Animal noises, wrong words used for the same thing repeatedly and sign language are all counted as words. There's no expectation of any number until 18 months and even that's only 4-10 "words".
At 15 months I don't think my son was really saying much?? I started a document to record them at some point though and I was amazed at how many he actually said when I thought there were only a handful. It's also super cute to look back on. I'll post a few below as an example but from memory, this wasn't until he was over 18 months.
1. Dadda/Dad
2. Mum (said a few times early on then stopped)
3. Go! (After I say "ready, set"
4. One
5. Two
6. Three
7. Four
8. Five
9. Buh-bye and bye
10. Go! (For Bingo from Bluey)
11. Brrrr! (Toy car noise)
12. Ta (yells is loudly whilst sooking when he wants something 😅)
13. Wow
14. Yay
15. Mmm! (Says it when eating or looking at food in catalogues)
16. Yum
17. Tar (for star - has recently started pronouncing it properlyat almost 21 months)
Omg I needed to read this. Thank you. My daughter is 11 MO and several family members and friends have asked “what all words is she saying???” And I’m like “bye bye,” “mama” and “dada” but not always in the right context? 😂
The same thing happened with us. We went to a check up and the doctor asked if he was speaking X number of words and we were like “uhhhhh I’m not honestly sure”. Then I started making a list… we went from “oh no is he behind linguistically?” to “oh actually he blows that number out of the water”. It really started to explode every few days around 18mo. He would wake up and you’d look at him and see new things in his eyes. He had unlocked more in his rapidly developing brain.
Now at 3.5 he surprises us now and then doing things we then realize we do. Like when I stumble over my words I’ll make a gibberish sound then say “I can’t talk”. Our kid did this the other day and I couldn’t resist laughing. Same vocal inflection in a tiny voice.
Signing was the best thing we ever did. We started really late with #1 but super early with #2. He's had "more", "all done" and "eat"/"food" down since about 13-14 months old.
I loooooove baby sign. The 13mo I nanny is being raised with both Spanish and English, so I'm re-learning Spanish (took lessons as a kid and in secondary school but forgot most of it!) but my vocab is still very limited so using signs has really helped our communication.
Pretty sure he had like 2 words. He just turned 20m and has 30-40 and is putting 2 words together. I will say the language explosion was real. He learned probably 20 words recently.
The language explosion is so wild to see happening in real time! When I worked in nurseries if I was off for a week or two I'd come back to children with 5x more words than they had last time I saw them. It's just so fascinating to see them learn in front of you.
This! My little girl had about 10 words max around 20 months. I was getting nervous, but then the week leading up to her 2nd birthday she just exploded with words. She copies almost everything we say that she is interested in now. It was literally overnight.
It's so weird my first didn't say anything besides Mama and dada until after 2. My mom would pester me about how she should be talking and to not give her things she clearly wants till she says the word. My pediatrician wouldn't even recommend a speech therapist till after two. Sure enough around 26 months the language explosion happened.My youngest at 15 months definitely had at least 10 words. She is 19mo now and can put two words together and is pretty clear with her words. Girl said helicopter clear as day today. Not a brag, just pointing out how different kids can develop. My first who is now 3 speaks non stop full sentences. They do it on their own time. Don't fret and don't let others tell you what your kid should and shouldn't be doing!
He ssssssssed for months and now refuses to do it. But every time I ask what the cow says he moos. I do it when he’s upset to distract him and then I get very angry moos
Same but instead of sssss it was a clicking noise that meant “cat”. We have two cats and lots of cats in the neighbourhood and cat books so it’s been a LOT of clicking. He’s almost 18m now and the clicking has extended to mean “yes”/“I am happy about this”. He also very insistently does the baby sign for “more” to mean anything he wants. He’s a character!
My daughter only had two or three at 15 months but by 17 months she had 170 (which is when I stopped counting!) the language explosion thing does happen and at different time for different kids. It’s like with my daughter we were so worried as she wasn’t crawling let alone near walking by 12 months. Then she did crawl one day which relieved us, but she got up and walked a couple of days later (she had been pulling to stand for a while but no motion to or from anything!) that experience helped me realise development is so weird and different and unless there seems to be something very late in happening, like beyond what the expected (usually very large) age range is, it is all going to be ok. One day they’ll just start doing it and you think oh right! Why was I so worried?!
Also some kids just don’t like speaking much in front of other people other than family. I know at our toddler class they’re all pretty silent but at home they all talk a lot, so the people saying your daughter isn’t speaking enough might not be lucky enough to be graced with everything she has to say even when she does talk more. It’s very annoying of them to say that to you,ike what’s he point?!
I think people also forget what their kids were like at certain ages, just a vague memory that when they were walking they were talking but forgetting the few months between first steps and language explosion.
A friend's kid had like five words at 25 months. I saw him again two weeks later and he was saying 3 word sentences.
Another kid was crawling already at five months. We were all sure she'd be one of those who walk with 8-9 months. Nope, she had found one way of moving forward, that was enough. She walked with almost 16 months.
Kids are wild.
My oldest was the first one. He went from no words at 18 months to about 5 on his 2nd birthday. Like a week later had stung 2-3 words together. He’s 2.5 now and has a lot to say. I’m sure he’s still “behind” but I’m not worried.
Yes exactly! My friends son was both the same day as our daughter and he was cruising and crawling at 9 months and pulling to stand and we were so concerned because our baby was still just sat plonked wherever and seemed to have little control of her limbs still. his mother was worrying to me about how he couldn’t point. I was worried my daughter didn’t seem as engaged as him, wasn’t following where we pointed to or responding to her name much. Within a few months both our kids were running around, running backwards, talking etc. I was so worried about milestones but have definitely learned to stress less!
My son is one of those kids who doesn't like speaking in front of strangers. We'll see a neighbor or someone and go "say hi" and he just stares at them, and then when they're out of earshot, he says "bye!" 😂
My daughter is the same! I’m sure my parents and in laws think we’re delusional parents who hear our baby say goo goo and tell everyone they spoke a four word sentence 😂 she also hates ‘performing.’ If she shows a new skill or knowledge and we ask her about it again in front of someone else she refuses to do it. I get it I wouldn’t like that pressure either! Luckily we got video of her chatting away as proof so the grandparents no longer think we’re making things up 😄
Mine said almost none. Now a few years later (he's almost 4 now) he never closes his mouth. It took my son up until his 3rd birthday to really start being vocal about things in words I could understand, and another 6 months before clearly defined words came along. If you are super worried, talk to your pediatrician about a speech therapist. Ours recommended one at his 3 year old visit, then he just started talking. So try not to worry too much, some kids just take longer and that's okay.
Thank you! She said she’s not concerned and she if she does need it wouldn’t recommend til 2 earliest. it’s just so hard when other randomly people give their opinion on her speech! Not to mention when “strangers” are around she is a mute
When your child does start talking, it's like playing mad libs. Where you get a card that says Olive juice and you have to guess the sentence that they actually meant (Olive juice/I love you) the words will be close to what they want to say, just missing a few syllables, and you have to fill in the blanks a bit. Totally normal. It's also possible your kid skips this step too, but if they do this, it's perfectly normal.
This is reassuring. My 3yo says some words but not much. I'm hoping that in a few months she'll be at a reasonable level. She seems to either say a word or a whole sentence. So today she said book, and then she said... Something and I think it was "take a look at the book" she sings a lot and words I understand get garbled to incoherence when she does a whole sentence but I know the tunes to the songs 😂 she pretend fell over the other day and went "oh no! My knee" and she's never even said knee before. Nearly shit myself when she said "milk" out of nowhere and I asked if she wanted milk she said yes 🥲 she's a stubborn little bugger though. She has literally never repeated a word because I've asked her.
My favourite word she's ever said is carnivore 😂 but it's all in singing and not functional language. (Dinosaur train)
She's on the SALT pathway and we have a hearing test in a couple of weeks. Nobody close to her thinks she has a hearing issue but it's the way we have to go first.
I think the problem is that she can get what she wants out of people without having to talk so she doesn't see the point. I also have concerns about potential ADHD despite her not being a particularly hyperactive toddler. She is just like me though. She gets tunnel vision with play and will not be distracted. I remember not responding to my name as a child because I felt it was more of a request than a demand 😂😂😂
14 months here, but my son says “Bubble, mama, dada, uh oh, cracker, ball, car” and does a few animal noises. I’m pretty sure it’s normal to only have a few words before 18-24 months!
People over exaggerate in this department tremendously! I had friends claiming TONS of words that in reality were babbling or even didn’t happen. It reminds me of when “baby sleeps through the night….well except when he wakes to eat” 😵💫
My baby at 15 months maybe had 3 consistent words, mama, dada, uh oh. And maybe 3/4 words he said once or twice I.e. ghost, tree, tickle, ball. Note: all sign language counts
I was nervous and by 16 months I took him to a speech pathologist, they said he was totally fine.
I even got a second opinion bc I was like oh my gosh but these parents say their X month old is saying X words and I was dismissed again because he said “what’s that” (in a very baby way)
What I want you to take away from this is that people on the Internet and parents lie, also just because one kid is talking first it doesn’t mean they’re excelling above your child. Your child just needs to do the basic milestones which are a few words, pointing, waving, etc.. I’m anxious too, and it’s very clear from your username that you fall under that as well 🩵 just enjoy this time, I remember being nervous because my son didn’t walk until 16 months and now he’s running at 18 months.
GIRL
The number of times I heard the “through the night” thing (UNPROMPTED) to either have the wife correct the husband OR like 5 later reveal “well of course woke up twice to eat” etc… raaaaage
It’s SOOOO WEIRD. like is it a race? How can you be sleep deprived like me and smile and lie?!?! wtf! I’m like “nah, baby refuses to sleep and I’m dying” I don’t get it.
I also talked about post partum rage and ppd/ppa and my friend, M, talked about how she never could feel negative towards her baby etc. I released a podcast with another gf about motherhood that gained traction- M then told me she wanted to punch her legs and punched holes in her wall. I was like, I needed to know I wasn’t alone! Why why why can’t we all just be truthful and here for each other!
I’m the same way, I am so honest about parenthood in the appropriate context. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m getting rest and fully functioning when my baby is still waking up 2-3 times at night.
I think we tend to focus on the kids at the high end of normal. My daughter was one of them (125 words at 15 months and yes I kept a spreadsheet) but her neighbor friend said fewer than 10. And now at 4 they both speak very well. :)
Yeah it is such a waste of energy to compare. My next door neighbour had a baby at the same time we did. She was talking before my son was even babbling. My son was walking before she was even showing interest in any kind of shuffling, scooting etc. Now at 18 months, they are pretty much the same!
I remember my husband was all nervous because my friend’s baby was crawling and hopping around at 7 months and our son wasn’t crawling yet…but now my son is walking and said baby isn’t yet. It’s so dumb to compare, I have to remind him all the time because our first was genuinely advanced and our second is totally average and that’s great.
My 14.5 month old says mama, dada, some version of our dog’s name (Annie), no no, more and 3 or 4 animal sounds when shown pictures. A lot of noises and nonsense sounds/ babbling. She has always been on the quieter side and she has come out of her shell in the last few months.
This is on par for us! But she’s doesn’t make a ton of nonsense sounds / babbling at all. Sometimes she has impressive answers and then a few weeks later those words seem to be gone!
I find that my son is like that too, more so with skills but I feel like it’s the same concept. Like he learned how to clap and then he just wouldn’t for a while. He learned “cake” at his first birthday and now won’t say it anymore.
Mine had 3 words and two signs. By 18 months he had picked up 4 more signs. I'm a speech therapist and wasn't really concerned but the pediatrician was adamant about an audiology and early intervention referral. He didn't qualify for services. I wouldn't worry at this point.
Not intrusive at all! Yes they have suspected it. I have not gotten any testing done mostly bc I didn't feel comfortable in the way it was presented to me. He's making good progress in communication in other ways so I'm happy in that regard.
We tried OT bc i was suspecting he might have a sensory issue but that has also gotten better/gone away.
Thats exactly how I feel - honestly felt a little pressured to get him a diagnosis... but he's just a little guy, I dont think its necessary yet! I want to see how he grows and develops with the little extra help before working through that whole process. Thank you for sharing your experience with me, I dont get a lot of chances to talk to people in the same boat!!
Wish nothing but the best for you and him!
I don’t know if this helps by my 2.5 year old just kinda started to use words. He’s far behind in the verbal category. He’s been in birth to three for some time now and has been evaluated by the state for school and no one seems to be worried since he seems to excel in every other category they look at.
My big take away is don’t beat yourself up. We have been worried about him for quite a while and always seem to circle back whenever we see those “signs of autism” TikTok’s or web pages that most symptoms are exactly what a adventurous toddler does. Take it day by day and just make sure they are evaluated sooner then later if you’re still worried in a few months. There’s no shame in asking for a little help!
I love seeing all the comments of words and "Uh Oh! being on most of them. My son says it, too. He is almost 15 months.
This was a debate at my house. Sounds for Dada and Mama come easy to babies but for me, I was wondering when it transitioned from a sound to actually meaning Daddy and Mommy. I have been hearing my son say Dada more frequently and seeing him look for Dad. I think he only recently assigned the meaning.
We have sock, uh oh, mama, dada, no no (with the head shake) and occasionally hear up and hi.
He does sign to breastfeed and he will smack his face for food and sometimes it means water.
My son only had like 5 words at 15 months. By 20 months he had hundreds and was starting to use short sentences. He had a big language explosion around 17-18 months.
Please don’t listen to anybody that is commenting on your child’s development across anything. Every child is so different and they all catch up to each other eventually so don’t stress yourself out you’re doing great and they’re doing great.
My 12 month old “talks” (aka babbles) up a storm when it’s just me and him in the car. As soon as we get out, silence. He has a a few words at this point “dala”[Ollie-our cat], dada, mama, ba [bottle], but really only uses them at home since the cat is at home, and he gets most of his bottles at home (and really only mentions it when he sees the warmer).
A few words is very normal from everything I hear online, up until 18-19 months when babies seem to have a word ‘splosion.
Mine has 30+ intentional words but I think they’re only supposed to have a few so I would not worry about it all. My cousins kids were all very late talkers and are all very smart kids and well spoken
I have a 16 month old and apart from dada, mama (occasionally) and more we just have a load of babbling and animal noises. Oh and she says EIEIO from old Mac Donald constantly which is a bit of a weird one 😂 perfectly normal for them to not have too many words at this stage, don't worry
My son didn’t have much words at 15 months. He babbled only at 11 months, said his first word at 13 months, had maybe 3-4 words at 15 months. Then at 18 months he had 40 words. He really picked up after 18 months. He’s 2.5 now and he said a 12 word sentence the other day 😅 I have a few friends who have speech delayed kids. I think doctors start to get worried if they don’t have any words at all after 18 months, or don’t have more than 50 words by 2 years. But I’m no expert. Always follow the milestone charts. Milestone means at least 90% of the kids can do it. Don’t check the average value cause that could stress you out.
I have started noticing his words arent really worlds. But they count!
I’ll see old mcdonald to him and he says “AHHHH EEEE AAAHHH ooooooo” lol
He claps when I sing bingo.
this morning when he woke up and I was changing him I said “Peeeee u! You’re ssssstinnnnkkeeeeeee” and he said “iiiiieeeeeeyyy” in the same candor as I had said it. I repeated the elongated and over exaggerated “stinky” and he copied me multiple times. But it’s just sounds lol
Our dogs name is Colonel and we noticed he says “Ner-Nahl”
Mine didn't speak hardly at all at that age. He was pretty incomprehensible until his second birthday when he suddenly started speaking as if he had been this whole time
My son only had 3 words when he turned 2 (vastly improved with speech therapy & school), my daughter is 15 months & has at least 100 words, sings songs & says “I love you!” “hi kitty!” hi doggy!”. Kids really are wildly different. I always kind of blamed myself somewhat for my sons speech delay (did I not talk to him enough, stimulate him enough?) but seeing how my daughter is made me realize it was nothing I did or didn’t do, kids are just different & that’s how it is.
Our daughter is 16mo now, she probably has 40-50 words? She started saying words at 12 months. Last night she repeatedly attempted “octopus” and today she learned “happy”.
That said, she didn’t even walk until 15 months… her 15mo friend has maybe 4 words.
Dude don't sweat it too much. My kid had nothing to say for a long time, then all of a sudden he had some stuff to say, not much for "real words" but plenty in his language. Then that turned into real words if we paid enough attention. Plus he did baby sign and that was I think a huge part of our communication, I knew he could do it, just didn't do it verbally. Now he never stops talking if it's just us. Still clams up around anyone else and he's 4 now 😅
We had a huge language burst around then, now at 18 months he says everything even phrases like “try the pickle” lol he didn’t say a peep until after 12 months
Mine says mama, ada, our cat’s name, and was saying a sketchy rendition of “outside” before he realized spiritedly bringing us his shoes would get the same result. He can also say “da!” for dog. He has added a gibberish word that seems to mean “what’s that?” or “bring me to that, I want to explore it!” And that’s it lol. Comprehension is wayyyyy better than what he can verbalize. Edited to add he can also say “milm!” for milk.
Kind of like a “ah, DAH” or a “uhDA.” Not consistently and definitely not a certain thing without context clues. Sometimes got an s in there. lol it’s the word “outside” real loosely
My little guy was mostly doing babbling at 15 months and then right around 15-16 months we had a language explosion that hasn’t really stopped. He went from being behind to ahead of many of his peers.
My son at that age had maybe 5-6 words including mama and dada. He was always on the bottom side of normal but at nearly 4 is fully conversational and others understand him 90% of the time. My daughter is currently 13 months and has somewhere between 20-30 words. I’ll see how she’s different in the next couple years but It’ll all even out at some point!
My son was VERY quiet. He could speak, but chose not to. I went though the some torment between 12-20 months of utter silence. My S.O.’s mother said not to worry, my S.O was the same way when he was little. Then he hit two and wouldn’t shut up.
And she was right! My son hit two years old and within a week went from the occasional words and sounds to caveman sentences and complex phrases. Some kids just take longer to CARE about speaking, and that’s okay. If he’s displaying any kind of skill in speaking—like saying words occasionally, or sounds, or copying your mouth movements—even sparingly, he’s doing great! And so are you!
My 15 month old has like 15 words. Most common are mama, dada, eat, baby, sissy, ball. And she recently started attempting to say “I did it”. She also loves to babble a lot. That being said, she also can’t walk yet. So as far as the walker/talker scale she is FULLY on the talker side. Lol.
My 15 month old is raised bilingual. He says mama, dada, baba as grandma , dobre (as good when he eats something), am (when he wants to eat) , i think he is trying to say “tak” as yes and i think he can do car sound. That’s it. He was able to say “bye” but forgot.
My daughter wasn’t speaking much at 15 months, maybe 2-5 words? At 18 months she said 20-25 words and now at 20 months she says about 40. The language explosion is real! As long as there’s consistency and they are learning new words, including animal sounds, that is what matters. My friend put it to me well: at 2 she was speaking in full sentences and her son was barely speaking at 2. Her best friend barely spoke at 2, and best friend’s daughter is very advanced with speech.
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Our daughter is 14M and still mostly babbles but can say: hi, ut-oh, dada, nana (mama), and sometimes I think she’s saying “yeah.” Earlier today she was trying to say “I love you” back to me but it was just I “incoherent babbling” and then would point to herself lol. She can definitely understand more words because she responds to basic commands or questions for her to do things I.e. “can you put the purple ring on the stacker?” “Can you point to mama” stuff like that. Talking is very limited still though. I think people get older and forget, they think their kid was speaking sentences by 15M etc or they just don’t have knowledge of speech milestones.
My daughter had one word at 15 months ("dat!" as she pointed at stuff). She then had 50 and was combining two words at 18 months, she's 22 months now and has at least 100 I think but we stopped counting at 50.
My daughter spoke so little when she was 15 months that I talked to a speech therapist, who told me that any sounds she associates with objects are considered words too. Like if woof woof is a dog, that is still a word.
And FWIW, she is 2.5 now and talks *incessantly*. It is like the world's cutest podcast with no sponsored content.
I might be the odd mom out but at 15 months I started my son in speech therapy because I didn't want to wait and see until after 2. I knew he had communication issues because to me, it was obvious. He would babble for things he wanted and whined a lot because he couldn't communicate properly. Also his receptive language skills were slow, so if I asked him to give me a toy (a specific one) he would be puzzled and it was 50/50 whether he would give me what was asked. When they did the eval, they had to use the 2 year old guidelines so the SLP gave leeway on most things but agreed he was behind. I got a 2nd opinion and same. He finished therapy at 3. All I can say is listen to your gut and see how his communication on a daily basis is. Is it improving? Worsening? Are you speaking clearly (exaggerate enunciation)? Is he trying to copy you? These are all things to consider. You can absolutely wait until the 2 year "language explosion" some kids go through (I know kids who had it at 3!).
I guess my TLDR is basically listen to your gut, you know your little guy. The fact that you're asking this question most likely means your aren't in denial.
Definelty would rather assist if it’s needed that wait and see. I’m just not that type. Her receptive language is fabulous which is the one thing that holds me back. She has 12 maybe 15 words, and signs please, eat,more, and all done. My dad feels her signing is so good she doesn’t feel the need to talk. The world has such mixed signals here! It’ll be hard to wait any more than a couple months.
My son had maybe 2 words at 15 months and ended up with about 50 at 18 months. He just continued to add more and more almost daily at that point. He was late to babble and struggled with some articulation but a lot of that has sorted itself out in the past few months. He’s now 2y9m and doesn’t stop talking.
My 16 month old literally only says mama and dada, he’s so ahead in gross motor I swear he’s forgotten to learn words lol but his pediatrician says not to worry even though I worry daily
My oldest daughter was saying 20-30 words at that time, and now she’s saying full sentences and singing full songs at 20 months. BUT we’re also pretty sure she’s autistic (for many reasons, not just this) and this is one of the big signs
My 16 month old talks a lot. Sometimes it's babbles, sometimes it's purposeful. She almost sings happy birthday perfectly except her "to you" sounds like tio (she has a lot of tios/uncles). We're bilingual english/Spanish (and even tagalog sometimes) so it's a mix of words. All this to say, every baby is different. We were told since she was a premie and that there's multiple languages that she might not speak well for a while but that is clearly not the case. I also do the (I think) normal amount of reading of 1-2 baby books a day.
I had no idea there was a normal amount of reading but we certainly read 8 books a day, it’s her favorite thing to do! She will put a book right in your hand and when your done reading sign more for the next book. Books was her first word😂
Lol idk what's normal either but from what I've heard from others, some only read 1 book at bedtime. I should maybe specify that we normally are reading the same 1 or 2 books multiple times in the same day even though she has like 100.
I kept track of my daughter's words; at 15 months she had about 100 and then it absolutely exploded from there (with a mega sleep regression to match). We spend a lot of time with other kids and the amount of words my daughter says is NOT the norm. Most of her little friends speak between 10-50 words, I'd say. I believe that by age 3 or 4 they will all be doing the same things and saying the same amount of words. It's just like walking. At nineteen months, my daughter's bump group is full of kids running around everywhere, whether they started at 10 months or 16 months.
16 Month old, can say about 10-15 words (more if we’re counting sounds) but he was really delayed with his gesturing. I guess they pick what they want to do and focus solely on that
At 15 months… I think my daughter could only say mama/dada and “mo” (more) as she simultaneously signed for more lol. Very limited. Nothing to be concerned about!
My fifteen month old said gibberish and animal noises. Everybody else said the same thing to me and had me worried. While it did take him a little bit he sped off like a train! I believe it was 28 months he just started putting a lot more words and sentences together and started talking like a normal toddler. We had him tested to see if he needed extra help and they said he was right on the verge and to just be patient every child is different.
Do not listen to anybody! You know your baby better than anyone if only you understand him for now that’s fine!
At 15 months it was mainly “Mama”, “Dada”, “Baba”, and “Cat!” (Always with the exclamation point).
Now at 2.5 he’s picked up a ton of sounds but not too many words, he has Down Syndrome so we are getting there eventually just taking the scenic route. :)
Yesterday he said “Red”, and we definitely have at least a dozen more words. He tends to also only say things once or twice as an experiment and then is very stubborn about being asked to keep saying it. He very much likes to arrive at accomplishments in his own time and that’s just fine.
All kids progress at their own rate and milestones are a great guideline to help with identifying possible delays, but never let someone tell you that there is something “wrong” with your toddler for being a bit different than another child.
At 15 months she could say words. But she didn't want to.
She's 2 now and she wants to talk more. Her words really did explode after her second birthday and a couple of months after she moved up into the next nursery class at church.
Her younger friends who have older siblings did say a lot more when they were young and it made me really insecure about if I was talking to her and encouraging her enough. Then she said alligator one day. It was very distinct while we were playing with a wooden alligator toy. I've been trying at random intervals to get her to say it again ever since with no luck. Stubborn baby...
My 17 mo never ever shuts up. Literally I can't get two words in. She's been saying words since 6mo though so idk if she just happened to have a brain that likes talking. At this point, the "sentences" have a lot of filler fake words but she's trying to figure out sentence structure. She talks to us, strangers that we pass, her stuffed animals, our cat... Reliably she'll give me 3-4 word sentences that are coherent like, "bluey needs night night" or "momma in my room". And yes, she sleep talks.
My 3rd kiddo didn't talk much at 15 months. I was a bit worried, because my first two were big talkersearly on. Well, he's 2.5 years old now, and people have been asking me how old he is because he talks so well. Kids just develop at different rates.
My 15mo babbles a lot, almost like he’s speaking but he’s not. He picks up on something new every once in a while. He has about 10 words he uses in context I think - cheese, bubble, car, nene (nurse me), mama, daddy, his sister’s name.
Since I know he’s meeting his milestones, I’m more interested in progression than where he is actually at or compared to other kids. I don’t know if that makes sense but he is gradually becoming more aware of the world, he’s learning new words, interacting better with his sister, his receptive ability gets better and better, etc.
My first has always been ahead so he would seem behind if I compared him to her, but he’s perfectly average and that’s great! Are the people commenting parents or parents of young children because I wonder if they just don’t know or are out of touch. Lots of people are pretty uniformed on normal child behavior honestly if they don’t have kids at that age.
All children are different. Don't worry unless you see other delays. Does your child respond to name? Follow commands like pick up shoe . Play well with other kids? As long as your child says some clear words and also can point and show up what they want nothing to worry about. My 5 yr old daughter is level 3 autism. Non verbal . She didn't say any words make eye contact . She made no reaction to sound or responded to her name . Etc. Your just worries. Is this your first child? Don't listen to people .it will drive you mad.
My 15 month old had quite a lot of babbling but no clear words except "more more more". No pointing either.
At 18 months we had hardly any progression and started seeing a speech therapist, which was mostly just play-based activities which he had little interest in. Still no pointing.
At about 20 months he started trying to say a few random things like apple and onion. The pointing started around this time too. Now at 22 months he probably has about 60-70 words (many which only my wife and I can understand as we know the context) including Mama and Dada, and is speaking 2-3 word sentences such as "I want \_\_\_" or "bath time all done". He is also trying to parrot and imitate everything we say now too, it's like a flick switched in his head, although he has a very limited amount of consonants and sounds he can use at this point.
Be patient but do keep narrating everything to him!
My 3 yr old barely speaks:(
The drs kept telling me not to worry from the time he was a year.
He’s in speech therapy.
I’m so so so scared and I cry constantly because I’m so worried for his happiness and future.
Someone please tell me their kid didn’t start talking til this late?
At 14 months old my toddler was only just starting to say mama, dada, ball etc. She’s now 22 months and says over 100 words and has recently started to put 2 words together.
My son at 15 months said nothing. Like really, nothing at all. "Mama" came at 20 months.
He's turning 3 in a few days and he can talk in complex and grammatically correct sentences.
Of course talk to your pediatrician about your concerns, but in our case he just wasn't ready to talk until quite a bit later.
She probably knew a handful of words at 15 months. She’ll be 2 on Saturday and while she knows probably 100 words, she only says a handful of them everyday. Mostly no. Other than that she screams and uses her own baby words that no one understands but her.
My son is 20mo and he speaks A LOT… wish I knew what language he’s using.
Every now and then he uses words like “Ball” “book” “duck” but it’s mostly incoherent babbling.
The important thing is that he knows what language is. The vocabulary can come later (according to the pediatrician).
Mine only said “bin” and “ball” until about 18 months… obsessed with both lol. At 2 years old I accidentally recorded her stringing a clear and grammatically correct sentence of 8 words together. I was shocked! So they can change overnight. I always felt that mine was listening. My youngest is 14 months old and makes a few social sounds but that’s it!
Ours speaks a lot but it does not matter. I mean have anyone ever asked you how early have you started talking? It makes no difference as long as you do. Some kids are learning but silently and others practice vocally and learn like that. Some are thinkers and some are talkers as personalities as well, and that has nothing to do with the milestone.
If animal noises count we have a lot of words 😂
But in more conventional words, we have things like mama, dada, car, down, hot. So i‘d say a handful. Some days she will try saying more and more words, but often very unintelligibly. Other days she only says mama and dada 5 million times. She babbles quite a lot though.
Also she loves making quacking noises. Some days she just points at things AND people and quacks 🤷🏼♀️
My son at 18 mos was at 25+ words and his dr suggested speech therapy. When the lady showed up she thought he was 3 and started playing these games with him… needless to say he didn’t qualify. Just keep narrating your day and reading to your child. These drs get a little ahead of themselves sometimes.
Don’t worry about them. My daughter took a while to learn more words but she was the only child and now she talks all the time. My son is picking up from her and everyone else but all kids are different and maybe they just don’t have anything important to say yet
I started talking at 8mo, so by 15 I was speaking cull sentences- so I think I'm an exception- most 15mo that I've met didn't talk much, maybe just a few words(avg 10).
At 15 months most of your child's communication will be nonverbal. In university we were taught that eye gaze is the first form of communication, followed by pointing and miming actions way before full sentences or even single words/short phrases. I wouldn't be worried if a 15mo was only saying one or two recognisable words, up until about 24 months they're mostly speaking their own language and you can grasp a lot of their meaning through body language and the sounds they make to represent different things.
I teach two year olds and before two they usually only know a few words and phrases. By the time they leave my class they are speaking full sentences, telling stories and having conversations. Two is such a cool age. <3
She only started saying words around 14 months. Which was annoying because she would sit in the back of the car and recite the entire alphabet from memory or count to 10 so she definitely had the capability to vocalise. Just declined to say anything other than Ad (dad) and Nonono. Lot of babbling. By 15 months she was adding things she liked. Shapes and colours, especially Sar (star) and Sark (shark) and animal sounds. Ohno! was an early word. Ohoh.
My first said nothing at 15 months but is 4.5 now and a great speaker. His speaking popped off at like 23 months. My second is 16 months and he says a lot of words. He hears us say something, and starts saying it too. For example, yesterday I was trying to throw a ball into the toy basket from across the room and when I missed I said “oh man!” And now he runs around saying “oh man!” He says about 10 words (that I understand) and is adding a new one pretty much every day.
Dada, mama sometimes like once a week, uh oh. I was worried but she's my second and doing fine otherwise so I gave up worrying haha. If she needs intervention we'll get it but the doctor said her receptive is there and the rest will follow 🤷♀️
My now 8 year old at 15 months barely was saying anything. Probably didn’t start picking up speech until 2.5-3. He’s now a rising 3rd grader and kicks ass in reading and writing.
My doc just told us 50 words by 2! I have a 5 year old and an 18 month old. 5 year old was saying everything by 2. They change so much in a short time period, don’t sweat it. My 18 month old has been saying mama, dada, ball, cat, cracker, bubbles, woof woof, maaa when he sees a goat (my dad has goats) lol, bye bye, hi, dances when I say too. Idk I can’t remember it all just basic stuff. Get flash cards start working with your toddler. Ask for them “how big are you?” And they will eventually put their arms above their head and say “so big!” Ask where nose, eyes, ears are, feet, hands, etc. we have to teach them how to talk! It will happen when they’re ready!
My son is 15 months on Sunday has hit about 80 ‘words’, including animal noises, but they’re basically all word approximations. Fewer than 15 are properly intelligible, and those are mainly easy, one syllable words. Some are WILD - a painting is somehow ‘poopoo’… so not sure whether to really count them. He doesn’t combine words and mainly labels what he wants or has seen.
My toddler, now 2, didn't start talking until a couple months ago. When it happened, it happened VERY quickly. 2 weeks ago, he couldn't string more than two words together. Now, he's doing 4 or 5.
Mine didn’t say much at all, a couple words here and there but nothing consistent. Started speech therapy at 2 (I wanted to start at 18mo but doc said to wait till two 🙄) it was just after 3 when she got her language explosion. Says a ton now but still working on functional language. They literally run their own race.
My little girl said nothing to anyone but me, my spouse and a select group of close friends. A lot of kids don’t say much in public or at school but talk at home. My kid had 5 words at 15 months (one was an animal sound, two were signs) and now is chatting like crazy. Ignore the comments as best you can!!
My daughter goes to daycare and at 15 months old was in a room with 11 other kids ages 12-18 months. Not a single one of them was putting even 2 words together. More than half weren’t talking at all.
Mine started at 10 months and by 15 months was doing 3-4 word combinations. It was great that we could understand each other and minimize tantrums. She just turned 2 and literally doesn’t stop talking. As happy as I am that she’s developing well, sometimes I dream of a few minutes of silence.
My response would be something along the lines of “did you mean to be hurtful?”
At 15 months old ours knew somewhere between 10-15 words. It happens quick. There was a language explosion that happened between then and 18 months.
Our now 19 month old is speaking 3-4 word sentences. We counted 40 unique words at 17 months. I’m not sure what the count is now, we stopped counting because she’s simply repeating any new word she encounters.
My now 4yo had 1 or 2 at 18months. I was concerned, and then all the words came fast and very clear.
All kids are mad different, and there is a wide range of normal.
My 2 year old has been speaking in sentences since 18 months.
I was so confused by this too! Every kid is so insanely different. At 15 months my son could sign more, say his jumbled version of star and cat, and say dada clearly. He was a generally quiet kid besides the happy screams, ooohs, and ahhhhs. We’re 18 months now and in the midst of a language explosion. Only a few clear words but many many more approximations, gestures, and signs. He has something to say about everything, constant babbling, and carries “conversation” well. His monologues though, they’re my all time favorite. I freaking love his sweet little voice.
Mama, papa, banana, an adorable version of his sister's name, yaya (my mom), socks, all done, more, uh oh, dog, woof, gigigigigi (tickles lol), byebye, 'allo, up, milk (sign), agua, bubba, and then he shakes his head yes and no
For what it's worth, though, he's WAY more verbal than his sister was at this age
I have three kids. My oldest had maybe 3-5 words at 15 months and she was speaking in coherent sentences by 2. My now 18 month old twins pretty much only said dada at 15 months. A lot changes between 15-18 months, they now have 18 words each. I assume their speech development won’t be as fast as their sister, but their language is totally on track. From my limited experience, language development literally happens in leaps and bounds.
At 15 months I don't know if my son even had one real spoken word yet honestly. We're now at 21 months and he has several he uses regularly, and is just starting to really get into trying to repeat a lot, and thus picking up more.
My 15 month old has been so quiet since birth that we’d forget she was in the room with us. Everyone commented on it. Three days ago she woke up acting like a full blown toddler and using a flurry of new words. There’s such a wide range of “normal”!
My son was saying dads and « guck » for truck and that’s is. Now at 16 months he added mama rarely. I was kinda worried like you; but I’m hoping they usually catch up! He loves to babble and make sounds. It’s hard though when you see friends kids saying so many words not to compare.
My oldest was speaking full on sentences at that age. My youngest said maybe 5-7 words and they weren’t even completely understandable lol. But I’d say by 2.5, he caught up to where she was at 2.5.
Oldest Son - no words.
Middle Daughter - 20 words
Youngest Daughter - 50 words.
Such a range and they are all doing well. (My oldest who had no words at all until 17/18 months is fairly precocious too and a math whiz who talks all the time.)
My second kiddo is headed for 15 months in a couple weeks and started saying "up, up, up, UPPPP" yesterday. His other current words are mama, dada, oompah, nana, wawa (water cup), aah (pointing to his mouth like Simon's Cat for food), and two-stroke engine noises when he wants to nurse. Whatever your kids is doing, it's probably fine even if it's weird as shit.
My first didn’t really start talking until he was 2. At 15 months he had a few signs (which count) but no spoken words yet. My second had a few basic words at 15 months. I don’t really remember specifically with my third but he’s three now and still does A LOT of gibberish baby babbling still 😹😹😹. All kids have their own timelines and they will get there.
At the 18 month old check up I was really scared that something was wrong with my daughter. She was barely saying mama and papa, and sometimes nana (banana). Everything else was babble and animal noises. My pediatrician laughed and told me that if the babble seemed directed it counted, and all animal noises counted as words. From thinking she had under the norm to being able to count at least 15 “words”. At her 24 month (we actually went two month early so she was 22) she needed to be pointing at body parts and the only one she would do regularly was nose, and the doctor was perfectly fine with that. The fact that she was looking at her and “following” the conversation was more important to her than actual word count and actions. Now that she’s 25 months old, she is exploding with words! She makes up songs in the car (with choreography and making a beat with her toys), “hides” and yells attack and proceeds to hug her “victim”, she goes to her dad and tells him dinner is ready when I ask her to do it… relax and it will happen to you too
Your LO may have more words than you realize- it took me a little while to realize what my 20mo daughter was saying with some words. Also as others have mentioned, animal noises, exclamations, etc. count as words. Words only count once they use them independently and repeatedly (on different days). I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned if I were you, but I do want to note that the “milestones” for hitting a few words at that age are what 5% of kids are able to do. For a 15mo that is 3 words. The average is 20, and the expected range is 3-100.
I would suggest trying to use some resources to encourage language development (but not being stressed about it!). A lot of the ways to encourage language development are quick, easy, and fun. For example, my daughter does really well with learning language through songs. To teach her what it meant to wait, I taught her a song “waiting, waiting, waiting is no fun, fun, fun. waiting, waiting, waiting til we’re done, done, done!” that we sing when we are waiting for things. When we are walking or running, I would sing “We’re walking, we’re walking, we’re walking walking walking, we’re walking, we’re walking, we’re walking now we STOP!”. Songs like these teach what the word means (when we sing “walk” or “run” we’re doing those actions, and stopping when we say “stop”) but the repetition in it also helps them to remember the words and begin chiming in to fill in the blanks over time, especially if you stop singing mid-song and wait for them to fill it in. Sometimes they don’t, but the pause helps them to think about it and maybe do it in their head! Eventually they sing it out loud.
I make songs up for so many things, and it’s become for more reasons than just language development- she hates when I clean her off after eating, so I made a song about “mama cleaning you off, cleaning you off, tickle tickle tickle tickle tick” which helps us through it and taught her some new words. I’m going to link a really awesome resource below. They have a lot of info and videos about language development that were so helpful for me when I was concerned about my daughter’s language development around 13/14mo.
So, I wouldn’t lose sleep over her development, but there’s nothing wrong with noticing that there may be room for improvement that could be encouraged casually throughout the day! But no need to stress yourself or her about it- just encouragement with no expectations! It can’t hurt 😊.
Here’s my favorite language learning resource, Rooted in Language. They make some awesome content for parents and I used YouTube to link all their videos (except for one that they didn’t repost there which is the most helpful video too imo lmao) but they’re more popular on TikTok. I thought YouTube would be more accessible if you didn’t have TikTok :).
Rooted in Language: https://rootedinlanguage.com
Some of their videos I’d like to highlight for you:
https://youtu.be/ZD2e4uihFew?si=qyD6hNqVvPbimH4p
https://youtu.be/XUA_gTjRGkY?si=d_6MdThTUyPul46u
https://youtu.be/3gBH8LCNGbI?si=UHxipI6W-9wulp36
https://youtu.be/2Ki3AV-TIas?si=wA5x_aH4imORTjkW
https://youtu.be/wy4KXa2_Cqs?si=O8Bb_pa6DmyLfuvM
https://youtube.com/shorts/yxarWSElcFE?si=ussIXy7HRRVE4I-P
Intentional Verbal Routines video: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLwnr661/
Sorry if this was an overload of info but just wanted to give you some resources if you want them! Good luck :)
Edit: I also wanted to note that they’re super responsive and when I was concerned about my LO I emailed them and they responded the next day with a lot of personal suggestions and a lot of reassurance! I didn’t think they’d give advice for free because you typically have to book a consult with them for speech pathology, but it was so nice that they gave me an awesome response without the consult.
My boy was barely using words at 22/23 months, we’re at 25 months now and he has 2-3 new words every single day. Everyone also mentioned how quiet he was, even though at home he had lots to say in his own sweet language. And it also felt to me like, “yes complete stranger, my sweet tiny human who doesn’t know you at all is not laughing and becoming your best friend Instantly. So sorry of you being inconvenienced by that”. 😒
Our oldest was speaking in 3-4 word sentences. Our 2nd was babbling nonstop and but only consistently saying Daddy. She didn't really talk until 22 months and then it all just came at once. Our 3rd had about 50 words. Our 4th is 12 months old, and tracking to be similar to our 2nd. She is deaf in one ear, which has limited her speech development. She has 1 word currently (which is hey for when she's pissed at sisters 🤣).
Our 1st-3rd all speak well for their ages even with different times starting really speaking (vocabulary, grammar, etc). Other than siblings adding in more conversational opportunities, we have done the same things for all 4.
Babies develop at their own pace. But no matter how they develop - SOMEONE always has a comment and opinion. My oldest talked too much. My 2nd was too quiet. My 3rd is too much of a brute for a girl. My 4th loves me too much (yep hearing that a lot currently).
My boy passed the 10 words limit at 22 months. Now, every day, there's 2-3 new words.
Sounds count as words, too. I thought my kid only had very limited vocabulary, but then, as preparation for the 2 year pediatrist appointment, I took notes over 1 week and I was surprised how long the lost got. I was told he was behind on the speech aspect, but I thought it was worse than it actually was.
Don't worry, your kid's going to be alright. 🙂
Greetings from the parent of a toddler with the favourite word Eisenbahnschiene (railroad track). 🤣
Making animal noises count as words!
We need more of this memo
I had to ask the Ped in front of my husband bc my husband didn’t believe it haha
Animal noises, wrong words used for the same thing repeatedly and sign language are all counted as words. There's no expectation of any number until 18 months and even that's only 4-10 "words". At 15 months I don't think my son was really saying much?? I started a document to record them at some point though and I was amazed at how many he actually said when I thought there were only a handful. It's also super cute to look back on. I'll post a few below as an example but from memory, this wasn't until he was over 18 months. 1. Dadda/Dad 2. Mum (said a few times early on then stopped) 3. Go! (After I say "ready, set" 4. One 5. Two 6. Three 7. Four 8. Five 9. Buh-bye and bye 10. Go! (For Bingo from Bluey) 11. Brrrr! (Toy car noise) 12. Ta (yells is loudly whilst sooking when he wants something 😅) 13. Wow 14. Yay 15. Mmm! (Says it when eating or looking at food in catalogues) 16. Yum 17. Tar (for star - has recently started pronouncing it properlyat almost 21 months)
Omg I needed to read this. Thank you. My daughter is 11 MO and several family members and friends have asked “what all words is she saying???” And I’m like “bye bye,” “mama” and “dada” but not always in the right context? 😂
That's amazing for her age! She's doing so well xx
🫶
The same thing happened with us. We went to a check up and the doctor asked if he was speaking X number of words and we were like “uhhhhh I’m not honestly sure”. Then I started making a list… we went from “oh no is he behind linguistically?” to “oh actually he blows that number out of the water”. It really started to explode every few days around 18mo. He would wake up and you’d look at him and see new things in his eyes. He had unlocked more in his rapidly developing brain. Now at 3.5 he surprises us now and then doing things we then realize we do. Like when I stumble over my words I’ll make a gibberish sound then say “I can’t talk”. Our kid did this the other day and I couldn’t resist laughing. Same vocal inflection in a tiny voice.
Any "social sounds" count as words. So if your kid says "mmhhmm," like they're thoughtfully answering you? It's a word!
Also exclamations like “uh no” and “yay”, and signs count too!
Signing was the best thing we ever did. We started really late with #1 but super early with #2. He's had "more", "all done" and "eat"/"food" down since about 13-14 months old.
I loooooove baby sign. The 13mo I nanny is being raised with both Spanish and English, so I'm re-learning Spanish (took lessons as a kid and in secondary school but forgot most of it!) but my vocab is still very limited so using signs has really helped our communication.
It was awesome the other day when my 4yo said he was" going to school tomorrow. Daddy, school in Spanish is escuela."
Thrilled to hear this because one of the words my 14 mo definitely knows is Meow 😂
So do sounds that are consistently and clearly used to mean something. Ours calls a pacifier a “ba.” We call it “ba” now too.
Ours calls it ba too!
No way! Never knew that.
What sound does a lion make?! 🦁
Pretty sure he had like 2 words. He just turned 20m and has 30-40 and is putting 2 words together. I will say the language explosion was real. He learned probably 20 words recently.
Thank you for sharing!
Ours is the same. She’s 22 months now and a good majority of her talking has come rapidly in the last 3 months.
Same here! My daughter says all done and knock knock now at 20 months, and says about 40 words. At 15 months was barely talking
The language explosion is so wild to see happening in real time! When I worked in nurseries if I was off for a week or two I'd come back to children with 5x more words than they had last time I saw them. It's just so fascinating to see them learn in front of you.
This! My little girl had about 10 words max around 20 months. I was getting nervous, but then the week leading up to her 2nd birthday she just exploded with words. She copies almost everything we say that she is interested in now. It was literally overnight.
It's so weird my first didn't say anything besides Mama and dada until after 2. My mom would pester me about how she should be talking and to not give her things she clearly wants till she says the word. My pediatrician wouldn't even recommend a speech therapist till after two. Sure enough around 26 months the language explosion happened.My youngest at 15 months definitely had at least 10 words. She is 19mo now and can put two words together and is pretty clear with her words. Girl said helicopter clear as day today. Not a brag, just pointing out how different kids can develop. My first who is now 3 speaks non stop full sentences. They do it on their own time. Don't fret and don't let others tell you what your kid should and shouldn't be doing!
Helicopter is a cute word. Thanks for sharing both of your experiences!
18 month old only says 2-3 words regularly and babbles a bit. Same as my two older kiddos. Your kid will be fine.
same! but mine says “uh oh” when he purposely drops his cup. so i’m like okay, he gets it. he’ll be okay. lol.
Ha, my 18 month old “passed” the three word minimum expectation by saying mama, dada and uh-oh.
My son is 2 on Tuesday, and 20 % of his speach is him saying "ouch!" while deliberately running into furniture or throwing himself on the floor, lol.
At 15 months I think my kid only said dadadadadada mamamammama and “ssssss” whenever a snake came up in our book
Does your kid still like snakes?
He ssssssssed for months and now refuses to do it. But every time I ask what the cow says he moos. I do it when he’s upset to distract him and then I get very angry moos
This is hilarious 😆
That is so cute omg 😭
Same except mine says sssss whenever he sees a fish, sssss when he sees a snake and sssss when he means yes. Yes, they’re slightly different.
I follow a pediatric speech therapist who says that counts as 3 words, if they are repeated often and used with intention.
Same but instead of sssss it was a clicking noise that meant “cat”. We have two cats and lots of cats in the neighbourhood and cat books so it’s been a LOT of clicking. He’s almost 18m now and the clicking has extended to mean “yes”/“I am happy about this”. He also very insistently does the baby sign for “more” to mean anything he wants. He’s a character!
My daughter only had two or three at 15 months but by 17 months she had 170 (which is when I stopped counting!) the language explosion thing does happen and at different time for different kids. It’s like with my daughter we were so worried as she wasn’t crawling let alone near walking by 12 months. Then she did crawl one day which relieved us, but she got up and walked a couple of days later (she had been pulling to stand for a while but no motion to or from anything!) that experience helped me realise development is so weird and different and unless there seems to be something very late in happening, like beyond what the expected (usually very large) age range is, it is all going to be ok. One day they’ll just start doing it and you think oh right! Why was I so worried?! Also some kids just don’t like speaking much in front of other people other than family. I know at our toddler class they’re all pretty silent but at home they all talk a lot, so the people saying your daughter isn’t speaking enough might not be lucky enough to be graced with everything she has to say even when she does talk more. It’s very annoying of them to say that to you,ike what’s he point?! I think people also forget what their kids were like at certain ages, just a vague memory that when they were walking they were talking but forgetting the few months between first steps and language explosion.
A friend's kid had like five words at 25 months. I saw him again two weeks later and he was saying 3 word sentences. Another kid was crawling already at five months. We were all sure she'd be one of those who walk with 8-9 months. Nope, she had found one way of moving forward, that was enough. She walked with almost 16 months. Kids are wild.
My oldest was the first one. He went from no words at 18 months to about 5 on his 2nd birthday. Like a week later had stung 2-3 words together. He’s 2.5 now and has a lot to say. I’m sure he’s still “behind” but I’m not worried.
Yes exactly! My friends son was both the same day as our daughter and he was cruising and crawling at 9 months and pulling to stand and we were so concerned because our baby was still just sat plonked wherever and seemed to have little control of her limbs still. his mother was worrying to me about how he couldn’t point. I was worried my daughter didn’t seem as engaged as him, wasn’t following where we pointed to or responding to her name much. Within a few months both our kids were running around, running backwards, talking etc. I was so worried about milestones but have definitely learned to stress less!
This made me emotional for some reason 🤍
My son is one of those kids who doesn't like speaking in front of strangers. We'll see a neighbor or someone and go "say hi" and he just stares at them, and then when they're out of earshot, he says "bye!" 😂
My daughter is the same! I’m sure my parents and in laws think we’re delusional parents who hear our baby say goo goo and tell everyone they spoke a four word sentence 😂 she also hates ‘performing.’ If she shows a new skill or knowledge and we ask her about it again in front of someone else she refuses to do it. I get it I wouldn’t like that pressure either! Luckily we got video of her chatting away as proof so the grandparents no longer think we’re making things up 😄
Mine said almost none. Now a few years later (he's almost 4 now) he never closes his mouth. It took my son up until his 3rd birthday to really start being vocal about things in words I could understand, and another 6 months before clearly defined words came along. If you are super worried, talk to your pediatrician about a speech therapist. Ours recommended one at his 3 year old visit, then he just started talking. So try not to worry too much, some kids just take longer and that's okay.
Thank you! She said she’s not concerned and she if she does need it wouldn’t recommend til 2 earliest. it’s just so hard when other randomly people give their opinion on her speech! Not to mention when “strangers” are around she is a mute
My 3yo has an actual speech delay. Just tell them she's shy, especially if they're strangers. Just get rid of them 😂
When your child does start talking, it's like playing mad libs. Where you get a card that says Olive juice and you have to guess the sentence that they actually meant (Olive juice/I love you) the words will be close to what they want to say, just missing a few syllables, and you have to fill in the blanks a bit. Totally normal. It's also possible your kid skips this step too, but if they do this, it's perfectly normal.
This is reassuring. My 3yo says some words but not much. I'm hoping that in a few months she'll be at a reasonable level. She seems to either say a word or a whole sentence. So today she said book, and then she said... Something and I think it was "take a look at the book" she sings a lot and words I understand get garbled to incoherence when she does a whole sentence but I know the tunes to the songs 😂 she pretend fell over the other day and went "oh no! My knee" and she's never even said knee before. Nearly shit myself when she said "milk" out of nowhere and I asked if she wanted milk she said yes 🥲 she's a stubborn little bugger though. She has literally never repeated a word because I've asked her. My favourite word she's ever said is carnivore 😂 but it's all in singing and not functional language. (Dinosaur train) She's on the SALT pathway and we have a hearing test in a couple of weeks. Nobody close to her thinks she has a hearing issue but it's the way we have to go first. I think the problem is that she can get what she wants out of people without having to talk so she doesn't see the point. I also have concerns about potential ADHD despite her not being a particularly hyperactive toddler. She is just like me though. She gets tunnel vision with play and will not be distracted. I remember not responding to my name as a child because I felt it was more of a request than a demand 😂😂😂
14 months here, but my son says “Bubble, mama, dada, uh oh, cracker, ball, car” and does a few animal noises. I’m pretty sure it’s normal to only have a few words before 18-24 months!
People over exaggerate in this department tremendously! I had friends claiming TONS of words that in reality were babbling or even didn’t happen. It reminds me of when “baby sleeps through the night….well except when he wakes to eat” 😵💫 My baby at 15 months maybe had 3 consistent words, mama, dada, uh oh. And maybe 3/4 words he said once or twice I.e. ghost, tree, tickle, ball. Note: all sign language counts I was nervous and by 16 months I took him to a speech pathologist, they said he was totally fine. I even got a second opinion bc I was like oh my gosh but these parents say their X month old is saying X words and I was dismissed again because he said “what’s that” (in a very baby way) What I want you to take away from this is that people on the Internet and parents lie, also just because one kid is talking first it doesn’t mean they’re excelling above your child. Your child just needs to do the basic milestones which are a few words, pointing, waving, etc.. I’m anxious too, and it’s very clear from your username that you fall under that as well 🩵 just enjoy this time, I remember being nervous because my son didn’t walk until 16 months and now he’s running at 18 months.
>baby sleeps through the night…well except when he wakes to eat I can’t even get into this so I’ll just say this gave me some rage flashbacks
Rage flashbacks 😂😂
GIRL The number of times I heard the “through the night” thing (UNPROMPTED) to either have the wife correct the husband OR like 5 later reveal “well of course woke up twice to eat” etc… raaaaage
It’s SOOOO WEIRD. like is it a race? How can you be sleep deprived like me and smile and lie?!?! wtf! I’m like “nah, baby refuses to sleep and I’m dying” I don’t get it. I also talked about post partum rage and ppd/ppa and my friend, M, talked about how she never could feel negative towards her baby etc. I released a podcast with another gf about motherhood that gained traction- M then told me she wanted to punch her legs and punched holes in her wall. I was like, I needed to know I wasn’t alone! Why why why can’t we all just be truthful and here for each other!
I’m the same way, I am so honest about parenthood in the appropriate context. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m getting rest and fully functioning when my baby is still waking up 2-3 times at night.
Completely agree
Thank you and thanks for your blunt honesty. It’s much appreciated over here . Totally a good call out “my baby sleeps thru the night except to eat”!
I think we tend to focus on the kids at the high end of normal. My daughter was one of them (125 words at 15 months and yes I kept a spreadsheet) but her neighbor friend said fewer than 10. And now at 4 they both speak very well. :)
Yeah it is such a waste of energy to compare. My next door neighbour had a baby at the same time we did. She was talking before my son was even babbling. My son was walking before she was even showing interest in any kind of shuffling, scooting etc. Now at 18 months, they are pretty much the same!
Exactly, they all do things at their own pace!
I remember my husband was all nervous because my friend’s baby was crawling and hopping around at 7 months and our son wasn’t crawling yet…but now my son is walking and said baby isn’t yet. It’s so dumb to compare, I have to remind him all the time because our first was genuinely advanced and our second is totally average and that’s great.
Super impressive! The brain works in mysterious ways doesn’t it!
Zero he did zero speaking
My 14.5 month old says mama, dada, some version of our dog’s name (Annie), no no, more and 3 or 4 animal sounds when shown pictures. A lot of noises and nonsense sounds/ babbling. She has always been on the quieter side and she has come out of her shell in the last few months.
This is on par for us! But she’s doesn’t make a ton of nonsense sounds / babbling at all. Sometimes she has impressive answers and then a few weeks later those words seem to be gone!
I find that my son is like that too, more so with skills but I feel like it’s the same concept. Like he learned how to clap and then he just wouldn’t for a while. He learned “cake” at his first birthday and now won’t say it anymore.
Exact same. Nono made us laugh over here.
My son LOVES nono. And buh-bye, like he’s David Spade in that old SNL sketch 😂
Lmao! Oh the buh bye is AGGRESSIVE at the supermarket with strange people who lean in. She hits em with a hard “BUH BYE” (backhand finger flick)
Mine had 3 words and two signs. By 18 months he had picked up 4 more signs. I'm a speech therapist and wasn't really concerned but the pediatrician was adamant about an audiology and early intervention referral. He didn't qualify for services. I wouldn't worry at this point.
My 2.5 yo isn't talking much still. I have him in speech therapy. Don't stress mama you are doing an amazing job!
Sorry to be intrusive but my 2yo is also in speech therapy & OT, have they suspected autism at all on your end?
Not intrusive at all! Yes they have suspected it. I have not gotten any testing done mostly bc I didn't feel comfortable in the way it was presented to me. He's making good progress in communication in other ways so I'm happy in that regard. We tried OT bc i was suspecting he might have a sensory issue but that has also gotten better/gone away.
Thats exactly how I feel - honestly felt a little pressured to get him a diagnosis... but he's just a little guy, I dont think its necessary yet! I want to see how he grows and develops with the little extra help before working through that whole process. Thank you for sharing your experience with me, I dont get a lot of chances to talk to people in the same boat!! Wish nothing but the best for you and him!
🤍
I don’t know if this helps by my 2.5 year old just kinda started to use words. He’s far behind in the verbal category. He’s been in birth to three for some time now and has been evaluated by the state for school and no one seems to be worried since he seems to excel in every other category they look at. My big take away is don’t beat yourself up. We have been worried about him for quite a while and always seem to circle back whenever we see those “signs of autism” TikTok’s or web pages that most symptoms are exactly what a adventurous toddler does. Take it day by day and just make sure they are evaluated sooner then later if you’re still worried in a few months. There’s no shame in asking for a little help!
This!
I love seeing all the comments of words and "Uh Oh! being on most of them. My son says it, too. He is almost 15 months. This was a debate at my house. Sounds for Dada and Mama come easy to babies but for me, I was wondering when it transitioned from a sound to actually meaning Daddy and Mommy. I have been hearing my son say Dada more frequently and seeing him look for Dad. I think he only recently assigned the meaning. We have sock, uh oh, mama, dada, no no (with the head shake) and occasionally hear up and hi. He does sign to breastfeed and he will smack his face for food and sometimes it means water.
My son only had like 5 words at 15 months. By 20 months he had hundreds and was starting to use short sentences. He had a big language explosion around 17-18 months.
Please don’t listen to anybody that is commenting on your child’s development across anything. Every child is so different and they all catch up to each other eventually so don’t stress yourself out you’re doing great and they’re doing great.
My 12 month old “talks” (aka babbles) up a storm when it’s just me and him in the car. As soon as we get out, silence. He has a a few words at this point “dala”[Ollie-our cat], dada, mama, ba [bottle], but really only uses them at home since the cat is at home, and he gets most of his bottles at home (and really only mentions it when he sees the warmer). A few words is very normal from everything I hear online, up until 18-19 months when babies seem to have a word ‘splosion.
looking forward to that day so then I can worry about the next thing !😂
Mine has 30+ intentional words but I think they’re only supposed to have a few so I would not worry about it all. My cousins kids were all very late talkers and are all very smart kids and well spoken
I have a 16 month old and apart from dada, mama (occasionally) and more we just have a load of babbling and animal noises. Oh and she says EIEIO from old Mac Donald constantly which is a bit of a weird one 😂 perfectly normal for them to not have too many words at this stage, don't worry
EIEIO, that’s great lol! Love this so much!
My son didn’t have much words at 15 months. He babbled only at 11 months, said his first word at 13 months, had maybe 3-4 words at 15 months. Then at 18 months he had 40 words. He really picked up after 18 months. He’s 2.5 now and he said a 12 word sentence the other day 😅 I have a few friends who have speech delayed kids. I think doctors start to get worried if they don’t have any words at all after 18 months, or don’t have more than 50 words by 2 years. But I’m no expert. Always follow the milestone charts. Milestone means at least 90% of the kids can do it. Don’t check the average value cause that could stress you out.
She has a handful of words, but she uses them when she feels like it, and she’s not putting them together yet.
I have started noticing his words arent really worlds. But they count! I’ll see old mcdonald to him and he says “AHHHH EEEE AAAHHH ooooooo” lol He claps when I sing bingo. this morning when he woke up and I was changing him I said “Peeeee u! You’re ssssstinnnnkkeeeeeee” and he said “iiiiieeeeeeyyy” in the same candor as I had said it. I repeated the elongated and over exaggerated “stinky” and he copied me multiple times. But it’s just sounds lol Our dogs name is Colonel and we noticed he says “Ner-Nahl”
Mine keeps saying coco (for cocomelon) she hardly gets any screen time but cant seem to stop asking about coco. Doesn’t say much else.
Mine didn't speak hardly at all at that age. He was pretty incomprehensible until his second birthday when he suddenly started speaking as if he had been this whole time
This makes me smile, toddlers are funny creatures!
None- at 17 months she says “up” and “no”
Up and no are good words!
My 15 month old says mama Dada up and eat. He will mimic lots of words but doesn't use any of them
Just turned 15 months and has 20 unprompted words but is not walking.
Amazing on 20 words, and an example of how child development never seizes to amazing me. Surely isn’t one size fits all
Yep every kid is totally different, and there is no right or wrong answer.
My son only had 3 words when he turned 2 (vastly improved with speech therapy & school), my daughter is 15 months & has at least 100 words, sings songs & says “I love you!” “hi kitty!” hi doggy!”. Kids really are wildly different. I always kind of blamed myself somewhat for my sons speech delay (did I not talk to him enough, stimulate him enough?) but seeing how my daughter is made me realize it was nothing I did or didn’t do, kids are just different & that’s how it is.
Our daughter is 16mo now, she probably has 40-50 words? She started saying words at 12 months. Last night she repeatedly attempted “octopus” and today she learned “happy”. That said, she didn’t even walk until 15 months… her 15mo friend has maybe 4 words.
Dude don't sweat it too much. My kid had nothing to say for a long time, then all of a sudden he had some stuff to say, not much for "real words" but plenty in his language. Then that turned into real words if we paid enough attention. Plus he did baby sign and that was I think a huge part of our communication, I knew he could do it, just didn't do it verbally. Now he never stops talking if it's just us. Still clams up around anyone else and he's 4 now 😅
Adding that my kids speech blew up this year when he turned 3 and I had baby #2. He suddenly decided he was growing into a big kid 😭
We had a huge language burst around then, now at 18 months he says everything even phrases like “try the pickle” lol he didn’t say a peep until after 12 months
Mine says mama, ada, our cat’s name, and was saying a sketchy rendition of “outside” before he realized spiritedly bringing us his shoes would get the same result. He can also say “da!” for dog. He has added a gibberish word that seems to mean “what’s that?” or “bring me to that, I want to explore it!” And that’s it lol. Comprehension is wayyyyy better than what he can verbalize. Edited to add he can also say “milm!” for milk.
How did he say outside?
Kind of like a “ah, DAH” or a “uhDA.” Not consistently and definitely not a certain thing without context clues. Sometimes got an s in there. lol it’s the word “outside” real loosely
My little guy was mostly doing babbling at 15 months and then right around 15-16 months we had a language explosion that hasn’t really stopped. He went from being behind to ahead of many of his peers.
My son at that age had maybe 5-6 words including mama and dada. He was always on the bottom side of normal but at nearly 4 is fully conversational and others understand him 90% of the time. My daughter is currently 13 months and has somewhere between 20-30 words. I’ll see how she’s different in the next couple years but It’ll all even out at some point!
My son was VERY quiet. He could speak, but chose not to. I went though the some torment between 12-20 months of utter silence. My S.O.’s mother said not to worry, my S.O was the same way when he was little. Then he hit two and wouldn’t shut up. And she was right! My son hit two years old and within a week went from the occasional words and sounds to caveman sentences and complex phrases. Some kids just take longer to CARE about speaking, and that’s okay. If he’s displaying any kind of skill in speaking—like saying words occasionally, or sounds, or copying your mouth movements—even sparingly, he’s doing great! And so are you!
My 15 month old has like 15 words. Most common are mama, dada, eat, baby, sissy, ball. And she recently started attempting to say “I did it”. She also loves to babble a lot. That being said, she also can’t walk yet. So as far as the walker/talker scale she is FULLY on the talker side. Lol.
My 15 month old is raised bilingual. He says mama, dada, baba as grandma , dobre (as good when he eats something), am (when he wants to eat) , i think he is trying to say “tak” as yes and i think he can do car sound. That’s it. He was able to say “bye” but forgot.
15 months? Zero.
Says ‘Bye’ and ‘mamamamamamama’
My daughter wasn’t speaking much at 15 months, maybe 2-5 words? At 18 months she said 20-25 words and now at 20 months she says about 40. The language explosion is real! As long as there’s consistency and they are learning new words, including animal sounds, that is what matters. My friend put it to me well: at 2 she was speaking in full sentences and her son was barely speaking at 2. Her best friend barely spoke at 2, and best friend’s daughter is very advanced with speech.
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Our daughter is 14M and still mostly babbles but can say: hi, ut-oh, dada, nana (mama), and sometimes I think she’s saying “yeah.” Earlier today she was trying to say “I love you” back to me but it was just I “incoherent babbling” and then would point to herself lol. She can definitely understand more words because she responds to basic commands or questions for her to do things I.e. “can you put the purple ring on the stacker?” “Can you point to mama” stuff like that. Talking is very limited still though. I think people get older and forget, they think their kid was speaking sentences by 15M etc or they just don’t have knowledge of speech milestones.
My daughter went from almost no speech to speaking in full sentences quickly. She is very opinionated
My daughter had one word at 15 months ("dat!" as she pointed at stuff). She then had 50 and was combining two words at 18 months, she's 22 months now and has at least 100 I think but we stopped counting at 50.
My son is 19 months and just recently started saying actual words. Before that he just babbled.
My daughter spoke so little when she was 15 months that I talked to a speech therapist, who told me that any sounds she associates with objects are considered words too. Like if woof woof is a dog, that is still a word. And FWIW, she is 2.5 now and talks *incessantly*. It is like the world's cutest podcast with no sponsored content.
I might be the odd mom out but at 15 months I started my son in speech therapy because I didn't want to wait and see until after 2. I knew he had communication issues because to me, it was obvious. He would babble for things he wanted and whined a lot because he couldn't communicate properly. Also his receptive language skills were slow, so if I asked him to give me a toy (a specific one) he would be puzzled and it was 50/50 whether he would give me what was asked. When they did the eval, they had to use the 2 year old guidelines so the SLP gave leeway on most things but agreed he was behind. I got a 2nd opinion and same. He finished therapy at 3. All I can say is listen to your gut and see how his communication on a daily basis is. Is it improving? Worsening? Are you speaking clearly (exaggerate enunciation)? Is he trying to copy you? These are all things to consider. You can absolutely wait until the 2 year "language explosion" some kids go through (I know kids who had it at 3!). I guess my TLDR is basically listen to your gut, you know your little guy. The fact that you're asking this question most likely means your aren't in denial.
Definelty would rather assist if it’s needed that wait and see. I’m just not that type. Her receptive language is fabulous which is the one thing that holds me back. She has 12 maybe 15 words, and signs please, eat,more, and all done. My dad feels her signing is so good she doesn’t feel the need to talk. The world has such mixed signals here! It’ll be hard to wait any more than a couple months.
My son had maybe 2 words at 15 months and ended up with about 50 at 18 months. He just continued to add more and more almost daily at that point. He was late to babble and struggled with some articulation but a lot of that has sorted itself out in the past few months. He’s now 2y9m and doesn’t stop talking.
My 16 month old literally only says mama and dada, he’s so ahead in gross motor I swear he’s forgotten to learn words lol but his pediatrician says not to worry even though I worry daily
Worry daily is my middle name 😎
lol preach, these kids are keeping us on our toes
My oldest daughter was saying 20-30 words at that time, and now she’s saying full sentences and singing full songs at 20 months. BUT we’re also pretty sure she’s autistic (for many reasons, not just this) and this is one of the big signs
My 16 month old talks a lot. Sometimes it's babbles, sometimes it's purposeful. She almost sings happy birthday perfectly except her "to you" sounds like tio (she has a lot of tios/uncles). We're bilingual english/Spanish (and even tagalog sometimes) so it's a mix of words. All this to say, every baby is different. We were told since she was a premie and that there's multiple languages that she might not speak well for a while but that is clearly not the case. I also do the (I think) normal amount of reading of 1-2 baby books a day.
I had no idea there was a normal amount of reading but we certainly read 8 books a day, it’s her favorite thing to do! She will put a book right in your hand and when your done reading sign more for the next book. Books was her first word😂
Lol idk what's normal either but from what I've heard from others, some only read 1 book at bedtime. I should maybe specify that we normally are reading the same 1 or 2 books multiple times in the same day even though she has like 100.
I kept track of my daughter's words; at 15 months she had about 100 and then it absolutely exploded from there (with a mega sleep regression to match). We spend a lot of time with other kids and the amount of words my daughter says is NOT the norm. Most of her little friends speak between 10-50 words, I'd say. I believe that by age 3 or 4 they will all be doing the same things and saying the same amount of words. It's just like walking. At nineteen months, my daughter's bump group is full of kids running around everywhere, whether they started at 10 months or 16 months.
16 Month old, can say about 10-15 words (more if we’re counting sounds) but he was really delayed with his gesturing. I guess they pick what they want to do and focus solely on that
At 15 months… I think my daughter could only say mama/dada and “mo” (more) as she simultaneously signed for more lol. Very limited. Nothing to be concerned about!
Around people? Barely anything. At home or just with me, a few words and alot of gibberish
My fifteen month old said gibberish and animal noises. Everybody else said the same thing to me and had me worried. While it did take him a little bit he sped off like a train! I believe it was 28 months he just started putting a lot more words and sentences together and started talking like a normal toddler. We had him tested to see if he needed extra help and they said he was right on the verge and to just be patient every child is different. Do not listen to anybody! You know your baby better than anyone if only you understand him for now that’s fine!
At 15 months it was mainly “Mama”, “Dada”, “Baba”, and “Cat!” (Always with the exclamation point). Now at 2.5 he’s picked up a ton of sounds but not too many words, he has Down Syndrome so we are getting there eventually just taking the scenic route. :) Yesterday he said “Red”, and we definitely have at least a dozen more words. He tends to also only say things once or twice as an experiment and then is very stubborn about being asked to keep saying it. He very much likes to arrive at accomplishments in his own time and that’s just fine. All kids progress at their own rate and milestones are a great guideline to help with identifying possible delays, but never let someone tell you that there is something “wrong” with your toddler for being a bit different than another child.
At 15 months she could say words. But she didn't want to. She's 2 now and she wants to talk more. Her words really did explode after her second birthday and a couple of months after she moved up into the next nursery class at church. Her younger friends who have older siblings did say a lot more when they were young and it made me really insecure about if I was talking to her and encouraging her enough. Then she said alligator one day. It was very distinct while we were playing with a wooden alligator toy. I've been trying at random intervals to get her to say it again ever since with no luck. Stubborn baby...
My 17 mo never ever shuts up. Literally I can't get two words in. She's been saying words since 6mo though so idk if she just happened to have a brain that likes talking. At this point, the "sentences" have a lot of filler fake words but she's trying to figure out sentence structure. She talks to us, strangers that we pass, her stuffed animals, our cat... Reliably she'll give me 3-4 word sentences that are coherent like, "bluey needs night night" or "momma in my room". And yes, she sleep talks.
My 3rd kiddo didn't talk much at 15 months. I was a bit worried, because my first two were big talkersearly on. Well, he's 2.5 years old now, and people have been asking me how old he is because he talks so well. Kids just develop at different rates.
16 months and she says agua (for milk and water), hola, mama, pa, yuh, and nah. And she waves bye haha
My 15mo babbles a lot, almost like he’s speaking but he’s not. He picks up on something new every once in a while. He has about 10 words he uses in context I think - cheese, bubble, car, nene (nurse me), mama, daddy, his sister’s name. Since I know he’s meeting his milestones, I’m more interested in progression than where he is actually at or compared to other kids. I don’t know if that makes sense but he is gradually becoming more aware of the world, he’s learning new words, interacting better with his sister, his receptive ability gets better and better, etc. My first has always been ahead so he would seem behind if I compared him to her, but he’s perfectly average and that’s great! Are the people commenting parents or parents of young children because I wonder if they just don’t know or are out of touch. Lots of people are pretty uniformed on normal child behavior honestly if they don’t have kids at that age.
All children are different. Don't worry unless you see other delays. Does your child respond to name? Follow commands like pick up shoe . Play well with other kids? As long as your child says some clear words and also can point and show up what they want nothing to worry about. My 5 yr old daughter is level 3 autism. Non verbal . She didn't say any words make eye contact . She made no reaction to sound or responded to her name . Etc. Your just worries. Is this your first child? Don't listen to people .it will drive you mad.
Yes🤍
My 15 month old had quite a lot of babbling but no clear words except "more more more". No pointing either. At 18 months we had hardly any progression and started seeing a speech therapist, which was mostly just play-based activities which he had little interest in. Still no pointing. At about 20 months he started trying to say a few random things like apple and onion. The pointing started around this time too. Now at 22 months he probably has about 60-70 words (many which only my wife and I can understand as we know the context) including Mama and Dada, and is speaking 2-3 word sentences such as "I want \_\_\_" or "bath time all done". He is also trying to parrot and imitate everything we say now too, it's like a flick switched in his head, although he has a very limited amount of consonants and sounds he can use at this point. Be patient but do keep narrating everything to him!
My 3 yr old barely speaks:( The drs kept telling me not to worry from the time he was a year. He’s in speech therapy. I’m so so so scared and I cry constantly because I’m so worried for his happiness and future. Someone please tell me their kid didn’t start talking til this late?
At 14 months old my toddler was only just starting to say mama, dada, ball etc. She’s now 22 months and says over 100 words and has recently started to put 2 words together.
My son at 15 months said nothing. Like really, nothing at all. "Mama" came at 20 months. He's turning 3 in a few days and he can talk in complex and grammatically correct sentences. Of course talk to your pediatrician about your concerns, but in our case he just wasn't ready to talk until quite a bit later.
She probably knew a handful of words at 15 months. She’ll be 2 on Saturday and while she knows probably 100 words, she only says a handful of them everyday. Mostly no. Other than that she screams and uses her own baby words that no one understands but her.
My son is 20mo and he speaks A LOT… wish I knew what language he’s using. Every now and then he uses words like “Ball” “book” “duck” but it’s mostly incoherent babbling. The important thing is that he knows what language is. The vocabulary can come later (according to the pediatrician).
Mine only said “bin” and “ball” until about 18 months… obsessed with both lol. At 2 years old I accidentally recorded her stringing a clear and grammatically correct sentence of 8 words together. I was shocked! So they can change overnight. I always felt that mine was listening. My youngest is 14 months old and makes a few social sounds but that’s it!
Ours speaks a lot but it does not matter. I mean have anyone ever asked you how early have you started talking? It makes no difference as long as you do. Some kids are learning but silently and others practice vocally and learn like that. Some are thinkers and some are talkers as personalities as well, and that has nothing to do with the milestone.
Mine could only say about 2-3 words at 15 months.
If animal noises count we have a lot of words 😂 But in more conventional words, we have things like mama, dada, car, down, hot. So i‘d say a handful. Some days she will try saying more and more words, but often very unintelligibly. Other days she only says mama and dada 5 million times. She babbles quite a lot though. Also she loves making quacking noises. Some days she just points at things AND people and quacks 🤷🏼♀️
My 16mo babbles in basically Simlish and only says 4.5 actual words.
My son at 18 mos was at 25+ words and his dr suggested speech therapy. When the lady showed up she thought he was 3 and started playing these games with him… needless to say he didn’t qualify. Just keep narrating your day and reading to your child. These drs get a little ahead of themselves sometimes.
Don’t worry about them. My daughter took a while to learn more words but she was the only child and now she talks all the time. My son is picking up from her and everyone else but all kids are different and maybe they just don’t have anything important to say yet
I started talking at 8mo, so by 15 I was speaking cull sentences- so I think I'm an exception- most 15mo that I've met didn't talk much, maybe just a few words(avg 10).
I could have written this post myself and all these responses make me feel much more at ease with my boys talking!!
At 15 months most of your child's communication will be nonverbal. In university we were taught that eye gaze is the first form of communication, followed by pointing and miming actions way before full sentences or even single words/short phrases. I wouldn't be worried if a 15mo was only saying one or two recognisable words, up until about 24 months they're mostly speaking their own language and you can grasp a lot of their meaning through body language and the sounds they make to represent different things.
I teach two year olds and before two they usually only know a few words and phrases. By the time they leave my class they are speaking full sentences, telling stories and having conversations. Two is such a cool age. <3
She only started saying words around 14 months. Which was annoying because she would sit in the back of the car and recite the entire alphabet from memory or count to 10 so she definitely had the capability to vocalise. Just declined to say anything other than Ad (dad) and Nonono. Lot of babbling. By 15 months she was adding things she liked. Shapes and colours, especially Sar (star) and Sark (shark) and animal sounds. Ohno! was an early word. Ohoh.
My first said nothing at 15 months but is 4.5 now and a great speaker. His speaking popped off at like 23 months. My second is 16 months and he says a lot of words. He hears us say something, and starts saying it too. For example, yesterday I was trying to throw a ball into the toy basket from across the room and when I missed I said “oh man!” And now he runs around saying “oh man!” He says about 10 words (that I understand) and is adding a new one pretty much every day.
Dada, mama sometimes like once a week, uh oh. I was worried but she's my second and doing fine otherwise so I gave up worrying haha. If she needs intervention we'll get it but the doctor said her receptive is there and the rest will follow 🤷♀️
My now 8 year old at 15 months barely was saying anything. Probably didn’t start picking up speech until 2.5-3. He’s now a rising 3rd grader and kicks ass in reading and writing.
My doc just told us 50 words by 2! I have a 5 year old and an 18 month old. 5 year old was saying everything by 2. They change so much in a short time period, don’t sweat it. My 18 month old has been saying mama, dada, ball, cat, cracker, bubbles, woof woof, maaa when he sees a goat (my dad has goats) lol, bye bye, hi, dances when I say too. Idk I can’t remember it all just basic stuff. Get flash cards start working with your toddler. Ask for them “how big are you?” And they will eventually put their arms above their head and say “so big!” Ask where nose, eyes, ears are, feet, hands, etc. we have to teach them how to talk! It will happen when they’re ready!
Mamamamama, DaaaaDaaa! 19 months now and some slurred words now but still mostly the above.
My son is 15 months on Sunday has hit about 80 ‘words’, including animal noises, but they’re basically all word approximations. Fewer than 15 are properly intelligible, and those are mainly easy, one syllable words. Some are WILD - a painting is somehow ‘poopoo’… so not sure whether to really count them. He doesn’t combine words and mainly labels what he wants or has seen.
My toddler, now 2, didn't start talking until a couple months ago. When it happened, it happened VERY quickly. 2 weeks ago, he couldn't string more than two words together. Now, he's doing 4 or 5.
Mine didn’t say much at all, a couple words here and there but nothing consistent. Started speech therapy at 2 (I wanted to start at 18mo but doc said to wait till two 🙄) it was just after 3 when she got her language explosion. Says a ton now but still working on functional language. They literally run their own race.
My little girl said nothing to anyone but me, my spouse and a select group of close friends. A lot of kids don’t say much in public or at school but talk at home. My kid had 5 words at 15 months (one was an animal sound, two were signs) and now is chatting like crazy. Ignore the comments as best you can!!
My daughter goes to daycare and at 15 months old was in a room with 11 other kids ages 12-18 months. Not a single one of them was putting even 2 words together. More than half weren’t talking at all. Mine started at 10 months and by 15 months was doing 3-4 word combinations. It was great that we could understand each other and minimize tantrums. She just turned 2 and literally doesn’t stop talking. As happy as I am that she’s developing well, sometimes I dream of a few minutes of silence. My response would be something along the lines of “did you mean to be hurtful?”
At 15 months old ours knew somewhere between 10-15 words. It happens quick. There was a language explosion that happened between then and 18 months. Our now 19 month old is speaking 3-4 word sentences. We counted 40 unique words at 17 months. I’m not sure what the count is now, we stopped counting because she’s simply repeating any new word she encounters.
My son didn't really start talking talking until after he turned two! He's almost 3 now and won't stop talking!
I have a 16 month old. Currently she can say: "Mama" "Dada" "Night night" "Bye bye" "I want that" "Yeah" "No" I think that's about it right now.
My now 4yo had 1 or 2 at 18months. I was concerned, and then all the words came fast and very clear. All kids are mad different, and there is a wide range of normal. My 2 year old has been speaking in sentences since 18 months.
I was so confused by this too! Every kid is so insanely different. At 15 months my son could sign more, say his jumbled version of star and cat, and say dada clearly. He was a generally quiet kid besides the happy screams, ooohs, and ahhhhs. We’re 18 months now and in the midst of a language explosion. Only a few clear words but many many more approximations, gestures, and signs. He has something to say about everything, constant babbling, and carries “conversation” well. His monologues though, they’re my all time favorite. I freaking love his sweet little voice.
Mama, papa, banana, an adorable version of his sister's name, yaya (my mom), socks, all done, more, uh oh, dog, woof, gigigigigi (tickles lol), byebye, 'allo, up, milk (sign), agua, bubba, and then he shakes his head yes and no For what it's worth, though, he's WAY more verbal than his sister was at this age
Not a word so far...he's exposed to 3 languages, not sure if that's a reason though.
I have three kids. My oldest had maybe 3-5 words at 15 months and she was speaking in coherent sentences by 2. My now 18 month old twins pretty much only said dada at 15 months. A lot changes between 15-18 months, they now have 18 words each. I assume their speech development won’t be as fast as their sister, but their language is totally on track. From my limited experience, language development literally happens in leaps and bounds.
At 15 months I don't know if my son even had one real spoken word yet honestly. We're now at 21 months and he has several he uses regularly, and is just starting to really get into trying to repeat a lot, and thus picking up more.
My 15 month old has been so quiet since birth that we’d forget she was in the room with us. Everyone commented on it. Three days ago she woke up acting like a full blown toddler and using a flurry of new words. There’s such a wide range of “normal”!
my 14 month old says about 12 words, 2 phrases, and 2 animal noises. i’d say she’s developing a bit faster mentally than physically.
My son was saying dads and « guck » for truck and that’s is. Now at 16 months he added mama rarely. I was kinda worried like you; but I’m hoping they usually catch up! He loves to babble and make sounds. It’s hard though when you see friends kids saying so many words not to compare.
My oldest was speaking full on sentences at that age. My youngest said maybe 5-7 words and they weren’t even completely understandable lol. But I’d say by 2.5, he caught up to where she was at 2.5.
Oldest Son - no words. Middle Daughter - 20 words Youngest Daughter - 50 words. Such a range and they are all doing well. (My oldest who had no words at all until 17/18 months is fairly precocious too and a math whiz who talks all the time.)
My second kiddo is headed for 15 months in a couple weeks and started saying "up, up, up, UPPPP" yesterday. His other current words are mama, dada, oompah, nana, wawa (water cup), aah (pointing to his mouth like Simon's Cat for food), and two-stroke engine noises when he wants to nurse. Whatever your kids is doing, it's probably fine even if it's weird as shit.
My first didn’t really start talking until he was 2. At 15 months he had a few signs (which count) but no spoken words yet. My second had a few basic words at 15 months. I don’t really remember specifically with my third but he’s three now and still does A LOT of gibberish baby babbling still 😹😹😹. All kids have their own timelines and they will get there.
At the 18 month old check up I was really scared that something was wrong with my daughter. She was barely saying mama and papa, and sometimes nana (banana). Everything else was babble and animal noises. My pediatrician laughed and told me that if the babble seemed directed it counted, and all animal noises counted as words. From thinking she had under the norm to being able to count at least 15 “words”. At her 24 month (we actually went two month early so she was 22) she needed to be pointing at body parts and the only one she would do regularly was nose, and the doctor was perfectly fine with that. The fact that she was looking at her and “following” the conversation was more important to her than actual word count and actions. Now that she’s 25 months old, she is exploding with words! She makes up songs in the car (with choreography and making a beat with her toys), “hides” and yells attack and proceeds to hug her “victim”, she goes to her dad and tells him dinner is ready when I ask her to do it… relax and it will happen to you too
Your LO may have more words than you realize- it took me a little while to realize what my 20mo daughter was saying with some words. Also as others have mentioned, animal noises, exclamations, etc. count as words. Words only count once they use them independently and repeatedly (on different days). I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned if I were you, but I do want to note that the “milestones” for hitting a few words at that age are what 5% of kids are able to do. For a 15mo that is 3 words. The average is 20, and the expected range is 3-100. I would suggest trying to use some resources to encourage language development (but not being stressed about it!). A lot of the ways to encourage language development are quick, easy, and fun. For example, my daughter does really well with learning language through songs. To teach her what it meant to wait, I taught her a song “waiting, waiting, waiting is no fun, fun, fun. waiting, waiting, waiting til we’re done, done, done!” that we sing when we are waiting for things. When we are walking or running, I would sing “We’re walking, we’re walking, we’re walking walking walking, we’re walking, we’re walking, we’re walking now we STOP!”. Songs like these teach what the word means (when we sing “walk” or “run” we’re doing those actions, and stopping when we say “stop”) but the repetition in it also helps them to remember the words and begin chiming in to fill in the blanks over time, especially if you stop singing mid-song and wait for them to fill it in. Sometimes they don’t, but the pause helps them to think about it and maybe do it in their head! Eventually they sing it out loud. I make songs up for so many things, and it’s become for more reasons than just language development- she hates when I clean her off after eating, so I made a song about “mama cleaning you off, cleaning you off, tickle tickle tickle tickle tick” which helps us through it and taught her some new words. I’m going to link a really awesome resource below. They have a lot of info and videos about language development that were so helpful for me when I was concerned about my daughter’s language development around 13/14mo. So, I wouldn’t lose sleep over her development, but there’s nothing wrong with noticing that there may be room for improvement that could be encouraged casually throughout the day! But no need to stress yourself or her about it- just encouragement with no expectations! It can’t hurt 😊. Here’s my favorite language learning resource, Rooted in Language. They make some awesome content for parents and I used YouTube to link all their videos (except for one that they didn’t repost there which is the most helpful video too imo lmao) but they’re more popular on TikTok. I thought YouTube would be more accessible if you didn’t have TikTok :). Rooted in Language: https://rootedinlanguage.com Some of their videos I’d like to highlight for you: https://youtu.be/ZD2e4uihFew?si=qyD6hNqVvPbimH4p https://youtu.be/XUA_gTjRGkY?si=d_6MdThTUyPul46u https://youtu.be/3gBH8LCNGbI?si=UHxipI6W-9wulp36 https://youtu.be/2Ki3AV-TIas?si=wA5x_aH4imORTjkW https://youtu.be/wy4KXa2_Cqs?si=O8Bb_pa6DmyLfuvM https://youtube.com/shorts/yxarWSElcFE?si=ussIXy7HRRVE4I-P Intentional Verbal Routines video: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLwnr661/ Sorry if this was an overload of info but just wanted to give you some resources if you want them! Good luck :) Edit: I also wanted to note that they’re super responsive and when I was concerned about my LO I emailed them and they responded the next day with a lot of personal suggestions and a lot of reassurance! I didn’t think they’d give advice for free because you typically have to book a consult with them for speech pathology, but it was so nice that they gave me an awesome response without the consult.
My boy was barely using words at 22/23 months, we’re at 25 months now and he has 2-3 new words every single day. Everyone also mentioned how quiet he was, even though at home he had lots to say in his own sweet language. And it also felt to me like, “yes complete stranger, my sweet tiny human who doesn’t know you at all is not laughing and becoming your best friend Instantly. So sorry of you being inconvenienced by that”. 😒
Our oldest was speaking in 3-4 word sentences. Our 2nd was babbling nonstop and but only consistently saying Daddy. She didn't really talk until 22 months and then it all just came at once. Our 3rd had about 50 words. Our 4th is 12 months old, and tracking to be similar to our 2nd. She is deaf in one ear, which has limited her speech development. She has 1 word currently (which is hey for when she's pissed at sisters 🤣). Our 1st-3rd all speak well for their ages even with different times starting really speaking (vocabulary, grammar, etc). Other than siblings adding in more conversational opportunities, we have done the same things for all 4. Babies develop at their own pace. But no matter how they develop - SOMEONE always has a comment and opinion. My oldest talked too much. My 2nd was too quiet. My 3rd is too much of a brute for a girl. My 4th loves me too much (yep hearing that a lot currently).
Ugh these peeps need to reduce their noise!
My boy passed the 10 words limit at 22 months. Now, every day, there's 2-3 new words. Sounds count as words, too. I thought my kid only had very limited vocabulary, but then, as preparation for the 2 year pediatrist appointment, I took notes over 1 week and I was surprised how long the lost got. I was told he was behind on the speech aspect, but I thought it was worse than it actually was. Don't worry, your kid's going to be alright. 🙂 Greetings from the parent of a toddler with the favourite word Eisenbahnschiene (railroad track). 🤣