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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

How much vocabulary should a 16 month old have?

33 replies

intergalacticwalrus · 12/04/2006 16:53

Ds has been very slow on the uptake with speaking, he says "Mummy" and "Daddy" very clearly, but not much else. I really have no idea of how much he shouold be saying. My friends children of the same age all say a good few words, and one can even say a couple of simple phrases. DS has always been very active physically, he crawled before 6 months, and was walking at 9, do you think maybe he's just a walker and not a talker?????

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Original poster

intergalacticwalrus · 12/04/2006 17:09

bump

OP posts:

Donk · 12/04/2006 17:11

My DS was also very slow on the uptake, although we managed to supplement with some sign language which cut down his frustration (he could sign help instead of screaming!). I occasionally mentioned this to th eHV, being a little sensitive on the subject as DH has a niece who had moderate language problems (now sorted!) and a godson with AS and severe language difficulties. She kept reminding me that boys are often slower at speaking and that he was still well within the normal development margins. Apparently some children don't speak much until they are 2.5 yrs. Now (3.4) he is still quiet and thoughtful - but comes out with well developed and articulate sentences. He just preferred to think first, and missed out a lot of the stumbline with speech...... so hang in there.

georginarf · 12/04/2006 17:15

eh?? my 16 month old can't say anything clearly, just a few things that sound a bit like bye-bye, mama, dada, cat etc. None of her regular antenatal group can say anything either.

16 months????? I think the ones who can say phrases are extremely unusual and yours is doing pretty well too. Don't tell me all our children are backwards - can't be true.(none of them walked at 9 months either)

DumbledoresGirl · 12/04/2006 17:19

Intergalactic, there is no such thing as how much vocabulary a 16 month old "should" have - they are all different. My eldest son did not speak a single recognisable word until he was 26 months. Ds2 started speaking at 14 months and was speaking in full sentences by 18 months (he was quite exceptional in his language acquisition though plenty of people will have had children who started speaking earlier than him). My dd and ds3 were inbetween ds1 and ds2. I think they started saying words before ds2 but developed their vocabulary much more slowly than him.

But your son is doing miles better than my ds1. I took him to speech therapy in the end and that was when I found out he was actually saying a few words, just not correctly. It didn't matter that they were incorrectly said, as long as the smae sound was consistently used for the same thing IYSWIM. Also, I knew that he understood me well before he spoke as he could follow complex instructions. If your son can follow instructions eg go and get your shoes, give it to me, etc, then you really shouldn't worry about how many word he says.

Hope that reassures you.

Original poster

intergalacticwalrus · 12/04/2006 17:21

Thank you everyone. I should stop comparing him to all my friends children!

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Mercy · 12/04/2006 17:22

Intergalactic - I'm impressed he can say mummy and daddy!. my ds could only grunt and screech at 16 months; he's only started saying recognisable words/phrases in the last 3 months (he's 2.2 now)

Please don't worry, he's still very young.

Socci · 12/04/2006 17:24

Dd2 didn't really say any words until about 16 months and since then her language has developed fine. Mummy and daddy are the right kind of first words for a child to have iykwim.

Socci · 12/04/2006 17:24

Dd2 didn't really say any words until about 16 months and since then her language has developed fine. Mummy and daddy are the right kind of first words for a child to have iykwim.

Sparklemagic · 12/04/2006 17:47

just to agree with what others have said - my DS said his first word at ten months - a very clear "teddy". He could also say muma and dada. But then - nothing else for months and months! I thnk he added one more word at 14 months, can't remember what it was but then not much change for AGES!

I think he was another who cared about how he said things - at two, he wouldn't just babble, he would go "errrrr...." and look concentratedly up at the ceiling while he thought, then come out with the grammatically correct sentence. Some just take more care over what they say than others, maybe your DS will be like this!

Twiglett · 12/04/2006 17:50

DS spke in sentences at 18 months

DD is nearly 2 and still only has about 10 words (2 of which are power rangers)

don't worry about it

cece · 12/04/2006 17:52

mY speech threapist friend said as a general rule 2 word sentences by the age of 2.

Twiglett · 12/04/2006 17:53

in which case I should be concerned about DD .. but I'm not .. cos she's bright as a button ... and she'll speak when she's ready

unless you consider "poo duck" a 2 word sentence (it means my nappy is full please change it)

sweetkitty · 12/04/2006 17:55

DD2 whos nearly 21 months has only began to say some words in the last week or two, she's making up for her slow start though and has a new word every day and is picking up words we haven't deliberately taught her (better watch my language now)!

Piffle · 12/04/2006 18:16

dd who has previously been classed as non verbal - had 3 words at 3 mama dad and yaya (for water)

At 3yrs 5 mths she is onto 11 + word sentence with extremely good descriptions.

It literally can happen overnight and freaks the heck out of Speech therapists

They all vary my ds spoke very early. It is hard not to compare, but do try not to get upset about it . By age 2 you get better guidance on what they should be able to say. So he has lots of time to wow with words!

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 12/04/2006 18:56

god if 16 month old children are all verbal I'm pleased I've kept well away from all babies ds3's age. With a non-verbal 7 year old ds1 and a ds2 who didn't talk clearly until he was a few months short of 3 any speech before 2 is coinsidered to be good going in our house. DS3 does sign though.

Thinking about it my non-verbal 7 year old spoke his first words at 9/10 months, so I don't really trust speech before 2 anyway. Now you see it, now you don't.

waterfalls · 12/04/2006 19:01

I dont think my dts said anything at 16 months, they are 2.4 yrs now and wont shut up

FrayedKnot · 12/04/2006 19:05

DS was an early walker too and at 16 months had just a few words.

He is just 2 now and I also have a job shutting him up.

It just came all of a sudden.

waterfalls · 12/04/2006 19:05

Though what they say is'nt always clear, this morning dt1, while getting dressed asked me to pass her her cocks and wousers (socks and trousers)

Mercy · 12/04/2006 19:15

lol at poo duck and power rangers

That is impressive

AbbyLou · 12/04/2006 20:10

Intergalactic my ds sounds like the complete opposite of yours. He will be 16 months next week and does say quite a lot of words. I won't list them all but I think he's definitely a talker and not a walker. he was late sitting and didn't crawl until he was about 12months, prefering to commando on his tummy. He cruises round the furniture now and will walk if you walk behind him holding his hands but shows no interest at all in 'going for it'. I really wish he would start walking actually as I have a bad back and he weighs a ton!!

Witchycat · 12/04/2006 20:18

Another vote here for 'don't worry - too early'.

My dd is 15 months and has no words unless you count 'daaa' for Daddy or 'ta, I want that please' or 'there' and 'Baaa' for ball, bag, bath and for some reason 'cat'.

Very ocassionally we get mamamama (me)or nonononono (gerroff I don't want my clothes on).

It's hard not to worry when you have others around you with good language skills early but I've decided it's too early to worry.

homemama · 13/04/2006 14:36

My DS is 16mths and has about 5 clearly recognisable (though not perfectly pronounced) words. He also says muma and dad. I honestly don't think this is any indication of anything.

Our good friend at toddler group has a son the same age. He is still at the babbling stage other than mama and dada. However this in no way shows her DS is behind mine because they both have very good non verbal communication and both can follow instructions such as, 'get your shoes/coat' or 'put this in the bin'.
I'm sure that somewhere between 2/2.5 it all evens out.

At 16mths you really only should be worried if your child is not using any non-verbal communication or if you feel that they don't understand any of what you say to them. If this is the case, speak to your HV, if not then just relax and wait for it to develop.

Twiglett · 13/04/2006 14:40

mercy ... you can tell she has an older brother can't you?

MrsBigD · 13/04/2006 14:56

my ds is 19 months and only utteres Mama clearly and ne for no. Not concerned though he's very good at dragging us around showing us what he wants accompanied by whailing if we get it wrong

DD was a late speaker too, but we bring them up bi-lingual.

fuzzywuzzy · 13/04/2006 14:58

I have an almost 19 month old, and umm she says daddy crystal clear...we think she may be saying mummy when she says memememe...but umm that's about it. Oh and she says stop it and smacks her older sister loads too, 'stopitstopitstopit......'

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