23 month er. Encouraging speech

[Rightokthen]

Dd probably has 30/40 words if I really think about it.
That includes things like 'na' for banana and 'goo' for Gordon.

I can't help but think that he is behind others.

I'm asking for similar experiences. And tips?

We as parents are both quiet people so could it just be that?

Talk to him - all the time. Running commentary on all you do, see, touch etc. Ask him questions.
'Oh look a car. What colour id the car? That's it - it's a red car. Shall we look for another car?'
Singing - lots of songs, with actions. See if you can find a local group to go along to.
Read to him - lot of books, and talk about the pictures. get him to find things in the pictures.
Does he understand what you are asking him?

Yes understands more than he says.
SHe understands things like
'Where is your brother?'
'Go and find your shoes'
'Point to (body part)'
'Get me a nappy'

That kind of thing.
SHe has a 6 month old brother

And I wonder if that's caused me to pay less attention

She is still very young yet so don't stress too much. Having said that do keep an eye on it and if you still feel concerned have a chat with the health visitor and most importantly trust your instinct. The fact that she understands is a very good thing.
My son (now six) did have problems with his articulation. His understanding was always great but his speech was difficult to understand. We discussed with the health visitor at about two years and were told not to worry yet. We were still worried six months later and set about getting a referral (unfortunately we moved in this time as well and so had to start again with referral) - he was 4 before he was actually given any therapy and we ended up going private in the end.
So really my advice would be- don't stress yet but do trust your instincts and seek help early if you think it's necessary.
With tips I would imagine you are already doing all the right things. We always spoke to DS, read lots, sang songs etc but the still needed specific therapy.

At 24 months HP are looking for around 25 words which only need to be recognisable by the parent.

Receptive language is more important at this age, can she follow simple requests with minimal gestures or no gestures, can she understand non verbal communication - tone of voice, facial expressions, pointing or high 5 etc.

My ds didn't start talking until he was 2.5, and then it all came at once.

We did attend a short course at the sure start centre, but I think ultimately he did it when he was ready developmentally.

Definitely keep reading to him etc as it does all go in, I was surprised by the things he knew once the words came.

There were some good techniques....when giving snack meals offer a choice of colour of bowls and say would you like the blue or the green? Then pause, if they don't reply repeat blue or green? Pause again. It was all about prompting them to use words, but also giving them the time to process and use them.

My 2.7 year old is having speech and language classes, their top tips are;
Avoid asking questions but do comment A LOT on what they are doing, you are doing, what it going on etc.
Add words if they know 'bus" then start saying 'red bus, fast bus" etc to expand their vocab.
Join in their play by playing alongside them - don't direct their play but comment A LOT "put bunny in house" "bunny sleeping now" etc
Try to wait for an answer or prompt for one, eg my dd would walk up to me and hand me a princess dress without saying anything so I need to try and wait until she asks with words before putting the dress on her (I know she can say "put dress on" if she wants to).
Play a give and take game with something like bubbles eg you don't blow more bubbles unless they look at you and say 'bubbles' or 'more bubbles'

Sounds fine to me. When dd1 was 2 she barely said anything - her language was assessed as that of a 5yo 6 month later. It just poured out.

Dd2 is 18months and has maybe 20 words and we think she is some child genius.

Its all fine.

My son seemed so behind other kids his age to the point that even the health visitor wanted to keep an eye on him. Now he is just turning 3 and still only just starting to string words together but i don't worry about it anymore because it seems even tho he wasn't speaking he was absorbing everything the whole time. It's obvious that he understands way more than he can say and can recite whole episodes of his favourite programme word for word, sing whole songs etc just not very interested in trying to make himself heard. The health visitor also noticed he was more advanced than other kids in other areas so you will probably find that with ur child too. Try not to worry & try to notice what he is doing really well and don't give up trying- he'll be taking it all in to surprise you with later :-)