Please reassure that it’s okay that my 21 month old is barely talking

[Monroebeae]

I’m stressed the hell out because my daughter just turned 21 months and is hardly talking. She has about 25-30 words and signs, but a lot of the words sound the same. She definitely uses non verbal communication a LOT more than trying to talk. She is starting to follow two-step commands consistently and all of her other milestones were early or on time. She had a full hearing panel and is fine. But I’m so stressed out because so many parents post on the Facebook mom groups about how their 21 month olds are already asking about private parts and can tell stories. I’m just so depressed and stressed. Worried that my daughter won’t catch up to her peers. Some people say wait until 2.5 to worry, some say contact esrly intervention ASAP. I’m just depressed and I’m trying to work on my anxiety but lately feel like I’m failing my daughter.

Please don't stress

Sounds fine
Little behind but will catch up

And she sounds very strong with non verbal skills too xxx

My son was similar at 21 months. He had 100 at 2, yeah i kept counting. 🤦‍♀️ Then at 2 years and 2 months he said quite a few 2 word sentences which quickly turned into 4/5 word sentences. He is 3.5 now and I don't consider him to be behind at all

At 23/24 months we were starting to worry about our son. He is now 32months and does not shut up! The last 6 months have been incredible with his development. We did mention it to the health visitor at 24months and she said to wait 6 more months before taking further action.
Hope that eases your worries a bit.

My mum says "walk by one talk by two". Your son is doing brilliant!!! DD1 had a few words but only started talking at 3

The important thing is that she is communicating with you and understands what you say to her. Kids develop at very different rates at this age. Is she your eldest? Younger kids tend to talk a bit sooner because they have older siblings who are constantly chattering. I used to get a lot of comments about my eldest who wasn't very talkative until about aged 3. He didn't need to speak because we understood each other in other ways. He earns money for public speaking these days - please stop worrying!

I'd have been delighted with 25 words, we had nothing at 2yo. Doesn't shut up now at nearly 4, you can't tell any difference compared to his friends.

Mine had about the same vocab as yours at 21 months and I was so worried. We got some advice from SALT who gave some really good tips and said come back in 6 month if still concerned. 32 months now and never stops talking!

Just keep talking to the all the time, and expand upon any words they say. Eg if they say "car" say "yes that's a red car" . Don't pressure them to speak, eg "say goodnight, come on say it!" And spend lots of time pointing out things in books, paintings, photos etc etc

Yes she’s my eldest and my only, which I’m sure contributed to my anxiety about all of this

Bless you. Remove yourself from Facebook or at least take it all with a pinch of salt. My son didn't really speak until he was 3, then went into proper sentences straight away but absolutely knew what he wanted and communicated lazily ie, if a pointed finger/ grunt worked why bother speaking ? My daughter was much earlier, children are all different.

Lots of kids don’t talk until a bit later, however I would get her referred to speech and language now, only because there can be a long waiting list. You can always cancel the appointment if it turns out you don’t need it.

It's fine. The general rule you hear is walking at 1, talking at 2.

You are right, I need to remove myself from Facebook. It causes me so much stress it’s unreal