Sorry for being unoriginal but...

[chickling]

Nearly 2 yr old DS only has a handful of words. Will speech come 'overnight' as people keep telling me? He speaks whole sentences of gibberish although from his intonation I can tell when he means 'over there' etc. He has also developed signs for driving, sleeping etc- I did not encourage this! He says 'bye' 'yeah' 'Po Pa' ( Postman Pat) 'nana' 'Dada' and lots of animal noises. He tries to say Jess, Ted Glen, Alf Thompson but not mummy!! He's not frustrated and he understands everything. His hearing is absolutely fine and he's very happy. Should I just chill out?

Mine could say "hi" "bye" and "uhoh" at that age and that was about it (apart from roaring and a few other animal noises). I didn't worry, HV wasn't at all bothered. Some are later than others. Talks all the bloody time now .

I can't remember exactly how many words DS had at just two, maybe a few more than a handful but certainly not many and not very clear either. Speech took off from about two and a half. I can't pinpoint when he suddenly started to speak in sentences but he did. He is 2.8 now and this morning said 'the train is going in the tunnel but it is scared because it is spooky in there. There might be a ghost.'
Literally a few months a go we were still on 'look! Car!' or 'drink! Me!' I spent a lot of time worrying but it is fine. I would say if your DS can understand everything ok then the speech will come. Boys generally aren't as interested as girls in speaking and it tends to come a bit later.

Just re read, at nearly two he had hardly any words!

Good to know. He also says 'where' 'tata' 'ball' and more. It is developing but just slowly. Would love to be able to chat with him and no hope of potty training until he can communicate better

So glad I found this thread... DS is 21 months and has about 6 words, I've been panicking about it as all my friends' DDs seem to know the word for everything by now!
Will chill a bit and wait til he's ready, it certainly doesn't stop him communication what he wants through a series of grunts, points and facial expressions! :)

please dont just assume hearing is OK as even if a chilld follows all instruction well they may have glue ear and not hear exact pronounciation which can then impact on their speech. i would recommend a check for glue ear if this has not been done. we had no idea and couldnt believe that hearing was not perfect as DD was so obedient.

Took him to doc today to get ears checked re glue ear following advice. All clear thankfully but good tip. He has had series of recent infections so good idea to follow up.