Speech at 21 months.

[Shootingstar2289]

Hi, my DD is 21 months this week and only has a handful words she can say - hello, duck, quack quack, cat, daddy, ball, uh-oh, dick (she says this for book!!). However, she doesn't say them all the time time - only when she feels like it.

Other children seem so much more advanced than her

I took her to see the HV when she was 19 months who said she was generally satisfied and would see her again at her two year check and will refer to speech therapy if needed.

My DS (6) has Autism and didn't speak more than two words (bubble & bath) until he was four. My DD is definitely more advanced that he was at the same age but far from advanced compared to other toddlers her age.

How much did you Lo's speak at 20/21 months? Should I take another visit to HV or GP and demand to be taken serious - especially as DS has Autism.

Thanks in advance.

My DS had a little brother at 26 months and I distinctly remember him not being able to say much more than 'lubbly babby' (which made for very cute videos). Now he's 5, perfect and I can't get him to shut up. I think you've got nothing to worry about.

If you are concerned then I would push for a referral especially with the family history. My ds1 could say lots of single words but did not put them together. I was convinced there was an issue from before he was 18 months but kept being reassured by professionals. Eventually he did get speech therapy but it was hard work to get all the help he needed. In my opinion early intervention is best and trust your own judgment.

DD1 only had a handful of words until she was 2. She's 3.5 now and her pre school comment on her extensive vocabulary all the time.
DD2 on the other hand has just turned 21 months and has well over 200 words and puts together 3-4 word sentences.
There is a huge variation at this age. In my area they moved the 2 year check to 2 years 3 months as they found they were referring a lot of children aged 2 to SALT due to not having many words, only to find that by the time they were seen a month or two later their speech had exploded. I wouldn't worry at this point.

My son is 23 months and says basically nothing. Don't get me wrong, he's LOUD (yelling and screaming being his two main modes of communication) but actual, consistency used speech is rare. I couldn't even write a decent list of the words he uses.

My older child at the same age had a VAST vocabulary. I cannot believe how different they are. I'm going to raise it at his two year check, but anecdotally I've been told that health visitors don't consider it a problem at two years old. The spectrum of "normal" is huge at this age.

I think DD had less than a dozen words at that age. She finally said 'mummy' at 22 months. She's 4 now, and I regularly get comments on how articulate she is (though I've heard other 4 yo's who are similar). So I wouldn't necessarily be worried, but no harm in asking your HV.

Mine is 20 months and sounds very similar to yours! She has very few words, mummy, daddy, car, bath, teeth, baby and that's about it! Her cousin is only a few days younger than her but says LOADS, he can speak short sentences, he can recognise shapes and even count to 3. Both of them are completely normal - I think there is a huge variation on stuff like this at this age and it is hard but you've just got to try not to compare to others! If your HV isn't worried then don't worry too much.

My grandson is 20 months and has well over 100 words and putting together a variety of 3,4 and 5 word sentences. However I'm not sure how clear and understandable his speech is to other people. Not his most sophisticated sentence, but one of the funniest was 'shut door mummy' which came out as 'dut door mummy'. He really can't make the full range of sounds yet. Car, cat and carry are tar, tat and tarry. His favourite book is Stickman and his favourite adjective is big so you can imagine how that sounds to the casual passerby in the park where he likes to collect 'stickmen'

at 21 months it is more about what they understand and how they communicate.

if she understands you and can follow instructions and is communicating well (pointing, bringing you things to show you etc), I wouldn't worry too much.

have you looked up the M-CHAT test to see if it flags her up? In that case, I'd probably go via GP to get referred (I have a DC with autism and found HVs a big let down).

any concerns about her hearing?

My ds is 20 months and happily babbles away whereas his sister was having full conversations at this stage. I am not concerned at all as he understands everything you say and is very loud and loves to communicate

DS is 21 months and 'chats' a lot but his spoken vocab is animal noises and a few signs and the word 'bah' which can mean 'book' or 'ball' as far as I can make out. However, his comprehension is very good. One evening I told him "Go to your toybox, get your hairbrush and brush Daddy's legs," and he laughed and ran to do so. So I'm not concerned.

I remember vividly DS1 pointing and saying "they're daddy's keys" at 21 months, which surprised a few people. He's 14 now and still a chatterbox mouthy

Ds is a few days off 21 months. He says hiya, bye bye, mum, dad, car, airplane, birdie, oh no, all gone, baby, cheese and ham. He gives a few other things a try sometimes and can make the odd animal noises . He understands everything so I'm not worried, dd didn't say much but was in full sentences just after 2! Keep talking to her and reading and she will be fine

Ds is 21 months too and up until thursday he couldnt say a word but thursday he said not 1 but 4 words!! But upon speaking to HV he was late in starting and just prefers to use sign language and speak when only he wants to! Haha

Villainousbroodmare... thanks that really made me chuckle 😂

My daughter is 22 months and doesn't say much more than that yet. She's quite good at expressive herself though and her understanding is good. So I'm not worried.

The range of speech at that age is pretty big, and your HV is not concerned. I'd wait for the 2 year check as they have suggested and go from there.