26 month old doesn't say proper words?

[Mountainviews]

Might be a silly question but dd is my first born and I'm still figuring it out as I go along. Is it normal for dd to use made up words most of the time?

For background: she didn't utter a sound until 18 months, then finally said dada. She's had hearing tests which have been okay, I'm waiting for the health visitor to call soon for her 2 year check. She has some other physical disabilities.

She now communicates very well with me and puts her words together, but even her dad struggles to understand her most of the time. Here's some examples of what I mean

Mowmow = cat
Brabra = bear/dinosaur/lion (anything that roars)
Numnum = food
Slurping noise = drink
Ahh = hat

We repeat the proper words back to her, if she says "Mumma mowmow num." I'll reply "Feed the cat? Good idea, let's go feed the cat!"

Does this sound like normal speech development? TIA

Not sure it is normal but my ds2 was the same.
The point is, your child is trying to communicate, so it’s coming. Just slow. Does she sign, by any chance? My son has invented a whole range of signs for himself to accompany his poorly enunciated words.

Oh but here’s the good news, he is now 28 months and in the last two weeks he has just gone crazy with new nouns and verbs. Dad told him off for something the other day, and said, “it’s not funny” and ds very clearly replied , “it’s a bit funny.”

So it does improve. Just keep encouraging, you’ll get her there

You watch. She will be speaking sentences before you know it and you’ll wondering why you ever taught her to speak

Yes dd has invented her own signs too! A lot of the time she makes an action while humming the sound of the word. I only know "Ahh" means hat because she hits herself on top of her head when she says it

Thank you for sharing your experience. I think she does very well but dp saying he rarely understands her made me question it.

I don't know if it's 'normal' but my grandson is also 26 months and says 'bedubidub' for virtually everything. He can also say daddy and mam, and that's about it. He is like a mime artist, points to his mouth if he is hungry etc. The health visitor is not concerned and neither are his parents. His older sister by his age had a much larger vocabulary and although not completely clear was very understandable. Not all children vocalise at the same age.
I would not be too worried at this stage.