talking at 18months?

[cloggs142]

just wondering what your 18 month olds are saying? what kind of stage of speech development they are at?

My Dd3 is 16mths and says hiya , bye , shoes and juice and no (alot)
She understands loads though -if I ask her things or give her simple instructions she knows exactly what I mean .

Oh and she understands loads. She knows upstairs/shoes on/any clothes on/mummy going to the loo/only draw on the paper (doesn't always agree here)/pass me the X/shall we read a book/sit on mummy's lap etc - I don't worry about the understanding, just vocab. Am I just worrying about nothing?

DS started to join two words together occasionally at 18 months. But mostly he was chillded and said only one word at a a time.

I'm glad someone asked this, as i've been a tiny bit concerned about my almost 20 month old DD's speech. She can only say a handful of single words. No sentences, and a lot of what she says in unintelligible. She also tends to do the shrieking and pointing at what she wants thing (which is slightly fucking irritating!)

But, like another poster said, she also seems to understand quite a lot and will follow simple directions - get your cup, pick that up, do this, do that etc etc. She also takes herself off to bed when she's tired!

I guess i won't worry yet, and will wait and see how her speech develops over the next few months.

I think its lovely that they all develop at different rates. DS (19mo) is constantly running around, playing with his cars, trains, toys etc and wasn't really saying much until the last few weeks. He said Dadda from 6mo then Mumma a bit later, then Mummum (Grandma!) And Gandad, then his 3 cousins names and his own name, then characters from TV (Pappa Pa mainly and Jouge!!!), Please and Thankyou, and now he is starting with animal noises, Juice, hat, apple, banana etc. He gesticulates wildly for things he wants and when he wants to be picked up, but he's getting there. I think as long as there is some kind of communication going on, you should feel encouraged, some children just take longer than others. My DSis walked by 9mo, but started talking really late perhaps not helped by the fact that her gobby older sister insisted on talking for her all of the time... Eg. DSis wants a biscuit, DSis wants to play outside etc
I had a lovely experience the other day, I sneezed and DS said Bless you, I was really surprised and pleased :)

I wouldn't worry at all! DD's 20 months and talks for England. She's doesn't go to nursery so it's pretty much me and her most of the time. In fact, I would credit her speaking with the one-on-one interaction rather than any outside influence. Like all the other babies she totally shuts up at playgroup as she's far too busy with all those toys. Also, you'll find she'll have a huge developmental spurt one day and she won't stop!

OP - at 18 months she had around 200 words and would string 4-5 word sentences together. Now I'd say it's nearer 500 (wild guess - how would you ever really know?) but you can tell she's understanding so much more and will happily say 6-7 word sentences. Unfortunately they now start DD WANTS...

Sorry - that was a be a reply to TouchOfInsanity. Didn't refresh. Techno mum.

Check out Talking Point website for info on what's normal at different ages and stages. The guidelines for 18m are;
Enjoy games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake and toys that make a noise.
Start to understand a few simple words, like ?drink?, ?shoe? and ?car?. Also simple instructions like 'kiss mummy', 'kick ball' and 'give me'.
Point to things when asked, like familiar people and objects such as ?book? and ?car?.
Use up to 20 simple words, such as 'cup', 'daddy' and 'dog'. These words may not always be easily recognised by unfamiliar adults.
Gesture or point, often with words or sounds to show what they want.
Copy lots of things that adults say and gestures that they make.
Start to enjoy simple pretend play, for example pretending to talk on the phone.

DS is 15 months and has no discernable words, which didn't worry me at all until I read this thread!
He points, waves, mimes eating when he wants food/sticks his tongue out for a drink, understands at few instructions, copies everything I do, and never shuts up, he just doesn't say any actual words!

Another mum of a non-talker here! DS2 has just turned 18 months and until about 2 weeks ago had no words at all. Yesterday we counted 12 words - some are stretching it a bit! (Daddy, Mummy, Beep beep [car], choo choo [train], Hiya! [Vicky Pollard style], Boo!, quack quack (only it's more like "Dak dak"), a "clip clop" noise for horses, Baby, "Me me me!!" [accompanied by wild pointing at whatever he wants], "Dip dip" (while dipping food) and Geese. Of these, only daddy, mummy, hiya (unfortuantely), boo and baby would be clearly identifiable to strangers.

I am not worried - he has been referred for a hearing test but only because of his personal medical history (he was referred for having no words at 16 months, if it hadn't been for his medical history I doubt they'd have bothered). He does everything on messtin's list - is big into pretend play, and physically very advanced (especially compared to DS1 who was an early talker but slow to walk).

cakesonatrain - my DS2 has been a big babbler too, has "chatted" nonsense for months, we've started tuning into his chat a bit more and there are actually a few words in there that I wonder if he's had for a while and we've just missed (lots of his vowels are wrong - so "dip dip" sounds more like "dap dap").

My DD is 22 months and says loads of single words, recognises all her letters (and sounds) and numbers but has yet to put two words together.

She also calls me "Munny" instead of Mummy and it drives me mad...DH jokes she sees me as "Money"

FWIW, even if a child does have delayed speech, the chances of them catching up before schoolage are extremely good.

As I said, my DS (now 4) had a pronounced speech delay until over 3, but is catching up so quickly (we did have SALT, but no longer need that as his speech is 'within normal ranges')

I agree with Nuttyprofessor - my DS is academically gifted (amazingly so). My DD is not. (but whether that is a help or a hindrance is another thread altogether!)

BrightenMyNorthernSky - I've been wondering if there are any 'words' in the babbling. There are noises he makes quite often, and the last few days I've been wondering if 'adda' is actually 'dadda', but I just can't tell!
Will make more effort to concentrate on his noises this week.

DD (18mo) says:

Hiya, bye-bye, eyes, ball, bus, car, man, bush, booboos (boobs), ice, cacka (poo), peepee (wee), bath, heiss (hot - she's bilingual German), book, birdy, moon, fish, boots, shoes, grass, no and there.

She understands much more though.

thanks eveyone! really great to get a bit of a view on other kids te same age! im not worried about ds. he says maybe 20 words? mama dada cat ( every animal is a cat......sometimes big cat. lol) no more bed bath duck out up yeah cooker hothot tower uh oh etc. puts two words together... but only to say 'that one' and point over and over and over. haha.
i just wonderd to be honest, as his little friend, who is three days younger than thim, says so much more! literally like at least 5 times the amount he does...now this might sound a bit horrible...its not reeeeeally meant to be, lol. But the little girls parents arent the most...lets say attentive. the child is fed rubbish left to her own devices and then puts herself to sleep with a bottle once put in the cot.
this kid was first to walk, talk, sleep through the night....everything! and theres me talking and playing with my ds 24 hours a day. doing everything i thought i should be doing.......and he still wakes up a million times a night, ends up in my bed. Not talking as much and much slower to walk etc. was just a tad put out that all my effort seemed to well....not help alot! haha

Ds is 2.4 and has severe speech delay, this is nothing to do with how attentive we are or how much we talk to him. There are all sorts of reasons why a child might be delayed in any area, just enjoy the fact that your child is doing so well, and try not to compare. You do sound like you are being a little horrible about your 'friend'!

Nice, really nice, Cloggs.

I really hope your child doesn't have a SN of any sort, because you are going to find it very, very hard to deal with, with that attitude.

SN are in no way related to a parent's behaviour / attitude towards a child.

im not being horrible, she does not treat her little girl very well.....i know she loves her, but seriously other people have said that they are slightly concerned about the parenting going on there too. i dont mean to compare at all.....and as long as my ds is healthy and happy then i dont mind. i only asked because a couple of people questioned why he wasnt talking very much. I am with my partner but he works over 70 hours a week so i do this largley on my own without alot of input from any other sources, and just wanted to know if it was normal thats all. please dont hink im a horrible person, because im really not. i just thought that a happy healthy home life would be more beneficial and help my child along more than some other situations thats all

Fwiw DS now 28 months old was saying very little at 18 months. Little at one year and now he is like a radio station - non stop commentary :) has moved from shy and quiet to chatty and super friendly. How I don't know as he has the same friends, same routine and is in the same nursery. The fact that I talk a lot might contribute. And also that he took in 3 languages simultaneously must contribute somewhere.

and demure im not sure what prompted that reaction from you? what gave you the impression that my attitude would be no good if my child had special needs???? like i said in my last comment, i just thought that a happy healthy encouraging home life would help my child, i didnt know what stage he should be at and asked on here because people are largely nice and supportive. as for the friend, yeas she is a friend, but i dont have to agree with everything she does, and im sure she thinks that i could improve in a few areas too. and rightly so.
im not stupid, i know sn are not related to the way you raise your child, but seeing as my son has never shown any signs of having any type of sn it didnt even occour to me to think that. my comments never even suggested that...i just wanted to see what other kids his age were doing. its not a competition, its just nice to have a comparison as we dont have too much interaction with other kids his own age!

Cloggs - My comment was based on the fact that if you blame yourself for your child's SN, you will wind yourself into a frenzy. And, if you compare yourself to other parents who you believe to be lesser parents, but have NT children, you are on a hiding to nothing. Even if there is no issue with your child, you do appear to be comparing him to others, which is not a good idea. Even for comparison purposes.

I see it from both sides. I get the 'looks' from parents regarding DS's behaviour... I also see the 'looks' from parents when they realise their child can't do what DD is doing.

I wouldn't change either of my kids. And I wouldn't change my parenting either.

It's not a go at you, but you can't blame others for whats happening with your children.

im not saying they are lesser parents. in some ways...yes i think they are...but in other ways theyve workied bloody wonders with their child, and are better with some things than i will ever be. it works both ways. Fair enough, i understand that its not good to compare children like that, but it is nice to know what other kids are upto at any particular stage tbh. like i said. i dont have much interaction with kids that age so i need some point of reference, right or wrong. call me a paranoid first time mum, but im just interested thats all. Im not blaming anyone.........not sure why youd think that. im bringing my child up the way i want to and to the best of my abilities, and im bloody proud of that.
dont know why this had to get all heavy, was just a simple question about observation. i bet parents with kids the same age talk about this stuff all the time. well, this is the only way i get to!

now this might sound a bit horrible...its not reeeeeally meant to be, lol. But the little girls parents arent the most...lets say attentive. the child is fed rubbish left to her own devices and then puts herself to sleep with a bottle once put in the cot.

I think it was this bit that got my back up. I suppose it implies that by rights they should have a child who is behind developmentally, because they haven't talked or interacted with their child as much.

One of the things that hurt a lot when it became apparent that ds had delays, was when people would say how their child spoke early because they just talked all the time/read to them a lot/sang all the time etc. It made me feel as though if only I had done more of this then ds would be fine, but sadly that is just not the case.

no i didnt mean it like that! i know every child is different regardless of parenting.....i just meant that the little girl knows alot of things like counting and stuff you would usually think takes a lot of actual teaching on the parents part.....little things that a child wouldnt naturally start to do on their own?? i didnt mean it to sound awful like that.......im not a total idiot, and far be it from me to comment on those children who infact do have sn or delays of any kind. this was just an observation on two children who have no known sn, and wether nurture affects development anymore thn nature does!?!
seriously wish i hadnt asked now as i just seem to be getting slated and having to defend myself.

FOR THE RECORD: i do not think that parents who do not talk or ineract with their child as much as others should automatically have a child who is 'behind developmentaly'

i do not think that my child should be fantastically forward and a bloody einstein because i talk to him alot

people have the nature vs nurture debate all the time, i slightly touched on it. i didnt think i was saying anything massivley nasty or contraversial. im sorry if i offended anyone it wasnt intended

im not saying they are lesser parents. in some ways...yes i think they are...but in other ways theyve workied bloody wonders with their child, and are better with some things than i will ever be.

And one day, you will realise that much of what happens hasn't got jack shit with what you are doing as a parent.