What Does Your 18 Month Old Say?

If you are worried get him tested. Don't wait. There is an excellent early intervention program for kids 18-30 months at columbus speech and hearing. The only way in is through help me grow so request that they test him. I went through this with my younger son and everybody told me to wait, hes just a late talker, etc. But if you have doubts (otherwise you would not post here) contact help me grow and get him tested.

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This is a hard one because every child is different and every child learns to speak at different times and every enviornment is different for learning I believe. I'm just going to tell you my experiences with my four kids and you can do with it what you will I guess :-)

My 18 month old girl is saying a lot more words than my first son or my twins did. She is saying things like
"baba", "mom", "daddy", "book", "bathtime", "outside", "upstairs", "downstairs", "drink" etc. BUT, she is also in daycare with other 1-2 year olds 6 hours a day and I think that has made a difference because she's around other kids "talking" like her (if that makes sense).

My 4 year old daughter and my 7 year old son both said some of those bigger words later - they had mastered ba-ba, mama, but not words like bathtime or outside or downstairs, like my youngest has. They were not ever in daycare.

Now, here is a different situation. I have spent this past year trying to figure out why my other 4-year old son was not pronouncing his consonants yet and no one could really understand him. My old ped. said "give him time" and never mentioned that anything could be wrong, but I switched peds. and I got a complete surprise! They did an ear/hearing exam and allergy test and found out that his ears have essentially been "under water" for most of his little life because of allergies! (Mainly enviornmental). He was hearing and learning to talk like he had ear muffs over his ears. Needless to say, since summer we've had countless appointments with Children's Hospital testing his hearing, testing his speech, getting him on allergy medication, and two weeks ago he had his adenoids taken out and tubes put in his ears. I can't tell you how much his speech has improved over the past few months now that his allergies are under control and he can hear!

I only tell you this because if I had known that there were so many other factors that contribute to learning how to speak, I would have done a lot more a lot sooner so that he wouldn't have to be in speech therapy now in preschool. It never hurts to get EVERYTHING checked out in your child, especially if they are prone to ear infections (and I know some of these tests can't be given to babies, but at least you can know what to look for as he gets older).

Good luck!
~B.

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If you are concerned, and you are, get him evaluated. It can't hurt. And as you know, early services are the best. You could also talk to his Ped at his next visit, which should be soon, I think, and see what your ped thinks. both of my boys had speech delays, and it was amazing how they bloomed once they got to preschool.
R.

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Hi, J.,
I'm sorry, I didn't read through the previous answers, so I may just be repeating what others have said.

I would not be concerned about the lack of words as much as the fact that they seem muffled when he says them. Have you had his hearing checked? If they sound muffled to him when he hears them, of course he would repeat them back that way.

As for the lack of words, speaking just from my personal experience of working with hundreds of children, I wouldn't worry about it until 27 months. I see so many children come in here at 24 months, not saying one single intelligible word. Then 2-3 months later, they are chattering away like you wouldn't believe! There is a reason that the "norms" are so widely ranged! My son at 18 months was telling stories, using complete, complex sentences. It was incredible. We have him on video at 22 months, reciting the Lord's Prayer - ever so cute! :) My daughter at 18 months said Mama and Dada. That was it.

Blessings to you, and good luck with whatever you decide to do.
J.

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My son will be 18 months old in a few days. It sounds like he is doing exactly what your son is doing. My son sees a Speech Pathologist once a month for a feeding issue and I've asked her about this. She said she is not concerned until he is two years old. Then, she'll evaluate for speech issues. That's just my experience. If you are very concerned, have him checked. It certainly can't hurt!

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I have a 19 month old son who isn't really saying much either. He repeats sounds and words and knows all the animal sounds but he isn't really using his words to communicate much. I know that he understands everything we say. My daughter (now 7) was the same way and actually my son is a bit ahead of where she was at this age. When she turned two it was like a switch was turned on and she started really talking. Everything worked itself out and she is now a thriving 2nd grader at the top of her class. So, I'm not worried about my son at all. All kids develop at different rates and usually catch up before too long. Good luck with everything.

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My son is in speech and he was doing a little less than your son at that age. He did have about 18 signs he used though so he was able to communicate some of his wants/needs. It may be because he is the 2nd child. Sometimes the first child does all the talking/guessing for them so they don't need to! Its a good sign his receptive language skills are present. I definitely don't think it would hurt anything to do speech or have him evaluated....always good to be ahead of the game. However some people will say..oh he is a boy and a 2nd child I bet he'll talk when he's two. :)

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I'd call First Steps for an evaluation. It's free and they come to your house. How many clear words does he say? That is, a stranger could understand him or you can understand him without looking at him? My son said many words by 18 months but he only said the first sound of the words and half the time that was pronounced wrong. He only said 2-4 words clearly and that was a red flag. By 2.5 years old he was in speech therapy for articulation issues (was understood only 15% of the time!). We were concerned at 18 months but everyone, including our pediatrician, said it was nothign to worry about. After all, he was speaking very long complex sentences before 2 years old. Most people seem to think that just because a kid is saying lots of words and long sentences there's no problem, but if those words are not clearly understood then it could be a big problem. My son took speech therapy for 2 years through the Early Childhood program (that's the free program run through the public school districts) and by kindergarten was all caught up to where he should be.

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Upon a little bit of googling I found that it's about a dozen words clearly, lots of babbling still, and possibly stringing two words together at a time.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_your-18-month-olds-language-a...

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My granddaughter will be 19 months old Dec. 9, and she doesn't talk yet. She jabbers all the time, is very loud, and will take my hand and lead me to where she wants to show me something or play with me. Speech is coming any day now; don't think your child is delayed.

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Just a cute story for you as reassurance. My 17 yr old was around 18 mos when I took him to the pediatrician for a check up. The NP asked me how many words he had in his vocabulary. I paused for a minute to consider my answer. My son then looked at us with a very serious look on his face and clearly said "vocabulary". We both looked at him in astonishment then burst out laughing! You never know what is going on in those minds!!

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Our peditrician and a few other sources told us 10-50 words at 18 months and that girls usually are on the high end and boys on the low end. My first son had about 10 or 15 words. My second sone had around 60.
They are all different. As long as he's making an effort to comminicate I wouldn't worry. Talk to him simply, but with adult language (no baby talk). Use the correct words for things (if he calles a horse a "neigh" say, "that's right, it's a horse!"
Read to him at least 30 minutes each day and don't just read word for word, but ask him questions like "do you see the red ballon on the page? Where's the cat?"

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I wouldn't worry. When my dd was 18 mos, her ped was concerned b/c she only said 7 words. I cried. She could understand everything tho. Anyways, within one month she had triple the words and within 2-3 months she was saying all sorts of words. Kids have their own timing for everything.

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I think it is so hard as parents to not compare milestones between our kids. I was in the same boat as you a few months ago. And my mom had to set me straight. My son just turned 2 and didn't really start to talk until about 22 months. My daughter was talking in sentences by 19 months so this was a change. He didn't really use words until recently. My son still uses mostly beginning sounds, which is normal. I know it is hard, but just wait it out. He will start talking soon. Try not to worry. Just keeping doing what you are doing and he will start talking when he is ready. Good luck.

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J.,

I would be proactive. Since your first son had a delay, your second son is more likely to have one too. They can be quite different issues, so go ahead and have an evaluation as soon as possible. You know from experience that the sooner you start, the more effective therapy will be.

M.

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hi J...i know all kids learn at thier own pace, and there is alays that chance if one child was alil delayed another could be also. here is just a thought, and believe me, many of us do it without realizing it. If yer lil boy wants a drink, and he points to the cupboard, do you get him the drink? really encourage him to say 'drink' before he is allowed to have it. even if ya start off slow, just let him say the first sound, and then get very excited for him saying it, and reward him with his drink and a big hug. and just walk around with him everyday and make a game of it. GL :)

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Sounds like you are doing fine with your 18 month old. One thing we did with our family was to have the children look at our mouths as we were enunciating the words they were learning. To be able to see the placement of the tongue and shape of the lips when sounding out a word was extremely helpful to them. :D

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We were SO worried with our first child not saying more than 1 syllable at 18 months. He knew all the animal noises and could point out colors, animals, etc. when you asked, "where's the cow?". We talked to the pediatrician, and he said our son was COMPLETELY on track with his development.
If we couldn't understand, we'd ask him to show us, and it helped us learn his vocabulary.
At 2, he went into daycare, and he hasn't shut up since :)
Our daughter is 20 months, and she has a more extensive vocabulary than our son, but isn't much more advanced than your son. We're not worried as she can express herself despite not speaking more than 1 or two syllables at a time.

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Kids have delays for all sorts of reasons. People learn at different rates. At 18 months he should be able to say some things, communicate by gesturing and mumbling something close to words. Perhaps you have a program that will evaluate him. Around here we have First Steps. Other options are to contact the local elementary school, and they can direct you to testing services within the school system and outside of the school system. I suggest you talk to your family doctor as well. Even if they do not agree with you that your child is behind, you know your child better than anyone else. INSIST on a referral to a psychologist for testing. It's better to address the issues very early on; otherwise, I have found that the school system is not that willing to modify the classroom environment to fit the child's learning needs.

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Hi J..
I read through some of the answers and it seems you've gotten some good advice. I'm simply writing to confirm what everyone else has already said... kids do things at their own pace. My first son who is now 3 1/2 was not saying much by his second birthday and I was concerned. Well I shouldn't have been because his speech EXPLODED between the 2nd and 3rd year. He is a chatter box that doesn't stop now, and many of the things he says are very adult like and complex. On the other hand, my 19 month old son easily says 100-200 words, counts to 10, says colors, etc. I'm not saying this in a bragging way at all, just to share how different speech development can be even amongst siblings that are raised in the same environment. I truly wouldn't worry at this stage. Definitely keep an eye on it and I bet you'll be surprised how quickly things will change when he's ready.
T.

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I'm sure others will chime in too, but this does not sound like a problem at all. My daughter was not very verbal until she was older than 18 months, and now she's talking all the time, making complex sentences, etc. So I'd say not worry. And my daughter did the same thing, I'd say "can you say" X and she would nod, but not say it. She just didn't want to, wasn't ready yet.

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Sounds like you have gotten a lot of good advice. I just thought that I would share my experience with my daughter. First off my daughter was walking (not scooting but WALKING) at 8 months old...needless to say she was an active child.

At her 2 year well child visit her doctor did not feel that she had a large enough vocabulary (she really only said probably 5 words or so) and informed me that he wanted to see her again at about 2 1/2 because he felt she may be speech delayed and may need speech therapy.

By the time we were supposed to see the Dr. at 2 1/2 she was talking up a storm, had a huge vocubulary (much larger than average) and spoke extremely clearly. Still to this day her vocabulary is larger than most kids her age (she is now 7).

That is just my experience...it seems that more active children seem to talk a little later. However, being proactive is always a good thing. Just don't be too concerned as your son may surprise you one day and you will swear that when you thought he was sleeping he was actually practicing his words so that when he decided he was ready they would be perfect. :o)

Good luck!!

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Hi J.. I start by saying that I am a speech therapist who works with kids age birth through two, however, I do not know your child so everything is just general suggestions.

First of all, you can go to the following link: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/12.htm

There is a list of things a typically developing child may be doing between 1-2 years old. Remember that it is an entire year range. The link is on the website of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), which credentials speech therapists.

A very simple guideline is: 1-5 words by 12 months; 20-50 words by 18 months; 100 words and 2 word phrases by 24 months; 200+ words by 30 months.

If your son likes books and is able to point to the pictures, I would use that venue to work on expression. I would try looking at the pictures and just saying "I see...." and then slowly point to pictures and say what it is (dog...ball...house). Leave some time in between words like you're thinking. Leave an extra long pause and point to another picture without naming it. See if your son will join in...you may have to wait for a bit but try to avoid "what's this?" Model what you want him to do. If it seems he isn't making attempts at all, you can say the word then model just the first sound (ball....b..b..b). You can even make the "b" sound on the back of your hand and his so he can feel it as well. Don't force the issue so that he avoids books or talking...try to make it natural and fun.

The best sounds to start with are "b,p,m" since they are early developing sounds and are easy to see on your lips. I do a lot with bubbles in therapy. I work on "b" with bubbles and "p" with "pop".

Some videos I really like are "Signing Time". They have a Baby Signing Time (try your local library). It introduces some basic signs as well as hearing and seeing the words/objects. They may be helpful for you even if your child isn't yet interested.

18 months is still pretty young as long as he is saying some things and he could very well "kick in suddenly" as some have suggested. Do keep in mind though that the process takes a while to be evaluated and to get enrolled in an early intervention program. If you do decide to get an appt, you can always cancel if you see a lot of change. I think it is wise to just be aware early with him since your older son was delayed in speech. The whole idea of early intervention is to catch things early with kids at risk and help them to catch up with the other kids before school.

If you have more questions or need help finding resources, click on my name and send me a message. Good luck!

K.

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