18 Month Old Prefers Gestures

No concern-- I used to work with a toddler group of 20-30 month olds. Most kids did not have many words at all coming in... One little girl, I remember, pointed all the time to things and we would name them for her. She started talking at about 27 months and then, BAM! her language was unstoppable. Kids do this at different times. I think my own son was past two.. can't get him to keep quiet now. :)

Try to remember that developmental milestones are not set in stone, they are more like a 'window' where language is becoming emergent in some kids, but they don't really address the timelines of either early talkers or late talkers. And I've seen very intelligent children start out with what some would consider 'late' talking skills. Try not to worry, okay?

No concern necessary.
Our sons talking really took off after his 2nd birthday.
Before he turned 2 he'd listen and it was like he was taking it all in.
After his 2nd birthday it was non stop chatter from sun up to sun down.
She's learning a language and it takes some time - but at no other time in her life will she learn it so quickly.
Read to her and sing with her as much as you can - it all helps.

Unless there is a hearing issue (ear infections?) then I wouldn't be concerned. This sounds like my nephew and he's a bit older. They aren't concerned.

None of my kids hit the talking milestones. One had to have tubes (he was considered hearing impaired) so that would be the only thing I might check, and another child of mine had tubes a bit later, but her speech was not affected - just a bit behind, but still within ok.

I would say this is normal, but also that there are things you can do to help her gain speech skills more quickly.

When my family was working with a speech therapist with one of mine, she said that it was really key to acknowledge what they are trying to communicate by clearly repeating the word back to them so they get used to hearing it correctly.

So, she points to a ball and says "ba", then you say "Ball. Yes, you can have the ball" as you hand it to her. She says "ba" when she sees a bus, and you say "Bus, yes, that's a bus."

The therapist also told us to be a little less responsive to gestures. So if she points to the fridge when she wants milk, we were to say "Use you words, tell me what you want." Then wait for a verbal response (don't let her get totally frustrated, but do give her at least a chance to try to respond). Once we got a response that was any attempt to say milk (no matter how garbled), we would follow it with "Milk, you want some milk. Sure, I'll get that for you."

I had my son evaluated when he was 18 months. The therapist gave me some suggestions to help him along. When she reevaluated him later, he did qualify for speech.

It doesn't hurt to ask for an eval. I don't think what you are describing in unusual, but still, it doesn't hurt to ask. Keep in mind that lots of kids do start talking when they are closer to 2 years. Also, there are many kids who could use speech services but don't receive them until kindergarten. So really, you're fine.

My two younger kids were on the verge of being referred to EI at age 2 if they weren't able to say 10 words. They both just barely made that minimum at their 2nd birthdays and did not need any services. One had ear infections so his hearing was checked and it was fine. Both started talking a lot at around age 3.5 and never stopped (they're 11 and 3 now).

Your daughter's speech sounds normal to me but if you're worried, ask at your next checkup.

There's "typical" development...and then there's how each individual child develops, which may not line up exactly with what's "typical." I really don't think you have anything to be concerned about. Ask your pediatrician at your DD's next check up if you are worried. In the meantime, read up on toddler development. What to Expect The Toddler Years has good general information. Also, the Gessell Institute books by Louise Bates Ames are very good, if a bit dated. The one you want at the moment is Your One-Year-Old: The Fun-Loving, Fussy 12-To 24-Month-Old. Good luck!

It's easy to look up speech development. All you have to do is google it.

You should ask the pediatrician to refer you to a speech therapist for an evaluation. She can help you by giving you some hints on how to help your child use language.

There is a lot more expected language-wise of a child once they turn 24 months. That's when you have to get serious about speech. But start now to get a handle on what you should be expecting.

I went through all of this with my son. He had good receptive language too, but the expressive was very poor. They were blunt with me at his 24 month evaluation that we needed to start speech therapy immediately.

You may get a good report from the speech therapist, but you must have an eval to know for sure. Please get it.

what does the pedi say?
it never hurts to have the child evaluated so you could have them checked even if its only for peace of mind.
personally i think the child is fine.. but if your worried, then get an evaluation.

My son didn't speak at all until 16 months (no developmental delays, just his path), so 10 words at 18 months sounds fairly normal. My pediatrician said that, if my son didn't talk by 18 months, she'd have him evaluated, but not before. She said kids with problems are often delayed in more than one area, and he was not.

She's doing plenty of other things, it sounds like, so maybe (like my son) speech is coming later. Take a look at all her other behaviors: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, understanding (which seems to be on track), and so on.

She does speak when she needs to ("No!") and she seems to have certain sounds that are easier for her ("B" words). She is probably scheduled for an 18 month check-up, right? If you can, video her doing some of these things and show the doctor at the next appointment. That will be much easier than totally describing things, and of course kids often don't demonstrate certain behaviors when they're in the exam room! With a head's up, the doctor can add some things to the visit to check her out.

Go to parentcenter.com and sign up for the daily, weekly, bi-weekly emails. They are so informative. They say things like "Your toddler should be doing this and in the next few weeks they should be doing this".

But not quite those exact words. It's more positive, not "your child SHOULD be doing such and such" but more "Look forward to them doing this and then something else soon".