To be worried about my 19 month olds speech?

[Massagelover]

I have no idea what’s normal for this age or not, don’t have any experience with toddlers other than her.

She can say about 20 words, maybe a few more. They tend to be the ones she says regularly like ‘cat, dog, car, horse’ etc. She uses two phrases where she joins words, ‘oh no’ and ‘uh oh’ (both are mostly used when she or I drop something lol)

However I’ve noticed that other children her age, when my friends say to them ‘can you say X?’ and it’s a new word, they say it back with clarity.

If we ask her to say a new word, she’ll either stare at us blankly or make an attempt but not a very good one.

She’s not talking sentences or joining words together yet (other than the 2 mentioned above)

AIBU to ask what’s average for this age?

Your child is fine. But to out your mind at ease speak to your health visitor.

My perfectly NT daughter, bright enough without setting the world on fire, had mostly birdie squeaks at 21 months (including an alarm call) and spoke beautifully at 22 months. At 21 months, about 20-30 basic words was given to me as developmentally on track.

But, even at that age, her comprehension was very good, if I do say so myself. Whether that was developmentally on track, advanced or whether I could just read her very well I don’t know.

Too early to worry at all. It may be worth just checking hearing (does she respond to her name when you're behind her, for instance?), just in case that's an issue.

Whatever the "average", kids vary a great deal, so they can be quite a long way behind "average" and still be quite normal. Some kids prefer to listen and wait until they can put more words together.

My son said nothing much at all until he was at least 3. He had random words for things but not much in the way of real words/sentences. It just all suddenly started spilling out and very quickly caught up to everyone else. I think him starting to go to preschool around that age was a big help. He is in his second year of A Levels now and off to uni in September so it really has had no consequence on his life.
He was walking at 8 months so I think his brain was just more bothered by walking than talking.
Your daughter's speech seems totally normal to me.

My DS was like this, them he seemed to wake up on the day of his second birthday spouting fully formed sentences and he's not stopped since 🙉 in fact he was suddenly way ahead of his peers in terms of speech clarity and vocabulary and it's only now that he's 4 that they seem to be catching him up.
The only thing we could reliably get him to say was "car" for about 6 months.
Way to early to panic, OP. My youngest is the same age as yours and has way fewer words. His understanding is on point though so I think he will be like his brother and just suddenly start chatting away!

she is 19 months. sounds totally normal. the range is so wide. What is more important at that point is communicating (also non-verbally) and understanding language. I had one that didn't talk but didn't understand either. But if she understands and gets her points across, I would not worry at all.

Sounds perfectly normal

My 2 year old grandson doesn't really have any words yet but he's perfectly bright and has no problems with his hearing. I'm not worried about him, I think he's just lazy!

Not sure what's normal but my toddler only started repeating words back with clarity at 26 months. Before then it was gibberish or he would just look totally blank at me. He was the only one who did this as his little friends would be chatting away and repeating words back. The HV had no concerns.

He's 2 and a half now and doesn't stop talking.

’Uh oh’ and ‘oh no’ aren’t 2 word sentences FYI, that would be putting 2 separate words together like ‘more milk’ or ‘where daddy’… but that’s fine because it’s a 24 month milestone. She sounds totally normal for 1 and a half- she has words, is communicating and so long as she can follow a basic instruction providing she’s in the right mood, like getting her shoes or similar, then all good. A big language explosion around 2 is really common IME.

My son has just recently turned 2 and he only says a few words. Car, pickle, yeah, quack and ball. He does say "weee" in the car as he's picked that up from me haha. The only sentence he says is "here you go, ball" when he passes me or my dh a ball to throw for him. He's only interested in talking about things he really likes (cars, being a pickle, balls and ducks) and responding "yeah" when I ask him if he wants something to eat.

He does communicate by pointing, and he understands a lot, so his hearing is fine. He doesn't always respond to his name if he's really focused on something.

I try not to compare him to toddlers I see on tiktok who speak a lot (especially when they're a few months younger than him). He's just learning at his own pace, as all children do. Obviously keep an eye on things and contact someone if you are worried.

@mcdonaldschip pickle is such a sweet word for him to have learnt! My boy still doesn't always respond to his name but I know he can hear me!

Some of the toddlers on tiktok are absolutely incredible at talking! I get a bit amxious when seeing it too but everyone picks things up at their own pace x

It is really sweet! I call him a pickle a lot, which is how he picked it up 😂 now anytime he does anything he knows he shouldn't be doing he says "pickle pickle pickle". It's hilarious.

She’s perfectly fine for her age! The thing you look for is understanding - when she hears you, can she understand basic references to things or places. As she gets to 2, can she hear and follow an instruction even if she can’t say it. I was worried about my daughter at 18 months and between 2-3 years her speech exploded. But her comprehension was good at 18 months, she just didn’t say much.

if they aren’t hearing you, or can’t comprehend, then I would ask your HV to schedule a follow up hearing test before 2 as it may be something like glue ear which can be sorted and help keep their speech on track

I don't think my DS had any words other than "mama" and "dada" at 19 months. He was still mostly speaking gibberish until he was about 2. By the time he turned 3 everyone commented on how well he spoke.

It's not necessarily a sign of delayed development. Kids all develop at their own pace. But if you're worried, talk to your GP about it. I'd say if there is no real improvement in the next few months, maybe look at having her assessed for speech delay.

I had a lot of concerns about dds speech. My HV said she’d only be worried if she didn’t have 5 words or sounds by 18 months. When she was 19 months she was similar to your child. She’s just turned 2 and her speech has exploded the last 2 months and talking in sentences

i really wouldn’t worry, she seems right on track! Easier said then done but try not to compare - each child is different

Oh stop that is absolutely gorgeous!! He sounds so cute 😍

My friend's GD reached the age of 24 months and hardly said anything at all. By the time she was 27 months she was having amazing discussions with anyone she could engage in conversation. Toddlers are all so different in their stages of development . . . . in a few weeks or months you may well be posting about your argumentative, bossy DD!!!!!

At 18 months my daughter had fewer than 10 words, and I was worrying as you are. By age 2 she was speaking fluently in full sentences. It was like a switch just flipped in her head one day and her language absolutely took off.

Sounds similar to my DS2 at that age who is now doing really well at school. I thought he was massively behind on speech back then as he was compared to DS1 at that age but you wouldn't know any difference now.

At her two year check, DD1 had 5 words. That was enough to trigger a gearing test and monitoring, but not actual intervention. She got actual intervention when she was four, but that was a mixture of the delay and selective mutism.

Shes always been a quiet child, but she's a pretty normal young teen now. Can hold her own when the situation calls for it. General summed up as Doesn't say much, but when she does, its worth listening to.

Our health visitor said 2 word sentences around 2, so plenty of time yet.