

Highly unusual to have any words at all at 11 months.
I did once come across a baby who had about 20 words at 12 months, and one of mine had lots of words by about 14 months, but if there are babies who talk beforehand are a year old, they are very very rare!

Some people at a bit deluded but some children really do have amazing speech even at 11 months. My DS was more physical and could barely say a single word at that age, my DD had amazing speech. Not 50 words at 11 months but certainly more than 20 words.

@SoHumble this is what I thought! Here was little old me thinking that 5 or more words at 11 months was super clever! I've never met a baby so young who chats away with there 50 words!

People who claim to have these babies who say dozens of words. Do they use them in context? I only count them when she uses them consistently to mean the thing. She was saying mamama well before she actually started calling me mama.

Ds1 had no words til well over 18 months and only twelve by 2yrs. He had speech and language therapy and now at 8yo has a wide vocabulary and great language skills.

Ds2 had about 4-5 words by a year and 100+ by 18-20 months and at 6yo sounds identical to Ds1 at the same age.

It all works out in the end.

I can’t rememebr how many words DD had at that age but I do remember at her 2 year check the health visitor was astounded by her vocabulary and conversational skills - I think at that point they look for thenchild to be able to say about 20 words clearly. DD was having full grammatically correct conversations.
DS1 on the other hand didn’t utter a single word until he was nearly 2.5 but at that point he could read fluently do swings in roundabouts!

People talk a lot of rubbish on the internet, and once their babies are older.
My aunt swears her eldest daughter said her first word at 4 months. My cousin is very nice, but left school at 16 and now works in retail, so in the unlikely event that it was true, early talking is still not necessarily a sign of academia to come.

I think some people count sounds as words if they are used with meaning.

So ‘Buh’ for bottle. I wouldn’t count as a word until it sounded like bottle, and someone else could understand what they meant. But some people would count that as a word, and babies of this age make lots of sounds, and lots with meaning, so I could see how some parents could over report how many words without lying, IYSWIM

My 11 month old can say
Mama
Dada
Dog dog
Done
Gaga ( nana )
Yes

Their not clear but you can tell that is what he means

I could speak in short sentences before I was 1 apparently, and I'm good at languages (can speak two apart from English without a great deal of study).

I walked at 1 too but am the least sporty /coordinated person I have ever known (bar a couple of people with actual disabilities that affect gross motor function. And they still have far more stamina than me)

I think people do tend to overstate their children's abilities, but also that timescales for learning to talk/walk can be misleading and bear little to no relation to intelligence or success.

SaLT look for words with meaning, so if baby points at a wall or a window and says 'ca!' It's most likely just babbling but if they point at the cat and say 'ca!' It probably does mean cat, IYSWIM.

Oh dear. My 13 month old is neither walking nor using any real words... he’s making sounds that are clearly meant to be words, and cruising etc, but no actual words or steps yet 😕

Well my daughter did at 12mths so it's not impossible.

Reminded me of a thread in a Facebook group where a woman said her daughter was saying "i love you mummy and daddy. My name is xxx" at 3 months. Everybody was a bit and the woman was Mongolian and showed a video of her baby babbling away. Then another mum popped on who was, conveniently, an academic who spoke fluent Mongolian and told her she was talking bs.

Normally I would have just been like "yeah, ok! Not my circus, not my monkey" but there were a lot of very young and very naive new mums who were struggling and freaking out there was something wrong with their kids it was probably quite justified.

My DDs didn’t walk until 15 and 17 months. But they both talked as early as the child you post about. I thought DD1’s talking was perfectly normal until strangers started to comment. All children are different, and as we all know, the age they started talking/walking etc is entirely irrelevant for their future lives.

My DD has one word at 11months old 'tractor' I had gone away to a wedding when she just turned 11 months leaving my farmer parents in charge and return to the word being used for every vehicle she saw.

50 seems like a huge vocabulary.

My 12 month old has about twelve words that he uses consistently. Probably a similar number that my eldest had at 18m

Mine couldn’t say any words really until about 18 months and only a handful at 2. Also couldn’t walk until 18 months. His speech and vocabulary is ahead at 4 though. He’s still not great at gross motor skills but his fine motor skills are really excellent.

I was an early walker and talker. I had 33 words at the age of one, so can well believe 50 for a child even more of an outlier on the scale. I used a three part sentence (in a tantrum) at 18m about sweeping up.

My friend's daughter was using the same kind of patterns at 18m, though fortunately not tantrumming, so I have no reason to doubt my parents on this.

I can't believe people actually count and list the words their babies can say!

Grunts and gargles that parents can interpret don't count.

I reckon when people say this about their child people think they are lying. My son could hold a full conversation by aged 2. He is 5 now and has just always been a good talker. My niece didn't speak until she was 4. Her big sister spoke for her mostly. It all depends on the child.

My cousin walked at 9 months and no-one ever believes my auntie when she tells them.