How well does your 2 and a half year old speak?

[ghosty]

Just wondering really.
DS was speaking full sentences and we were having proper conversations by 2 and a bit (I have video footage to prove it ) but DD is taking her time. I am trying not to compare but DS is all I have to go on and I was told he was pretty advanced on the speech side of things for his age.
Bit of background: DD was recently referred to a paediatrician because at her 2 year check (which I only got round to doing at 2 years 4 months) the nurse noticed her fontanelle was still open and quite wide. The GP measured her head and reckoned it was too big (off the scale) so we were referred.
Anyway, paed doesn't seem concerned about her head - she is a large child (98th + centile for height, weight so she is in proportion) and her head isn't obviously large. She took her time for mobile milestones but was still within the desired age range (bumshuffled at 11 months, walked at 15mths, decided she could crawl at 13 months but preferred the bumshuffle). He took x rays of her head and hands and feet to be sure (and since then the radiologist's report has come back with no concerns)
But he was concerned about her speech. She is having a hearing test on Monday (but I am certain she isn't deaf) and will take it from there. He was talking about speech therapy.
Anyway, although I am pretty sure her development is fine (she is bubbly and chatty - although only DS and I can understand her , very on the ball, full of beans, active, co-ordinated etc motor skills seem fine to me etc) I do think her speech is not great.

So - how well does your 2.5 year old speak?

Any answers gratefully received

[KTeePee]

My 2.5 yr old speaks well for his age (improved dramatically around 25 mths) but tbh I wouldn't worry if he wasn't (unless you really felt it was a symptom of something else). The reason I am quite blase about it is my youngest sister was extremely late walking and talking (hv more or less told my mum there was "something wrong" with her) and she is actually very bright. My dad started to give her a bit more individual attention in the evening (not always easy when you have a large brood!) and she started to improve a lot.

I think it can go either way with second and subsequent children - you often don't have as much one-to-one time with them as the first, depending on whether or not the older one is still at home all day, but equally they can speak well at an early age if they try to keep up with the older ones

[mummydoc]

my DD1 had 3 words at 2 1/2 - they were "no,shan't and won't" sometimes strung together to form a sentence! Now 6 1/2 and is fine (never shuts up infact) DD2 who is 21 months speaks fluent sentences and often uses more than one tense correctly in her sentences....I am sure they will both turn out allright...there is such variation.

[Piffle]

my dd when she was 2.5 was non verbal bar 4 words
One year on you cannot shut her up

I found it tough as well as ds spoke very very early pre 1 yr and I had no idea what was "normal" so I just left her to get on with it and she did... eventually...
Understanding is more important initially IMO if you think you see a problem there then def refer..