Question About Kid Starting to Talk and Understanding Language

I don't remember how many words my son knew at 15mnths. I do know that his doctor said that boys learn more words between 18mnths and 2years. My cousin's little boy is 15mnths and he can say mama, dadda, cat, and kitty.

You sound like you are doing a great job and your son sounds like he is doing great. Each child will develop their vocabulary differently.

I spoke practically non stop to our daughter as an infant and toddler. It was like a running conversation, but I was the one doing all of the talking.

I know I sounded like a crazy person, but I wanted her to know what I was doing and what the words were that went along with it.

In the morning.
Good morning while she was in her crib.

"Hey cutie pie. I like your bright eyes and happy face! Time to change your diaper.. Give me a big hug.. "

"Ok, let me unsnap your pajamas. Lifting your legs, Ok hold this diaper please. Thank you.. I am getting the wipes. Ooo, they are warm.. Ok, please hand me the diaper. Thank you." You are a big helper. "

"Time for breakfast. Here is the high chair. Buckle you in. Hold your hands in the air, so I can put the tray on. Thank you. "

"Let me wash my hands and wash your face and hands. One hand other had please. Wiping your face."

"Ok, today for breakfast is oatmeal and some fruit! Do you want a banana or some strawberries? Ok, banana! Good choice.

You get the idea.. All of this chatter?
She was speaking in full sentences at 1. Not all with complete pronunciations, but 3 to 5 words in a sentence. One of our favorite things was her version of words. She would hold her hands in the air and say "Uppy peas?" Translation~Pick me up please.

Then it became, "Hold you me peas"" Translation ~ Will you hold me please?

We also read to her at every nap and every night.. All the way to Middle school.. Sometimes, she would read to us. I remember her reading in the car to us..

I did not even know she could read.. She surprised me one afternoon when she was 4. Blew me away.

We never spoke baby talk.. We sang. we made rhymes, we just always included her when she was siting with us.

Just a few thoughts....

Each child is different. To the best of my knowledge usually between 18 months and 2 years is when speach really starts to develop. My oldest would say all kinds of words, while my youngest said very little until she could talk in a complete sentence.

I've know kids who have had speach delays due to hearing problems. If your child has a history of ear infections, congestion or allergies this can contribute to the delay.

Books are a great learning tool. Read to your child often. Point to the pictures and say the word. After you've read the same book several times, ask him "where is the dog?" and see if he can point to it.

When you speak to your child be sure to speak clearly and slowly.

I would not be concerned with the responses to the tone of your voice at this stage. He's still learning about emotions.

He's doing fine. Yes, it is important to talk to him and read to him, but be sure to respond to what he says. The latest research on language development says that listening to him and responding to his verbalizations is more important than the "non-stop talking at" kids that some have thought helpful in the past.

I don't have any advice, but I have a lot of the same concerns about my 12 month old. He says mamamamama (and just this week started saying it when he comes up to me) and dadadada (randomly, not to dad really). He'll make lots of other noises, but nothing that I can really call a word or associate with anything. I've started telling him things to see how much he understands and I've been pleasantly surprised. I've been asking him to give me specific toys (rubber duck, plastic rings, balls, etc) to see if he understands and most of the time he'll go get what I asked for. He also will start dancing and turn on some musical toys if I tell him to turn on the music. If I tell him no in a stern voice he sometimes laughs too (glad he's not the only one), and sometimes will stop whatever he's doing. The baby book said they should be saying mama and dada and one other word at this point, but he isn't. We had our well baby checkup last week and the doctor wasn't concerned a bit though, so I guess I won't be either! I think the best thing to do to encourage language skills is to just keep talking to them and letting them "talk" back. Good luck!

Overall I think he's pretty normal. He should be having a "language boom" here in the near future and you are right that even if he's not saying a particular word absolutely correctly, if he calls it the same thing consistently then you get to call that a word he knows.

My daughter was extremely verbal, my son wasn't. Of course you shouldn't compare kids, we all know that, but it's really hard not to do it! In fact, I tried so hard to not compare that I denied my instinct that told me my son had a speech delay. It wasn't huge and he was only in speech therapy for 2 months and is now totally on track, but my point is that although you shouldn't compare, it is okay to look at other kids as guidelines to what your child can/can't do at a certain stage in life.

Ways to get more language...READ, read, read and read. Also, narrate everything you do, it's kind of silly feeling at first, but they get into it. Every time you open something, close something, put something away, change a diaper, drive down the road, etc., talk about it and he will start making more connections every day.

My last piece of advice, and possibly my best ;) is that you should contact your local Parents as Teachers ASAP! It's a free service offered through your school district and they will come to your house and give you free advice, materials, activity ideas and more!! They are amazing, seriously, look it up!

Talking is a fun time and your little guy is probably just fine! Have fun because when he starts talking he will start saying the most precious things!

I was told by my son's ped. that at 15 months he should know about 10 words. Now that was 12 years ago, so things might have changed. At the time he spoke 45 different words. My daughter at that age was speaking a lot. Not 45 though. And my youngest who is 21 months now is speaking well. But at 15 months, he might have said 10 words. So, all kids are different. But what you should be concerned with is if he understands you when you are speaking to him. If he can follow a command, like get the ball, where is your cup? That sort of thing. The best thing you can do for him to develop his skills is talk to him a lot, explain things that you are doing. Point out different things when you are out and about. Just no baby talk. I am sure that's a given though!

Flash cards while they are in their highchair is a good way to familiarize them with language and pictures and words. It really works if you take the time to teach. Kids love being told "good job".
Getting into a routine of reading a book every night at bedtime also is one of the best ways for them to learn language and the written word.
My granddaughter is going to be 4 in July and she can read anything you put in front of her. They are very capable and very open to learning at this age.

First of all, never compare your child to other children. EVERY child has his/her own timetable for meeting milestones. What does your pediatrician say? Other parents will likely boast about the progress of their own child but your pediatrician is the one with experience with hundreds of children and he/she would be the best one to either reassure your concerns, or address them and determine if there is indeed a delayed problem. For example, I have 4 children. My first three had their first tooth by age 6 months. Some children have all of their teeth by 12 months. However, my 4th child just got her first tooth 2 weeks ago...and she will be a year old tomorrow. My ped said that some children don't get their first tooth as late as 15-24 months. So, if I compared my 4th child to my other three, she is "late" but my ped says it's normal. So I am not concerned.

Children cannot physically pronounce some sounds. This is normal, as you pointed that he says "dop" for stop. This is normal. How many words he should be saying varies from child to child so if he's saying any at all, I think that is good. Some children are late talkers. My first born did not talk until she was 2 1/2. My second didn't put words together until she was 3 whereas my third child was talking at 2 and you would fall over if you heard my nephew talk. That kid is 2 1/2 and converses with ANYONE and everyone like he is an adult. So, talk to your ped about your concerns.

As for how to help his language skills thrive, read, read, read. I cannot emphasize it enough. Read everything and anything. Kids don't care, read the back of a soap bottle while he's taking a bath. Use your voice in a theatrical way, raising your voice when asking a question, changing your voice for characters in a story. Make it fun and exciting! Look at books, magazines and point, say, "Oh, look there is a bird! A bird flies in the sky and says, tweet-tweet. Tweet tweet says the bird." I think you know what I mean.

And, try to make him say things like "do you want juice?" Try to encourage him to speak rather than to nod his head. Kids get lazy and some are stubborn.

My daughter is the exact same way. I will tell her...say "pink" and she will laugh. She just turned two and is starting to put more words together...like "one more cupcake" :)

Have you tried introducing sign language? Kids pick up on it easily and it helps with communication. simple signs like "yes, no, all done, more, milk, and water" will help and go along way. Reading and flashcards also help alot too.

Please let him go at his pace. He is doing fine. It is perfectly normal and utterly typical for him to laugh at everything (even at a cross tone of voice from an adult -- he is too young to fully understand differences in emotional tones, for instance, so don't expect him to react as an older child would react). It is typical that he might not have proper words yet. He clearly is connecting sounds with things (like "tat"). Please get some good books on infant and toddler development or even find a session or two of parenting seminars for parents of 1-to-3-year-olds. You will find that he is doing OK and is on HIS pace for developing speech.

Most important of all -- please talk to the doctor, read those books, ask those seminar leaders what is "age-appropriate" development. It sounds to me like perhaps you (and possibly your friends who are rushing to have their kids evaluated) are expecting more than children this age are able to achieve. But you're not alone. I see this all the time here on Mamapedia -- moms of kids from zero to three who make themselves very anxious, and who leap to thoughts of autism or other issues, because they don't really know what is and is not developmentally right for children this age, and they expect too much too soon. When you do some research you'll find out what's appropriate for him both now and over the next few years and you will find it much easier to relax and just enjoy this stage. And it definitely is a fun stage with much to discover for both you and him, so enjoy it before it's done and he's in full-blown preschooler mode!

I wouldn't stress about it too much at this point. Of my 4 children, I have one that was/is extremely verbal and one that was diagnosed with having a severe language delay. A couple thoughts...
- My language delayed little one was not even saying Mamma and Dadda or yes and no at 2...he had a vocabulary of...maybe 4 words at that 24 months? He is 4, and although still in a special ed preschool...I can not get him to STOP talking :p. He does still have some cognitive delays and language delays that we are working on tho'.
- Autism was my biggest concern as well...there are several other signs that you can look for, other than communication (http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm)
- I second the whole books thing!! By 18 months, all of my other children loved books and would sit and look at books...bring me books to read to them...etc. My 4 year old (language delayed) has just barely in the last year gotten to remotely enjoy books. Be OK with repetition - they are ;) It doesn't occur to them that you might not be as excited about the fact that you have 'Go, Dog. Go!' or some other such book totally memorized.
- Even my daughter that was fully conversational at 2 years old, enunciated clearly and used impressively large words early, etc....was just barely putting words together at 18 months. We did have friends with a child that was talking well before a year...so it happens...but I think in general you tend to really start 'hearing' them around 18-20 months.

It sounds like you're on top of it...just don't stress :) And I would look up some of the other signs of autism...just to make sure. Early intervention does wonders!

You've gotten a lot of great feedback already. My advice is to just relax. My daughter was speech delayed. I didn't even hear her say "mama" at all until she was more than 2 years old. She went months without adding any new words and, as you can imagine, that made me very nervous. We had her hearing checked and everything was fine... Had her evaluated by a speech therapist and they agreed that she was about 6 months behind, but her comprehension was good. They left us saying that we just needed to give her more time. That she was just a late bloomer. Sure enough, they were right. It was like she was storing up every word she had ever heard and just waiting for the right time to use them.

Once she had her language boom, it was amazing. New words were tumbling out of her mouth every day. Now, she's 4 and we just had her evaluated again. She has the verbal skills and vocabulary of an average 6 year old.

I guess I'm telling you this because I was worried like you... For so long. Kids do often have their own timelines and the range of "normal" is so wide. Enjoy this time with your son and please try not to worry. He seems right on schedule to me.

Take care!
Hilary

Everything you listed sounds totally normal to me! I have 4.5 and 1.5 year old boys, much of what you said could have described them as they were learning to talk. The younger one started stringing words together around 16 months and has progressed rapidly since then. I was a little worried at 15 months when he only said a handful of words and mostly one-syllable. My pediatrician reassured me, and she was right! Your son sounds right on track and very "normal."