Yesterdays' Times article re speech development at 1-2yrs has stressed me out!

[Jacksmybaby]

Ok I can't find the online link to post the article on here but basically it was saying that at 20 months children should be saying about 50 words and starting to string together short sentences e.g. "where daddy?".

DS is 20 months and really only says the following words:
mummy
daddy
mama (grandma)
car/chair (sound the same!)

He has also said a few other words e.g. stair, hammer, dandan (grandad) but only a couple of times and then seems to have forgotten them.

He makes lots of sounds that aren't really words, like blowing rasberry = helicopter/motorbike noise, coughing = woof, clicking noise = tick-tock (clock) and clip-clop (horse).

He very obviously understands everything you say to him and responds, he just doesn't really speak. He also has lots of non-verbal communications like waving hello/bye bye, pointing, shaking head etc.

Should I be worried?

asteam, agree. The What to Expect series is particular culprit.

Tx 4 all your reassurance and advice. Asteamed, I was not really worried but had noticed that he was behind all his "friends", even though he is one of the oldest. The difference is really highlighted by the fact that the one friend we spend most time with is a month younger and talking in sentences (and yes I know you shouldn't compare and it's not a competition etc but we all do it). I had thought he was just a bit behind, that's all, until I read that article, when I suddenly panicked and thought omg he's MILES behind! On the other hand we had exactly this scenario with his walking, when all the other children were walking at 11-12 mths and he didn't start walking til 15m and now I've forgotten what on earth I was worried for. I have a bro with a very severe learning disability which I think is making me more paranoid than I should be, although my mum keeps on assuring me that my bro was nothing like my DS (bro was very obviously not responding normally from an early age whereas DS's understanding is clearly all there). Sorry long rant. Feeling reassured though, so thanks again.

my dd is 2yr 3m. she will say mum,dad, & makes about 6 animal noises .............. & nothing else. she has good non verbal communication but seesm to have no interest in talking or imitating me at all. We saw a SALT who said go back to babytalk - one word at a time & encourage imitation but nothing happens. i feel something is wrong (not her hearing) but just don't know what it is or what to do about it. I saw teh times article & feel quite despondant.

I think the average child should be combining by 2, but I don't know if it's fair to say they should be.

My son has a severe speech delay. He says Mama and 'there' and he's nearly 3. But..... I'm not that worried, which might make me sound like I'm denial.

poppy fox -are you doing anything about it, (if so what) or just waiting & seeing? sorry to hijack, just interested.

my dd2 said very few words and didnt combine any at 22 months. i was very worried. she started nursery about 4 weeks ago and all of a sudden she is saying new words each day and has started saying things like 'mummy lie down/sit down' etc

with dd1 she had many more words, but also spoke fluently mainly in her own little language until she went to nursery and it quickly all translated to english

dont worry

a friend of my dd1, a boy, said no more than 50 words until he was 3.5, now he is 4.5 and can speak