How Much Should My 21 Month Old Be Talking

That was my number 3. She didn't walk for 18 months and didn't talk for almost 2 1/2. She didn't have to. Sissy is 3 years older and did all the walking and talking for her, she still does sometimes, and they are now 13 and 16.

Number 3 started using more words after Sissy went to school.

MORE THAN MINE! My 21 month old son has the vocab of a 10 month old, we just had him evaluated... you should do the same. There's a difference between having an older sibling speak for you, and plain not talking. I trusted my mommy gut... and I was right. My son has a severe speech delay. He's crazy advanced with everything else... just won't speak. As your pediatrician for a recommendation for a pediatric developmental evaluation :)

That can happen with older siblings, but I would ask your ped. about it.

The biggest issue is IF she has used words and doesn't use them any more. Any regression at all, and you should have her evaluated immediately.

If she were your first and you didn't talk to her much, that might explain some of that. Good to know she has a good receptive vocabulary (words she understands).

i think she's fine, K., she understands and follows through, a big part of learning to communicate. Ask your 8 year old to wait for her little sister to say what she wants or needs, explain to her that her little sister needs to learn to use her words, just as she did.

My now 2.5 year old's spoken vocabulary really took off at around 2 and now he is a linguist virtuoso, he simply amazes me when he talks! But if his big sisters, 10 and almost 7 now, had had their way, he wouldn't ever have had to utter a word ; ) I asked them both to please wait for him to say what he needed, and they both told me they were trying to help him. I told them they were (and are) awesome big sisters, but that the best way for them to help him was to let him use his words and they got it. Whenever one of them would say, "Do you want this?" or "He wants this" I gently reminded them to "help" him use his words on his own and they did.

My second was the same way, it really scared me bc my cousin is autistic and I thought that my daughter may be. She had her sister to talk for her. She started talking overnight it seemed around 22 months. I've heard of some kids not talking till 2 1/2. If you see other signs that bother you, I would just talk to pediatrician about maybe a speech therp.

I think if you are worried about it ask your pediatrician. However, children do things when they are ready. My sisters son was 2 or maybe a little over 2 when he started to talk. They took him to the doctors who did some test and told them there was nothing wrong, he is fine and when he starts talking you will probably wish he didn't. That's exactly what happened; once he started there was no more quiet time.

Good luck, I hope he is fine and just waiting for his moment.

My now 3yo son didn't talk til 2-2 1/2, with my almost 2yo daughter I started much earlier with 'making' them talk. What this technique is you never pre-empt them by just giving them the juice or the toy they are grunting for. You ask them 'you want the bear?' or 'I don't understand what you want, can you tell me/use your words? What are you pointing to?' You do this in a very upbeat/positive way and anytime they do use a word you praise 'oh, thank you for telling me you wanted the bear, that really helps me when you use your words'. And continually repeating everything, 'here is the bear, what a fun bear, susie got the bear she wanted because she asked for the bear'. Then when the have the word 'bear' down, you add another word to it ' here is the brown bear you asked for', you want to stay one word ahead of them.

It's a little tiring sometimes to talk so much, but my son definetly needed it and my daughter is way ahead of the scale in speech.

My son was shy about talking, once he got it, and sometimes still I have to repeat what he says or he repeats what I say. He is just trying to 'get it'. He was checked out w/ early intervention and he is fine, and he is not slow or less inteligent. Words with 2 consanants are hard like 'flag' it would come out 'bag' so i work with him still, we sound it out, having fun, 'fffff lllag' and he is getting it.

good luck, stay positive, lots of kids don't talk til 3, but I think some need more help/direction.

Most likely there is nothing wrong but there are so many excuses and myths regarding talking and one is that the sibling "talks for them". She is only 21 months old...does she say any words at all? There is a wide range of "normal" but by this age, she should be saying at least 5 words. If she is not saying any words (besides mama) have her evaluated by your state's early intervention. It takes about a month to get someone out to you. If her language takes off you can always cancel the appt. But why not get a free evaluation by a professional speech therapist?

I agree with what several others have said: it might be time to check with your doctor or a speech specialist to see if your daughter could benefit from some early intervention.

BUT also this might just be how she develops -- and she's healthy and on track. Our son had said only one word at 21 months ("no"!) and still hadn't said mama or dada. I was scared and concerned.

A few months later he started saying a couple more words, and two months after that he was using adverbs and 6-word sentences. So it may be perfectly okay for her to be where she is now. A specialist will be able to help you figure that out :-)

(This doesn't answer your question on how to get her to talk more, but I hope it helps with "how much should she" part of your post's title.)

Good luck!

My son is 19 months old and after he had tubes put in his ears he started to talk a little more. My sisters 3rd child was like that. His older siblings still talk a lot for him. My best advice is to try to have the two older ones not cater so much to her. Let her find her own voice. You could also get her evaluated to make sure she is hearing right. If nothing else she may be just a shy girl.