Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

18month DD only saying 1 or 2 words..should I be worried??

31 replies

pookie81 · 26/02/2008 14:48

My DD has only started saying the odd word or two but that's it. She tends to come over to me and tug at my arm if she wants to show me something or point and make noises until I realise what it is she wants help with.

She rarely says mamma or dadda, that happens only when she sees photos of us. She'll point if she sees a cat and says 'cat, cat'. What is the 'norm' for this age and should I be concerned??

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

igivein · 26/02/2008 16:09

My DS (18 months)says daddy, car, yes and Lizzy (the dog), so probably about the same. At least you get the occaisional mamma, I don't rate a mention in our household!

sammysam · 26/02/2008 17:07

My dd (19 months) says baba (baby) and little else! The ocasional dada and mama, and lots of her own words that she does use often but i haven't worked out what they mean

It does make you worry when other children say loads at this age (we have one friend who says literally hundreds in 2 languages, mini sentances and can remember whole songs!!) but i'm assured that they even out in the end-but that doesn't help the worry though!!!

Frizbe · 26/02/2008 17:09

I wouldn't worry, my dd2 has only just started rattling on a bit in the last month, she's 23 mths!

Fillyjonk · 26/02/2008 17:14

no its very normal

ds was exactly the same, very very few words at this age. It was actually bad enough that we got a SALT referral, which took 2 years to come through...

by which time, he was 3.5 and assessed by the SALT as being very much above average verbally. (I say this not only to show off but to reassure you btw )

The thing you need to look out for is understanding. Does she understand stuff, at least around the same level as her peers? If so, there is unlikely to be a problem as I understand it.

Incidentally, I still don't know WHY he took so long to speak. dd1 started speaking very early, and has remained ahead verbally. So why her brother was so behind that even the hv noticed, I have NO idea...

Original poster

pookie81 · 26/02/2008 18:11

O.k Thanks for the reassurance!! She is very good at doing things when I ask her

eg.Picking up her socks or anything she has left around the house lol or going and getting her shoes ready to put on before we go out etc. so I know that her understanding is very good.

OP posts:

flirtygerty · 26/02/2008 18:13

dd - 20m - says quack & nothing else. big brother had about 50wds at 18m. as fillyjonk says understanding is the main thing.

bobsi · 26/02/2008 18:18

dd hardly said a thing at 18 months. Just before she was 2 she said quite a lot of single words, at 2 she joined a few together and then sentences just exploded and haven't stopped. I remember being so worried at 18 months, am pregnant again now and won' be worrying this time. She's 2.5 now by the way. Try to relax about it - I know it's hard though.

Fillyjonk · 27/02/2008 07:55

one thing that helped with US and ds was baby sign

we went to sing and sign classes when ds was about 20 months. yes the other kids there were all about 8 weeks, but ds picked up the signs VERY fast. We reinforced them at home using a dvd they sold us and also our very basic knowlege of BSL (this wasn't a vast advantage as a lot of the sing and sign stuff was makaton)-he had about 200 signs at one point.

I don't think it especially helped his speech, just reduced his understanable frustration.

fryalot · 27/02/2008 07:59

There's an old saying: "one for walking, two for talking" so pretty much anything they say before they are two is good.

Don't worry too much about her at this stage, it's completely normal for them to just have a few words at 18 months.

Also, if you actually write down every word that she does say, you'll probably find that there are a hell of a lot more than you think.

belgo · 27/02/2008 08:01

my dd1 also didn't really say any words until about that age (her first word was 'aeroplane').

She is now four, and still a little behind, but rapidly catching up. One thing that could have made a difference is that she was found to have a hearing problem - she now has gromits - and the doctors told us that that could account for her slowness in talking.

nelix2000 · 27/02/2008 10:01

my DS just turned one and says mum, dad, ta, hiya, mwah(everytime you kiss him),can answer stuff like"what does a cow say "mmm" or a snake says "ssss"....I read to him since he was born every single day.....plus I am doin an english degree so he has been subjected to me reading textbooks instead of bedtime stories sometimes....or even in the middle of the day when he wants to babble and I have to study, I read aloud to him! I know he is very young to be talking quite a lot but beleive me he is SO lazy in other areas....late crawler, not showing interest in walkking etc.....each to their own, kids develop different things at diff times...I would not worry at all, I sometimes wish mine would be quiet!!!!

belgo · 27/02/2008 10:03

that's true nelix. My dd1 is a slower talker, but she's always been very fast with physical activities - learning to walk, jump, run, skip faster then average - it's simply that she hasn't had the time to learn how to talk properly!

belgo · 27/02/2008 10:04

lol at mwah for kiss!

CrushWithEyeliner · 27/02/2008 10:08

DD is 14m and says mama dada nana and teddy - she has her own language though, I am currently trying to figure out what bwab means.

HereComeTheGirls · 27/02/2008 11:20

I wouldn't worry, they are all so different..my DD is 16 months and she can say loads of words but she can't stand or pull up yet! She is doing the one to talk , two to walk I think, but it's usually the other way round, your DD sounds perfectly normal!

marge2 · 27/02/2008 11:26

No!! nothing to worry about at all!

Original poster

pookie81 · 27/02/2008 12:47

O.k [smile} thanks! My DD began walking at 9 months so she was way ahead of others for that at least

OP posts:

Emprexia · 27/02/2008 21:48

Don't worry.. every baby learns to speak at their own pace.

DS is 18mo and says
Hiya, Yay, Aaaah (when hugging) Daddy, Mummy, Nanny... and thats it.

He understands quite a bit more though.

EachPeachPearMum · 27/02/2008 22:01

We were worried about our dd, but we read a book about non-verbal children by a french speech and language expert, and he said 1 word at 1, 2 words at 2, 3 words at 3... but that meant anytime during their year of being each age, so i.e. 1 word anytime up to 23months 30 days IYSWIM.

He also stressed that if their comprehension is evident, then you have no need to worry- and you gave good examples of that.

FWIW dd didn't say anything until mama and papa at 17 months or so. She is now 24 mo, and speaks in whole paragraphs! She was just waiting until she was ready.

cadelaide · 27/02/2008 22:04

Ds2 is 20m, he says "moon" and "mum" and "wow".
I think he's a genius

Danae · 27/02/2008 22:49

Message withdrawn

halogen · 04/03/2008 21:45

I think it's okay to be slow to talk. What they always tell you to look out for is if your kids can understand what you say to them. If they can't, it could be an indicator of a hearing problem or similar. FWIW, I talked really early and my brother really late but we're both at the same stage now nearly forty years later!

Flibbertyjibbet · 04/03/2008 21:51

No need to worry. One day soon you will wish she would shut up.

Habbibu · 04/03/2008 21:54

I do think that they tend to "focus" on certain things - dd (16 mo) is book obsessed, would have you read to her all day given the opportunity, and has quite a few words, but if much less confident on her feet than her contemporaries, doesn't climb or run, and has to be gently persuaded to walk more than 20m at a time. I think you always worry about what seems to come more slowly, but they even out in the end (though hopefully a bit sooner than forty years, lucicle!).

Habbibu · 04/03/2008 21:55

DD has a catch-all word of "nodge" which she uses for anything and everything she doesn't know the name of. She gets very frustrated when we don't know what nodge is at any given time...

Flip

1 2