When should they join 2 words together?

[leobear]

Just that, really. Can't seem to find a milestone guideline. MIL asked me about DD yesterday, it hadn't occurred to me she should be doing this yet. She's 21 months, and has quite a lot of words, but closest thing to a sentence is "dog! woof!"

Roughly 2 years old. I'm a SLT. When she says a word like 'dog' for example, add a word to it so you model a two word phrase for her, like 'dog walking' or 'black dog' or whatever, talk about what she can see. Never ask her to repeat words or phrases after you - like all children, she has to learn to understand two words together before she can say them, she will start to copy when she's ready. It's a good thing that she has lots of words - she will need to build a solid vocabulary of single words before she starts to join them. I highly recommend going to your local Children's Centre if you haven't already - there will be free groups and advice there for you, and more ideas about how you can support her at home.

Hi - thanks so much for this reply, really helpful.
Yes, I have read about modelling, and I do all of that, plus nursery rhymes, offer a choice, etc. I wasn't worried myself, to be honest - her communication skills seem excellent to me, and she uses words very cleverly, in context. She isn't 2 until November, so quite a while, but other family members seem to think she should be doing more by now! I think she has about 40 words, plus sounds etc. Does that sound ok to you?

tell your MIL that SALTs don't worry till past 2, 2 and half, as the spectrum of when children start joining words up is pretty broad. as with everything else - we all know kids who walked at 9m and then another who took first steps at 20m, same with talking, broad spectrum of normal. :) 40 words is more than my DS had at 21m by a long way but he's 2.8 now and talking up a storm (this morning at 7am into my ear before I'd opened my eyes: "my daddy's home! oh look, a lighthouse. over there, a lighthouse and a cow. No, thats mine. Wheres my weebabix? yes please." and on and on and on :) )

My ds is 2.2 and doesn't have so many words but is joining them together, or trying to anyway.

My dd's by 18m were talking in short sentences so I was a bit at ds's lack of vocab, but really, it really is because they are just different and all normal ( except dd1 who had a huge vocabulary at 12 m, no teeth at all until 14m and didn't walk until 22m. The child was a freak )

Ah yes, the 'helpful' family member input! Don't worry too much about ages and stages - every child is different and while there are ranges for 'normal development', there is variation within them. Modelling without any pressure for DD to copy you is the best thing to do right now - lots of it, in everyday contexts, like bathtime/shopping/getting dressed/mealtimes etc. Keep it all as natural as possible - think of it as modelling rather than 'teaching' her. Nursery rhymes, giving choices all sounds great. Avoid asking 'testing questions' like 'ooh look, what's that? What colour is it?' - better to say the words for her than to ask a question.

You've realised the most important thing though - the person who can have the biggest impact on all of this is you, and any other adults who spend lots of time with her. It sounds like you're doing a lot of great things so enjoy it!

I really can't say enough about Children's Centres by the way!