Is my 18 month old's speech normal and what can I do to improve it?

[MrsGyllenhaal]

DS2 is 18 months old. Now I may well be looking back through rose tinted glasses here but I am pretty sure that DS1 was saying more and his words were a lot more clear. I could be wrong (he's nearly 6 now so it seems he's been talking forever!)

DS1 says

Ball
More
Ta
Mama
Dadda
Doe (Joe, his brother's name)
Bus
Dar (car)
Rarara (meaning round and round as in the wheels on the bus go round and round)
Dot (hot)
Bubble
Sausages
Strawberry
Nah (no)

Think that's about it. Even the words he does have aren't particularly clear so it's very babbled so we understand but others wouldn't.

He also says 'dat dat dat' constantly when he wants something but points then whinges if we don't know what he means.

Does this sound normal?

I read to him. Chat with him. We sing songs etc but I feel like I should be doing more but don't know how to help him.

Sorry DS2 obviously says that! Not DS1....Arrgh.

dc1 and dc3 were both speaking in full sentences at 12 months old (and neither have stopped since). dc2 didn't speak at all, not one word, til he was about 2y3m... and even then the words came slowly, he's now 5 and completely fine/normal/articulate. if you are sure ds2 can hear OK, and is meeting all other developmental milestones, making eye contact etc, the likelihood is he is just going to be a slightly later talker.

I think they're all different, and if this is your second and the first one turned out fine so far, then what you're doing is probably great!

My same age dd is saying loads like "shoes off" and "in shower" and is a general parrot. Other people's kids of the same age seem to vary widely.

My DD is 18 months old and she sounds quite similar to your DS2. She says no, more, mummy, daddy, dat (cat), doh (dog), tea, ball, bubbles, ho (horse), shee (sheep), chee (cheers - she picked that one up when we meet another family at the pub for lunch yesterday, we're not alcies!), tacter (tractor). She seems to understand a lot - which I think I've read is the important bit and that as long as she understands the speech will most likely catch up at some point.

10 words by 18 months is within normal limits so it looks like your DS is doing absolutely fine :)

I'm a speech and language therapist and what your ds is doing is absolutely fine and within the normal range.

Gosh, my dd said nothing at 18 months!!!
She didn't start until she was 2 and a bit.

I'm glad you posted this, I was looking for some reassurance too as DS (18m) had only a handful of words whereas his brother was using sentences at that age.

Doesn't help that the bloody health visitor suggested I take him to sessions they run for kids who are "behind in their speech". She said it's for children age 18m and over who have can say fewer than 50 words.

Seems like he is normal for his age then!

mrsravelstein:dc1 and dc3 were both speaking in full sentences at 12 months old.

Whaaa? Really? DD was spouting 5/6 word sentences at 18 months and was considered a friggin' genius amongst her peers' parents.

Sounds pretty normal to me, OP!

My dd is 18 months old, and I could have written your list. Although she can't say Sausage or Strawberry - she can say Dinosaur and Elbow!! Some of her buddies at nursery are speaking in sentences, but we're not worried, I think she's pretty normal. There is no point worrying until they're 2 anyway which I think is the earliest you can get a referral. And I'd stay away from the HV, my experience of them is the more you see, the more conflicting information you're given. Your ds sounds absolutely fine!

He sounds fine.

DS is 22 months and says :
No
Door
Doudou (French)
Ada (thank you)
Ess (please and yes)
Bwooon (balloon)

He also makes some animal noises and has a range of 'ahh' noises (with a variety of meanings including look at that, oooh thats hot,etc...)

No idea when he'll start talking more, but am quite impatient to hear some more words! Or at least, words that are more useful than door!

How does he develop. Is he a gradual boy or does he become an expert over night. DS swallowed a dictionary 2 days before his 2nd birthday and was spouting new words all days, whereas my dd was a gradual child and added a new word every so often so her development was less noticeable.

Ha SummerMyArse

I feel the same way about "elbow". I'm looking forward to her saying useful things like "actually mummy, I'm quite tired and I'd like to go to bed now".

Normal range (when mine were little) was between 6 and 20 appropriate sounds (ie bmm for a car/animal noises count) at 18 months, so he's well in the normal range.
"Dat" could easily be "that". Do you say "Do you want that?" when he does it?

DD2 is 18 months and after having two dc that were talkimg in sentences at this age must say I was a little worried about her. She can say;

Mum
Dad
Please
Cat
Dog
Bird
Duck
Car
Ball
Bowl
Juice
Pep (as in the pig)
Bounce (for trampoline)
Yes
No

And that's about it really. I can't offer you any advice but it is reassuring to me to know that is perfectly normal.

I agree that you shouldn't worry! My DD didn't say a word until she was nearly 22 months old. She is now 3 years and 8 months and her speech is excellent - in fact the staff at her playgroup often say that her speech is so impressive that they sometimes have a hard time remembering how young she is.

By contrast, DS (1 year 11 months) said his first word at 14 months and has a good vocabulary now.

My ds is same age and is very chatty but doesn't really have any clear words, says a similar amount of words to yours but only I can understand him! It is normal though, so long as the understanding is there it's fine

shop.ican.org.uk/earlytalkers

These are excellent. Great ideas that are basically the same activities that speech and language therapists use to encourage talking.

There are also ideas on the ican website as well.

For 18 months your baby sounds perfectally normal. To give you some perspective, I have a 27 month old with a language delay - and he really does not have not 1 word yet. Though he is signing. So much of early language development isn't actual speaking, but more about encouraging understanding through play. So turn taking, talking to them etc.

My 18 m

my grandson is 2 and a half and says 8 words, we are seeing a speech therapist at the end of the month, he is mentally very bright, and gets over what he wants/needs but he must be frustrated. he says car, nana, mama,lollylolly, cheese, hiya, yes and no . a varied mixture :)

My 20 mo twins are very different - DTD has about 100 words and just repeats everything I say, and understands everything too. Not really sentences yet but able to communicate what she wants

DTS doesn't speak as such, he hasn't even said mummy/mama yet but he can sing at least 5 different nursery rhymes (not in full but I can tell what he is singing) and can count to 10!!

My 19 month old says:
mama
Dadadadada
Ice cream
Chocolate
tractor
His brothers' names
Dirg / dat (for everything else)

It's not much, so v useful to see how others are doing...