Should I be concerned?

[Orangeisthenewbanana]

DD is 19 months and has hit all of her other milestones in good time. I am not sure however if her speech is where it should be. Her understanding of vocabulary and instructions is great and she can point to appropriate pictures in a book/RL, she knows where kitchen/bathroom/bedroom/garden are at home etc. However she does not seem to be gaining much speech.

She can say the usual Mum, Dad, shoes, duck etc but I would say the speech vocabulary she uses consistently and recognisably is only about 10-15 words. Occasionally she comes out with a mad one, copying something DH or I have said, like scissors or BBQ but these aren't repeated. She seems to rely on pointing to things or gesturing/going to what or where she wants rather than speaking. We talk to her loads and she loves reading books with us everynight. TV is one hour a day, split into 2 sessions. Not sure how else we can encourage the talking though?

Am I being silly and impatient or do you think I should ask the doctor/health visitor to check her?

I think 19 months is still quite young and it sounds like her understanding/hearing etc is fine.

My younger dd said very few words til she was 2 and then she gained a large vocabulary very quickly.

Have you mentioned your concern to your HV or doctor?

My DS is 17 months and can only say Mummy, Daddy, Nana and fish (and see saw if I'm being generous!). I'm not worried yet, like your DD he has excellent understand of his environment and can follow instructions. Your daughter sounds like she knows enough words for her age.

No, haven't mentioned it too anyone as I also wondered if it was quite young. I think it's might be because I see her with my niece a lot who is 3.5 months older - close enough for them to look the same age and be able to do a lot of the same things, but of course developmentally that gap is still quite big and easy to forget!

Interesting to hear about your daughter. I think DD might go the same way, one day she'll start chatting and never stop!

There is a massive variation in speech especially around this age. They hit their "language explosion" sometime from 18 to 30 months. During that time they can pick up at least a new word or two every day and start stringing words together and using sentences.

Often slower talkers will suddenly catch up in a matter of weeks, often skipping out that stage of speech where only their parents understand them. If her receptive speech is good don't worry. You could try sign language to ease her frustration and promote language acquisition but no out he'll catch up soon regardless.