No words at 2 years should I be concerned?

[wartsanall]

DS2 is lively, friendly, outgoing and appears very happy and normal in every way; but he does not have any words. He has lots of sounds and practices them all the time both quietly and at full volume! He communicates well without words (pointing etc) but he rarely seems to understand instructions from us (go and find Daddy, give that to me, that sort of thing). DS1 is 9 years older and doesn't generally translate DS2 sounds for us - probably because we generally know what he wants however we do encourage him to use words and to follow instructions but he happily ignores all of our efforts.
Should I be concerned?

I think you should talk to HV & get a few simple tests run (hearing is main one), and a referral to Speech therapist.
All my DC relatively late talkers, so I know it can be no big deal, but by the time I got to 4th late talker I was happier being a bit proactive about helping him along rather than seeing how things went.

Pointing is a good sign (does he use his index finger?) but because he isn't understanding instructions then yes I would get an assessment. As ragged said it woukd be wise to get hearing checked first.

My DS wasn't talking at 2, he's now 2y4mths, not even making sounds. HV referred us for a hearing test (DS has had a lot of ear infections) and to speech therapist (4 mth waiting list!) hearing test was fine and we've just started speech therapy. It's going well. Speech therapist said she spends a lot of her time seeing "feisty" 2 year old boys like my DS!! She thinks he's got listening and attention issues and if we can increase his concentration span and listening skills then the language will come. So we play games like musical bumps; Ready Steady Go with cars etc, looking through books etc. She has also got us to work on just four words- More, Gone, Up and Down, and to make a list of words he does use.
This may or may not be helpful but either way you're not alone!

I'm sure we can all give examples of 2 year olds with no words who became fluent speakers eventually (I have one myself) but I don't think that's very helpful or useful for you as we're talking about your child not ours.

I'd make an appointment with your HV as a starting point and see what she recommends. I don't think you should worry just yet but it would be a good idea to get the ball rolling.

Thanks,
Saint; he uses his whole hand to 'point' opening and closing his fist. He wont point to things in books (find the duck for e.g) and again seems to not understand the game/question despite showing him repeatedly, but he loves books.
I have wondered about his hearing but he sometimes does respond to his name so I figured that he can hear.
He does have a very big tongue, he was born with it protruding and still sticks it out most of the time though he does seem to be able to comfortably keep it behind his teeth these days and it doesn't interfear with breathing.

It would definitely be worth referring him on I think. Your HV or GP would be a good place to start. They're not always as helpful as they could be, but worth trying. Does he go to a nursery at all?

definitely time for a hearing test

make sure the audiologist/person who sets it up for you realises that he won't understand instructions . Sometimes they set up tests that are too ambitious for the little one in question.

Wartsanall- please don't assume that if DS responds to his name or babbles that he can hear you. I made that mistake with my dd2
Please speak to your GP or HV and get a referral for his hearing so you can at least rule it out. :)

The thing that sticks out in your OP, wartsanall, is that your DS doesn't seem to understand instructions. You have nothing to lose from asking for a hearing assessment and potentially everything to gain. You can ask your GP or your HV.