How many words at 2?

DS has a speech therapy screening appt on Thursday and just want to know what to expect the outcome to be.

How many words/animal noises does/did your 2-yea-old say? How many 2-3 word sentences?

DS only says approx 7 words (2 being "that way") and can make 3 animal sounds (tiger, monkey, sheep).

I talk to him all day long and sound out words but he just won't say them. His comprehension is fine its just his speech.

:hug: don't really know the answer but just wanted to ask if he has had any ear infections/problems? I know my sisters oldest had numerous ear infections and when he finally got gromits he improved greatly (he was 7 so it was his schoolwork that improved), another friend's little boy had grommets at 2 and 1/2 and he has finally started to talk - like you said his comprehension is fine he just wasn't verbalising.

Goodluck with your appointment.

i think the average is about 30-50 words. Some have a lot more than that and some have a lot less.
A friends little boy said about 4 words at 2, now at 5 he is at kinder and you would never notice the difference between him and his peers.
GL with the speech therapist, hopefully he's just a late bloomer. ;)

This is cut n pasted from some information I have collected for myself (I'm an early childhood teacher):

Language Development 18mth-2yrs

Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)
Much jargon with emotional content
Is able to follow simple commands


Language Development (2-3yrs)

Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under
Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
Rhythm and fluency often poor
Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused
My and mine are beginning to emerge
Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)"


I have included the 18mths as well because your little one is only just 2, so could be in between.
Hope that helps :)

I can have a little conversations with logan, he can tell me what he wants "mum im hungry" or "can i please have some toast/ yoghurt" etc...
He can tell me what animals and picture are if i point to them...
Please, thank you, hello, cya ...
umm tells me that he wants to "draw with the pencils".. "wheres the paper mum?"

Brendan had 2 words("dadadada" and "da-da" (like ta-ta)) and the car noise "brrm" at 25 months. He could also babble "mumumum" "nanananan" and "bubububub" but they were just sounds, he didnt connect them to the people until closer to 30 months. He could also wave, clap and point. And point to his ears, nose and hair/head.
Brendan is now almost 32 months old and only just a few days ago put two "words" together... "ta mum"

At Brendan's 2yrs corrected check-up (27 months actual) they wanted Brendan to have approx 200 words, that he knew the meaning to and understood what it was he was saying. On top of those 200 real words they wanted him to be immitating words and to be able to follow simple commands, none of which he could do.

We've been attending Speech Therapy since he was 11 months, it started off eating related and moved onto speech. At almost 32 months Brendan has 21 words, including some animal noises, has two sentences 'bye-bye' and 'ta mum'. He tries and mimics several words, approx 10. He can follow approx 10 simple commands, 'put it in the bin' ect.

The biggest thing is not the speech itself, but the understanding. As long as your child can understand a lot of things the speech will come on its own eventually.

*ETA* I've been keeping track of Brendans speech, this link may be of interest :) Brendan's Speech

Thank you all for your replies.

Kelebek - he hasn't ever had any problem with ear infections but thanks :) I can see how that would impact on speech.
Falguni - yeah I think its more lazyness than anything! He gets things he wants by pointing so why speak :P
Lilias - thanks for posting that. He is in between those - seems I really don't have all that much to be concerned with really.
RR - your DS seems to talk a lot compared to mine. He can't say animals but when asked where they are he can point to them etc
Sally - DS doesn't have any problems with understand a lot of words its just he can't physically say them so I guess its anyones guess what they'll end up doing tomorrow - I'll check out the link, thanks for posting it :)

Hi Nella xxx
I have a dd who is 26 months and is currently having speech therapy. She had just about 20 words when she started just prior to her 2nd birthday, but her level of understanding and comprehension was average to that of a 2 year old, so it was just speech that we were concerned about. She now has almost 100 words and has only had 6 sessions! I don't know if this would have been the case anyway, but I would definitely recommend it!
FYI, dd speech therapist says that at age 2, an unfamiliar listener should be able to understand at least 50% of what your child is saying xxx

At the first appt, which as you say is the initial assessment, the speech therapist asked me questions about my pregnancy, birth etc and what I seemed to be concerned about. they may also suggest a hearing test to rule out any potential problems there. With regards to dd, the speech therapist played games with her, used toys etc and just watched her to see her responses, words, eye contact, interaction with herself and me etc.... it was just like a play session but obviously they know what they are looking out for. It was pretty informal and then at the next appt I was given a report of what the speech therapist thought x
It really is quite an informal setting but I have seen such a huge improvement in dd since she has been going. She is even putting 3 words together now!!! Although she still babbles quite a lot, I think it is definitely worth doing xxxxx

hth hon and good luck for Thurs xxxx
Valerie