18 month old not talking yet.

[Kellie137]

My son is 18 months old, he isn’t really saying much yet. We have mama and dada at times. And maybe two other words. He does understand as if he sees a dog he’ll say doggy. IF I say where’s your shoes he can pick them up and give them me, so I know he’s picking up on instructions. I’m doing the dreaded thing of comparing to children I know of similar age. Should I be concerned? We sit with books and I encourage him with names of objects but to no joy of him repeating. He babbles and lot of talks to himself in baby talk but should I be more concerned? People say “oh he’s just lazy, he’ll do it when he’s ready”

Don’t be concerned OP. He’ll start ‘talking’ when he’s good and ready. M Kids progress at their own pace. You can’t compare these little unquie beings. My daughter didnt walk until she was 18 months old, I was starting to worry as there was no sign of walking and then suddenly she got up and walked/almost ran!

Also the GP told me, 1 for walking, 2 for talking! (I was so concerned she wasn’t walking that I took her to Drs) I’ve learnt to chill out alot since

My DD is very similar; we’re getting some advice about how to encourage words but have essentially been told not to worry too much if she understands what is being said

Please don’t worry, he sounds very normal. My son barely said anything at 18 months and now at 26 months he talks constantly. You’ll be surprised how quickly it changes.

Keep reading and singing to him, those are the best things you can do but he’s not lazy we just all develop differently

Don't worry yet! My ds was 2 and I was really worried that he didn't have more than 5 words (and I was grasping at straws for those) and the health visitor was coming for his 24 month assessment. I think we fudged it in the end but by two and a half he was talking so much he drove me crazy. Your baby is very young yet, he will probably get there in his own damn time (they do this just to frustrate us). DS2 hit all his milestones in the end and now is a sixth former who loves to confuse me and talk me into the ground.

If there is an issue there will also be help available when the time comes but for now don't push him and just wait for the day (soon) when you wish he'd shut up.

We had similar and were referred for an assessment over a few concerns. Got speech and language therapy for him (4 sessions) based on the Hanen therapy and we found it brilliant.

More teaching us about communication and how we play and interact with our son. We were leading all the time instead of using the OWL method which is Observe, wait and listen.

It opened up the communication greatly and let our son take the lead. She said I am like a teacher constantly asking my son questions which is ok in moderation.

Now at 17 months his vocabulary is amazing but he has only just started to take some steps towards walking.

I don't know any 18 month olds who are saying more than a few basic words.

I'm sure some exist but in my sample group of around 12 I don't know any.

Understanding is important and a good sign, actually saying stuff will happen when they are ready.

DS had no words at 18 months. I was worried. He's 22 months now and literally has a new word every day at the moment (today's word of the day 'corn' ... corn I tell you, what an odd choice! )

Don't worry yet

Please don't worry,my son was the same at that age. I was concerned because in complete contrast,my daughter was an early talker and speaking in sentences by then. I told myself that there was unlikely to be a hearing issue as he could understand and follow instructions. He started getting a few more words around 2 then his vocabulary just seemed to explode overnight and its great having conversations with him now at 2.5. They really are all different but I do understand your concerns.

DS is 25 months and says a handful of words. I know he can say the sounds, he just doesn't have any inclination to talk. Looks at me like I'm daft if I sound out stuff and just gets on with his business. He has very good understanding as far as I can tell. I spoke with the HV a couple of months ago about it. She didn't sound too concerned but did say he will be assessed at 30 months and will be expected to be talking significantly more by then. Still not panicking as a lot can change in 5 months!

My dgd is 27 months but says very little. We aren't concerned. Her brother didn't really start talking until he was 3 and a half, but he's a real chatterbox now, at 5.

My first (a boy, these speech worries posts are inevitably boys!) only had 2 words at 18 months and indeed, only about 20 or 30 words when he turned 3. We had done all the right things with him. His understand g was great, he was ahead with things like colours and me and the hv were pretty sure he would be fine, and indeed he was. He's just turned 4 and is yabberi g away in sentences. Dd1, his little sister had a speech explosion just after 2 (the most common age from what I've read) and dd2, our last lo, has so many words at 16 months it's ridiculous. They're all different!

As long as his understanding is OK and you don't have any other concerns, hang in there, it will happen. I remember all the worrying I did, but yours is so young, absolutely no need to worry yet.

Hope that helps

My DS is 3 and I’ve been told he’s very advanced verbally. He literally never shuts up and it drives me insane.

At 18m he was the same and only had a few words and we were told that was perfectly normal.

The important thing is he can understand some speech. My 21 month old is way behind average and miles behind his sister who was really early with speech. I worry about it a bit, but he has no signs of autism and understands much more than he can say so I'm not TOO worried.

He says:
Mama (for me but also every human being that crosses his path which offends me only a little)
Dada (he can distinguish between us and grins and points to the correct people when asked but then reverts back to mama)
BA BAA: Bye
Shhh: shoes and fish
Grrrr: animal, including birds, every type except fish.
Balalla: banana
Gollagollagollagolla: no idea but he says this a lot super fast. I can't even do that without my tongue tripping up, so I'm quite sure he can physically make complete speech sounds if he wanted to
That's it. But if he wants to go out he brings me his shoes, if he wants a drink he brings me his cup. If he wants to go somewhere (usually his highchair) he takes hold of my head and tries to pull me up or points wildly at the fridge. If I say nap/bath he stands at the bottom of the stairs. If I mention a walk he goes to the door. He'll usually fetch the post when asked too. In most respects, he's pretty much a puppy. All of this is communication I guess and all part of speech development.