19 Month Old Doesn't Understand Everything. I Say

I'm a little confused. For the commands you listed above (shut the door, etc), are those the things she DOES understand, or the things she DOES NOT? If she does understand all of that, I wouldn't worry at all. That is totally normal for a child her age.

However, if she doesn't understand simple commands like those, I would definitely talk to her doctor. She may have a problem with her hearing or with the way she processes language.

Your expectations are far, far too great for a child this young. Why are you "under the impression that by this age they should" be able to understand everything you say? She is not even two. And it seems that you're defining "understand me" as "do the action I say." Many times children understand the words but will not do the action.

Please get some good child development books ("What to Expect: The Toddler Years" is one) and talk to the pediatrician about multi-step commands. The ability to fulfill a multi-step command (as in "Pick up the book and bring it to me") is one of many milestones, but it comes later for most children.

Your child sounds just fine, but please do some research to ensure that you have truly age-appropriate expectations for her and are not overdoing it with trying out action commands to the point that she just ignores you and they mean nothing to her because she hears them too much.

Of course she can't understand everything you say. She's two. Her vocabulary and critical thinking ability still have a long way to go.

Developmentally she sounds like she's right on track. You simply have to speak to her in an age-appropriate way and have developmentally appropriate expectations. She'll learn more and more every day.

Please get "What to Expect Toddler Years" and read it.
It's an excellent book!
Your daughter sounds perfectly normal for her age.

Really? I'd have done almost anything for my son to have been able to do that much. I couldn't even get him to say Mama after 16 months(right after his father left), until he was three.

Receptive language is one of the two aspects of communication in language - the other being expressive language. Some people can speak better than they can understand or vice versa; in other words, some are better at receptive language, while others are better at expressive language. Someone who excels at one is not necessarily good at the other.

Mind you, this is the version that is used for adults. At not even two, what she has is impressive. Only an idiot of elephantine proportions(and yes, I've met some of those doctors) would not be impressed with her development.

Comprehension and follow through are two different things. Can they understand you? Most likely. Will they do it? Not always. They are still learning.

Enjoy them while they are small and cute. This phase is all too short.

Agree or disagree, as always, it's...

Just my 2cp.

Hit your library or bookstore for "what to expect, the toddler years". She sounds normal. She's not even 2 yet and still learning.

Hmm -- sometimes my 19 YEAR old dd doesn't seem to understand me -- or at least pretends she doesn't! :-D

She sounds pretty normal to me. Remember -- you child at this age probably has a spoken vocabulary of anywhere from 10 to 50 words. The average adult has a vocabulary of 40,000 to 50,000 words. That means that you know 1000 times the amount of words that your toddler knows, so don't expect her to understand much of what you say. Expect her language acquisition and understanding to expand rapidly over the next two years.

By the time she's three, your dd should know and understand between 500 - 2000 words, and will probably put words together that express her meaning, but that aren't necessarily "proper English"; for example, our son at aged two called turkey "big chicken" and dinosaurs were "teethy sores." Just keep talking and reading to her, and you'll be amazed at how quickly she continues to acquire language skills over the next few years!

If this is your first child, you are understandbly anxious for her to hit milestones and you want to see constant change and growth. Relax. Enjoy each day for what it is an let her grow up at her own pace. She'll only be little once, and believe me -- the years pass all too quickly! My eldest is 23, and it still seems like just yesterday that he was my sweet little baby.

She's not even 2. That's all. She's fine.

she is normal.. your expectations are tooo high for her age.

just wait till she turns 2 and she will be able to understand everything but will do absolutely nothing htat you tell her and will just say no..

I can relate to your anxious anticipation of language skills! My daughter is 23 months, and I feel like in just the last 2 months there has been a HUGE expansion of her ability to follow simple directions, and also express more words. I was just about to take her to a speech therapist for evaluation about 2 months ago, and the very next week, I made a list of what words she could say, and marking down new ones I heard her say, and her progress has been surprisingly fast. My husband reminded me that I had the same concern at about 20 months with our first! I think it's just impatience to finally be able to talk to your child meaningfully!
I think it's important to keep up as much direct communication with her as possible. While you're in the car or in the grocery store or on a walk, play "I spy" with her. When you're picking up with her, use language accessively - put the ball in the basket, put the blocks in the box, whatever makes sense. At this age, my kids have been super excited about being the "helper". Every night for dinner, my 2 year old gets to be the fork helper, or the napkin helper. All of these are opportunities to practice her understanding of common words, and then she'll also start using those words herself. I suspect you'll see her capabilities quickly grow in the next few months.
If you really don't feel she's improving in the next few months, have her pediatrician check her hearing, and then recommend having her evaluated at your Regional Center for early services. My niece had a significant hearing issue in her first year due to chronic ear infections, and was assigned several hours per week of speech and behavior therapy in order to catch up on language abilities - this was between ages 2-3. If there's really a problem, the Regional Center can recommend state-funded services that can help. I think the one for Bev Hills is called "Westside Regional Center" but a google search and some phone calls will point you in the right direction.

She should be able to do simple one step commands:

Shut the door. Clap your hands. Take a bite. Simple one step things.

She should be learning to do 2 step commands too.

Pick up that toy and put it in that box. Shut the door and turn off the lights. Clap your hands and turn around.

Things that require her to remember what you said and still do it.

Go to parentcenter.com and add her to the email notifications for getting emails that will tell you "your child is XX months old and should be starting this stage"...there are several different ones you can sign up for. They will help you to understand what stages she should be doing and what areas she may be ahead in or perhaps behind in.

Sounds perfectly normal if she understands all those.