18 month old speech

[sophree]

My DD sat up at 5 months, stood at 7 and walked at 9months. Always desperate to see and do everything. Very headstrong.
But she will not speak!!
She makes all the animal noises and will shout "MEM" if she can't find me (in the toilet or something)
I talk to her, we go classes, she has an older sibling.
I read endless books, do flash cards and she understand everything that is said but never will repeat...
Now when i say "can DD say...?" She just shakes her head. Like she has no interest in speaking.
Other mums say completely normal... But I'm not so sure??

Can you understand you and follow instructions, eg 'Where's your coat'? And she'll go and get her coat?

I'm not a hcp but I think (and I hope this is the correct advice) that I wouldn't worry about words yet, but I think I would be a little concerned about no babbling sounds, eg baba, mama, lala etc.
Definitely do get it checked out, just to put your mind at ease.

I know it's hard not to worry. DS is 20 months and only a few words and Dh's friend's son is the same age and putting a few words together. As far as I know, there's a huge variation of what's normal. One of mine didn't master her L sound until 3, whereas DS has it already. Sorry for waffling on

Can SHE*

Agree that it sounds normal and wouldn't worry just yet. I think the animal sounds and 'mem' count as words so if she understands what you are saying then it should be fine.

Child development happens in fits and spurts so what happens in one area won't necessarily happen in another and what she can or can't do now doesn't reflect where she might be in a couple of months.

I'd probably back off from trying to make her talk at this point though. I'm not sure it's very helpful.

18 months is very early, I wouldn't be worried.

My DS is 2.5 and is only starting to put words together into short sentences but the HV and speech therapists friends I know aren't at all worried (even though some of his peers are reciting entire nursery rhymes). Its more about understanding at such a young age such as following commands (like 'bring the ball to mummy') or pointing to the correct animal or object if you ask (like 'where is the cow?')

Have you tried baby sign at all? sometimes that can be a good gateway to communication, but be cautious to use it along side speech not as a replacement as it could delay the speech further.

Sounds normal. Someone said to me they tend to be early walkers, later talkers or vice-versa. Having said that, DS was walking at 14mo and by 18mo only had about 10-15words so not especially forward on either.