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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

When will ds start using 2 word phrases?

15 replies

newportstateofmind · 07/05/2011 22:05

At what age did your dc start saying 2 word phrases? Just interested to see what the average age is, as my ds (22 mo) has lots of single words but his only 2 word phrase is "bye-bye mama/dada/baby" etc.

Not concerned in any way at all because I think his vocab is quite good and he's very vocal but just nosey interested

And sorry if it's been done to death before!

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SparkleandShine · 07/05/2011 22:08

hmmm - have 2 DS and DS1 was 3yo before using multi-word sentences and DS2 was more like 18 mo

Both intelligent just learned language in differing ways. DS1 probably had a bigger vocab, all single words. Ds2 can string amazing sentences together and is currently 2.2yo.

LynetteScavo · 07/05/2011 22:11

All my 3 DC were very different.

DS1 went from single words to long sentences, with words in the wrong order at 22 months.

DS2 launched into 3 word sentences at 12 months, such as " I like it"

DD mostly just babbled until she was about three.

One of them is academic, the other 2 are average. Bet you can't tell which is which.

SouthGoingZax · 07/05/2011 22:11

No idea so no useful info, only our own experiences. Our two (19 month old twin boys) are using two, three and four plus word sentences (sort of).
For example, on sitting next to a stranger on a bench with a cup of coffee in a lidded container: "Open it, man! Do it now!"
And often "WHere's (brother's name?) Lets find him. Is he over here?" etc etc.
"Miss you, granny! Where are you? Bye!"
"Hello lady/man! Nice to see you. See you later" (at everyone we pass in the pushchair).
No idea why they are so chatty - boys and twins are upped to be a bit later than girls, but Dt1 said his first word (hair at 8 months). My best friend thinks they talk so much because I can't shut up

Sirzy · 07/05/2011 22:15

DS is nearly 18 months and has just started linking a couple of words together in the last few days. Mainly "I see (person/object)" and "thank you (person)"

Original poster

newportstateofmind · 07/05/2011 22:44

Thank you all for your responses! It's interesting to see how different children's language develops.

Thinking about it, he does have other multi-word phrases, such as "in there" and "see you soon" that he has been using for a few months but I don't really think they count because he says them as one word. So he's not joining two concepts together IYKWIM.

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Tgger · 07/05/2011 23:59

Was a few months after she did the single words.... well think it went somethng like this:
Single words from 15/16 months, two words from 19/20 months. Sentences from 26 months, really funny and quite long sentences strung together at 2.5.

DS was similar although we remember him doing quite good sentences before 2 so a bit earlier.

BambinoBoo · 08/05/2011 09:50

DS is 2.4 and started saying things like "I did it" before he was 2. He then stopped - for what seemed like an eternity - but then came out with loads of new single words. In the past 6 weeks, he's developed quite a few 2 word phrases - his first being "silly mama" but he is now on to 3 word sentences again. I read somewhere that they learn something, store it, then go on to something else and come back to the stored stuff later on. Is certainly the case with my DS.

As a contrast, my neice who is 1 month older than DS, was speaking in 2-3 word sentences at 11 months (my MiL didn't believe me when I told her), and now she can have quite a good conversation with you. We joke that she's just a very small 25 year old.

working9while5 · 08/05/2011 10:14

newport, you are right in thinking that formulaic phrases don't "count" if you are looking for the type of two word phrases they talk about in books e.g. whatdat, whodat, Ilikeit, wantit, ididit are not two word phrases. They are called holophrastics e.g. they are really processed as "one" word by the child.

For example, ds just said "nottoobad" while pretending on the telephone - this is what his dad says almost without fail when he answers the phone. So he said: hiya not too bad. This is not a four word phrase. He also says: "don't touch" but it is also not a "true phrase".

Similarly, he often says things like Mama! Car! or seems to say "Mama whatdat car?" but really, it's more like:
Mama?
Whatdat?
Car?
(Three one word phrases)

We have had some "true" two word phrases e.g. "bye car" to mean that he is finished with the car or "more choo" to ask for another train.

All the research on child language acquisition says that true single words are very rare before 12 months. Actually, more or less unheard of unless there is something unusual happening. Sometimes people "read" jargon as sentences because a child has very good intonation in context and it really, really, really sounds like they are saying full sentences. But a linguist or child development expert would probably not "count" some of these sentences.

Firawla · 08/05/2011 12:54

I think the norm is they do it by/at age 2 yrs? according to the hv guidelines when they do 2 yrs check they say by that age they are roughly looking for atleast 50 words and starting to join 2 words together in phrases, but obviously children vary. I think that must be about the usual though if thats what health visitors are looking for
Your ds sounds like he will prob start joining up a lot more words soon as you say he has joined some, so I think by 2 he would be doing it
I can't remember what age exactly my ds has done it but by 2 he was doing it a lot, i think he gradually started from about 21 or 22 months joining more and more phrases, quite similar to yours he used to have a lot of 1 words before that, his vocab was a lot more than the 50 words before he started joining anything.
Then somewhere between 2 and 2.5 he started talking fluently
I think thats about average
I have seen a baby under 12 months who was saying 'hello how are you' i think she learned it as a phrase (her dad said) but it did take me by suprise when she came crawling up and said it! so they do vary a lot, but your ds sounds like he is doing well and fine, i think it sounds like he will be chatting away in sentences etc before too long probably?

working9while5 · 08/05/2011 13:52

The norm is 18 months for about 50 words/joining words but they look at the 2 year check because if it's not happening by this time it can be an indicator of delay.

cat64 · 08/05/2011 14:23

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Original poster

newportstateofmind · 12/05/2011 00:15

Hey, thank you everyone! Haven't been on here for a few days and didn't realise that more people had replied.

(Is it a little sad to be quite so excited??!! )

Thank you for all the info.....it's all really interesting to read. It sounds as though his language is developing normally, but it's amazing to hear how early some children start. I once saw a video (during teacher training) of a baby, probably around 12 months, copying the intonation of the Saturday afternoon football scores, "Liverpool 1.......Arsenal 2" etc. It was hilarious because she was spot on!

BambinoBoo - he definitely 'forgets' words he knows, then suddenly comes out with them again weeks later. I think it must be a bit like Homer Simpson: "Every time I learn something new it pushes some of the old stuff out of my brain"!

Cat64 - I've just had a look at the 18-24 month section and it is such an accurate description! Thanks for the link.

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Quenelle · 12/05/2011 11:04

That's an interesting link. DS is 23 months and I answered yes to most questions in the progress checker. He doesn't talk about himself or ask questions yet.

My great-niece is 7 weeks younger and only says 'Daddy' at the moment. She does a mean forward roll though. They all develop so differently don't they?

Shambolicaholic · 12/05/2011 21:30

working9while5 what you said is really really interesting and I'm curious if you don't mind answering a question. DS1 is 16 mo and getting quite chatty. Mostly single words and a lot of animal noises (I definitely count these as words ). I totally get what you're saying about some 'phrases' actually being more like single words to the child - so we get 'wassat' and 'aw-gone' which I guess fit into that category.

But he did really amuse us the other day by dropping his favourite teddy into the washing basket where he couldn't reach it and then saying "teddy gone - ohno!" Since this isn't a phrase we've ever said, does this mean this counts as a three -word phrase (and is therefore a bit of a genius - natch! ) or would it still count as holophrasic?

Just curious really as I've always been fascinated by this stuff. Any good books around?

silkenladder · 15/05/2011 22:48

Shambolic I have David Crystal's book, Listen to your Child, and would really recommend it. DD also produced the odd seemingly two word phrase very early - bye bye rou rou (washing machine), but when she started using two word phrases properly it was unmistakeable. She was just 17m at the time, so your ds might well be about to start. According to DC it depends on the intonation, ie. you can hear if they are saying "Teddy. Gone." or "Teddy gone."

working every time I see your posts I want to ask you if you come from Hull. I still remember the first time I heard someone say "we're not open while 10" and being utterly flummoxed .

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