16 month old not talking

[mariiinaa]

Hi mums,

my sixteen month old had a health check yesterday, after the appointment they booked us in again in another 3 months as they weren't very satisfied with where he's at with his speech. i left the appointment feeling horrid, like i was doing something wrong.

he babbles a lot and says a lot of gibberish. occasionally he'll say things like "water" when he wants it, he says "mama", sometimes even "nan" and i've noticed lately he's been saying "don't want" a lot when he doesn't want anything, either when he's full or doesn't want to play.

i wasn't worried going into the appointment, if i say "where's the ball?" he points to it, and can go get it, or when i ask for a kiss, he'll give a kiss. but in terms of speech and listening that's as far as it goes. he doesn't say colours, he doesn't say animals, he doesn't say 2/3 word phrases. it doesn't go past that. the bbc page says around this age they can say between 30-150 words, and i'm afraid my son isn't even saying 20.

any tips or tricks? feeling quite defeated and worried.

TIA

A two word sentence at 16 mo is pretty advanced I think!

Honestly your child sounds fine from your description. Understanding is far more important, and you have described a baby who understands speech (pointing the the ball, giving kisses etc). Colours and animals are really an 18-24 mo milestone.

I have a 22 mo and he has about 20 words - far less than average. But he follows instructions easily - bring the orange cup (doesn't work for all colours! Most but not all), turn around, sit on the potty, close the door, turn on the light. He said his first 2 word sentence yesterday!

Give your child time, and keep doing what you're doing. He will catch up - it may take months and months, but he will catch up.

Mine is 17 months and says ball can't say mummy.daddy yet. I think your child is pretty advanced I wouldn't worry.

He sounds perfectly on track to me! I would expect a child of this age to say anything from 2-3 to 20 words. 30-50 words usually between 18 months-2 years and 2/3 word phrases for a child older than that.

That’s as a guide btw, obviously all children are different. If you look at sites like speech and language U.K. you will see more information of language development at various ages.

Mine says yoghurt, hat and mama and dada and up. That's it and they are 16-17 months. I am worried but also aware that these guidelines cause anxiety and baby is making progress so that's what really matters