How much did / does your 21 month old talk?

[Roo0987]

I’m a bit worried about my daughters speech development...but may be being paranoid. She definitely understands a lot but says very little. She used to call us mama and dada but hasn’t done that for months. She only really says ‘ta, no, all gone, bye bye’ and the cats name’. She says ‘no’ for a lot of things like when she wants more food etc she will say no or if she wants me to pass her something. I can work it out through the facial expression / gestures.

Is this within the scale of normal or should I contact the health visitor? She was a late-ish Walker too (16 months) but is running around everywhere now and seems to be fine in that respect. She babbles a lot but just the number of words have been the same for a few months now.

My eldest really barely spoke until he was was a few months past 2, at which point he pretty much started on full sentences. If she is understanding what you're saying, I think she is well within the normal range still, so wouldn't be worrying (easier said than done, I totally get it!)

Hello!

Sounds normal to me, but if you're worried it's always better to reach out even if it's just to put your mind at ease! Does she follow instructions?

My ds was very similar,(late walking and talking, he was no further ahead than you are describing) he got referred to speech therapist and we were given exercises to encourage vocab, but they don't worry until they are 3.
So we were put in the system but mostly on a keep an eye on it basis.
As it was he made a leap and by the time he was 3 he was on parr.
They really do develop different skills at different times so I bet she's developed other areas and her speech will be waiting it's turn. That said it doesn't hurt to keep an eye out get a referral in the meantime as it can mean other things or need a helping hand. But certainly she is not unusual or necessarily anything to worry about.

This sounds very normal, not even on the low end of normal. Their language doesn't really explode until more like 2.5 in my experience.

As long as she has a couple of words by age 2 that's really fine. Don't worry.

@SmallWaistFatFace thanks, she does follow instructions and seems to understand a lot which is giving me some comfort! E.g she will respond right away to ‘go and get your shoes for mummy’ or ‘it’s time to go upstairs for bath’ etc. Obviously she doesn’t always agree!

My husband was worried about the lack of words and I’d brushed it off until recently but she’s been on the same 5-6 words for the last few months so it had started to worry me too. She seems totally fine socially..very confident and affectionate. She’s very frustrated / angry lately though but I think this is linked to not being able to communicate