I Have a 16Month old..when Did Ur Kids Start Talking

I've noticed that language really seems to take off between 20 and 22 months. It just sky rockets all of a sudden. They go from speaking 4 words one day to having a vocab of 200 and speaking in constant sentences. That being said, I also have a child that was speaking in 2-4 word sentences at 12 months. His verbal skills were/are amazing. I also know of a kid that didn't really start talking until 3 and then just started talking in perfectly formed sentences. So there's a whole range of normal.

You know...I think children will develop language when they're ready. There are these "deadlines" for when children should start speaking.... I didn't speak until I was 3.5 years old!!! Seriously...my mom said I did not say a single word .. didn't even babble. She thought something was wrong with me, so when she took me to the psychologist, she was surprised when the psychologist told my mom to stop doing things for me, and I would start speaking to communicate, instead of pointing and grunting.

Enough of my story.... what I'm trying to say is that just because your son (and many other babies) aren't speaking by a certain age, it doesn't mean that you s/he won't develop language. If he can't say "mom" then practice saying other words until he's confident in himself to say them on his own. My 16-month-old can say about 34+ words, but she's always been a talker. One tip I would give you (based on my personal experience, is to not do everything for him. If he wants an apple, but is only pointing to it and grunting, say, "Say apple." If he makes even a little attempt, then give it to him. Not that you should starve your child until he talks (haha), but give him a chance to try before you just give in to everything he wants.

Also-make sure to get him playing with other kids. This really helps with language development. Hope that helps... Good luck!

My son didn't say much more than "mama" and "ball" until he was 18mos. (He didn't say his first word at all until 15 mos).

Like someone else said - HUGE ramp up between 20-24 mos.
Now, I can't get him to shut up!

Eve has some good suggestions about having him ask for milk or food when he wants it. My son started speech therapy around 20 months. The therapist had us use sign language for eat and more. We started out having to move his hands, but he picked it up fairly quickly. The sign language helps them to understand that words have meanings and they can get what they want when they use words. My son is 32 months now. He still signs when he uses some words, but is mostly talking now. Your doctor will probably do a more through screening at 18 months and refer you for Early Intervention, if he still thinks theres an issue.

kids develope different things at diffrent ages. My now 15 yr old DD walked at 7.5 months (Pediatrician was astonished when she walked across the room to her) but didn't have hair til she was 2, her teeth came in later than normal and she hardly talked at all until she was 2. Meanwhile my brother's daughter who is 3 mos younger didn't walk until 18 months but was talking in full sentences WAY before my daughter who was older.

Don't sweat it. As my daughter's Montessori day-care teacher said - "she'll be talking before she goes to kindergarten and then you'll wish she didn't have so many questions". Sure enough about 6 months later the "whys"' began and she hasn't stopped since!

My daughter started talking at about 17 months. My son on the other hand didn't really talk until well after his 2nd birthday. Just give your son time. Boys tend to talk later than girls.

my son was delayed in speech and he also had feeding issues which resulted in a feeding tube. A SLT pointed out that a lot of early speech practice comes from requesting wants and needs, especially food and drink. She pointed out since my son was not interested at all in requesting food or drink that was an area where he missed out on practice. A good starting point would be to get him to say milk or cup etc before you provide him with his sippy/bottle whatever he uses. Most (but not all) kiddos find food reinforcing, so perhaps this would be a good language booster.

At any rate, don't fret too much. My son didn't talk until he was after 3 and now he's 6 and some days I wish he'd just be quiet!!!! :-) Good luck!

Just read lots to him, it sounds like maybe he knows what to say, but doesn't want to....is he shy? Don't freak out yet, just keep reading and talking to him lots and if much more time passes and his doc is more worried down the road, I would talk with them about what you can do.

My son is 15 months old. he says daddy and mommy and stu ( out dog) perfectly. He has lots of other "words" that is mostly just the first syllable and we can only understand but I think with time he will begin to state these more clearly. These "words" are banana, blueberries, rock, down, door, book, bug, milk, water, etc. I don't know if these count as words but they are to us!

Our doctor said the same thing when we saw him in April for our youngest daughter's check up...she was 16 months at the time and had about 3 words in her vocabulary. Today, she told me I was "rude" (one of her sister's favorite words) when I made her put the bowl of peaches back on the table. She didn't/doesn't really have to talk because her older sister does it for her.

I do try to prompt her to ask for things, and repeat what she says to me, but I wouldn't fret over it if he is hitting all of his other milestones--we noticed in July (19 months) that all of a sudden she was saying more words.

I worried about my son too because he was a late talker. He didn't really start talking a lot until he was 2. The he started saying several new words daily and now at age 3 I can't shut him up. My nephew is 17 months old and only says ball, woof woof (dog), toot toot (train) and bye. I don't think you need to be overly concerned.

My son started talking at 10 months. My daughter was 24 months. They're all different. I would wait until 18 months to have him evaluated, though. He may, like my daughter, just have a slight apraxia, and will just need a little speech therapy help in a few months.

Although chances are good that if you just wait, he will eventually catch up, why risk waiting to see? My son was similar to yours. I decided to have my son screened by Early Intervention at 17 months. He was diagnosed with a speech delay, and now he gets speech therapy weekly. The therapist is great, she works with him, but also with me and gives me a lot of great tips on ways to help him communicate, based on his current skills and personality.

You should look into it - the screening is free, and the speech therapy is free if he is delayed. And please let me be clear, I'm not saying there is anything 'wrong' with your child. I just firmly believe that the sooner a child gets help, the easier it is to help him/her catch up. There is NO downside to screening and the free services of an extra adult who is an expert in child development who now knows my child is a great resource for me. Just google early intervention and your county to get the phone number.

My son had speech delays - most likely from being 10wks premature, but possibly just because some babies talk later. The 2 best things were Baby Signing Time (the minute he started signing, his vocabulary exploded) and saying things in 3 different ways (ball, the BALL bounces, the BALL is blue). Good luck :)

I felt VERY similar to you when I would compare my son to my friend's daughters. They seemed so verbal and communicative... stringing along complete sentences, etc. However, magically at about 22 months, my son started to sound like he was making sentences and was more interested in verbal communication.... Now he enjoys chattering along throughout the day... he'll be 2 at the end of this month. I think your son is definitely on the right track........I think it's just different for boys. (and men, ha ha) :o)

My oldest talked before he was a year. My middle was a man of few words until he was two and he has been talking for the past four years non stop.my current baby boy is 16 months and probably says he right amount of words and a ton of jubberish,he also shakes his head or says uh uh when I ask him to try to say some words. I wouldn't worry yourself just yet.