Toddler - What's normal talking wise around 19 months?

DS seems to have really slowed down with his talking - actually I reckon its halted!
He started walking a month ago so its all been about the physical development of late - so I assume thats where most of his developmental 'efforts' have been, but am starting to get a wee bit concerned as to his speech.

His most used words are Mum, Dad, Baby, Bailey (his name), weebee (weetbix), bubble, bath, Nan, YumYum (food in general), toast, hello, byebye
He talks away in normal baby gibberish and makes car noises etc when pushing around cars/trucks etc

He will sometimes mimic us and copy words, but currently prefers to point to things instead of saying their name at the moment (and sometimes cry's until we finally work out what it is he actually wants) I think both he and us are getting a little frustrated when we cant understand each other at times lately.

It seems that as a general rule girls develop there speech faster than boys and I know every child is different, but just wonder what I can do to engage him to 'use his words'

We say the names of things clearly and ask him to say things - sometimes he does, but more commonly he wont. There is clearly nothing wrong with his understanding though as he will understand and do pretty much everything we ask (except talk).

He just seems generally uninterested in his own vocabulary of late :(

I have found "repeating it" back to them, helps with their words...

So when he is pointing at his drink, Say "here is your cup" and do it everytime you give him something, with toys, sheets, pillows, everything :-)

Words seem to vary so much at that age. He sounds like he's going well though. I also think you're bang on the money about him developing one skill at a time.

I'll give you an example of my range of experience. DD at that age could count to 10 independently and say the alphabet she had probably a hundred words. DS at that age could say dad, ruck (for truck), gog (dog), mum and 'arcy (our DD is Darcy)....that's it. He couldn't even mange to nod/shake his head for yes and no correctly...he knew that doing one illicited a response, but had no idea what meant what. He didn't repeat what we wanted him to and he either grunted, pointed or screamed. In the last 2 months has vocab has just exploded. He can ask for what he wants almost clearly and comes out with a new word almost every day that we've never heard.

They say that talking to them about anything and everything is the key.

Sounds perfectly normal to me!!! DS was always really ahead with his speech, whereas DD1 was quite slow - compared to him anyway (and that had us a little concerned!) but when she hit 2 - she's just exploded with words and you can understand nearly everything she says now - plus she mimics a lot more now.

DD2 just turned one and she is looking like another one like DS - she can already say bye, dad and mum.

Hey Nay. Sounds like he's right on track to me. There's HUGE variation in what is considered 'normal' speech development but I had a speech pathologist tell me the other day that she's only concerned if a child is not using 3-5 words by 18 months, and even then, only concerned enough that she recommends follow-up assessment (not making any kind of drastic diagnosis). She said it's far more about intentional communication - pointing, eye contact, sharing a little (non-verbal) joke together etc at this age and that lack of those things is of far greater concern. It sounds like he's doing all the right things.

I think you're right about the current emphasis on his motor skills slowing down his language development. My little munchkin seems to really focus in on one thing at a time. Her language totally exploded over a couple of months, but she talks less ATM as she seems to be really working on her fine motor skills.

Of course, you know him best and should go with your gut and speak to a paed if things don't 'feel right' for any reason. But simply from what you've said, I'd say he's developing BEAUTIFULLY.

Much love to you and beautiful Bailz.

Apparently they are meant to have 50 words by the time they are two (though this info is from my speech pathologist when I was a kid), so based on that, your DS sounds fine!

P is 18 months and while she has more words than the average child her age, she does that babbly thing a LOT. She knows what she's saying...but no one else does :-P

i was having the same thoughts nay and jamie has less words than bailey he only just started saying coco for chocolate

Sounds pretty good to me. At that age I don't think DS had more than 5 words or so and this didn't really start to increase till 20+ months, then really took off after 2 - he's a total motor mouth now and never stops.
It's interesting you mention them stalling one area of development to concentrate on another, as DS' gross motor skills pretty much stalled for quite a while as he learned more and more language. He's started working on that again just recently.
We didn't do anything in particular to encourage his language. Maybe doing baby signing helped, as he was a pretty good communicator from 12 months with his signs. And we talk to him (obviously), but that's about it.

DD2 is the same age and she has a number of words like your DS but lately using hardly any of them. We think it is cause she is cutting her molars and just doesn't want to talk. But kids all develop in their own time, and since he certainly knows what you are talking about and has some words, try not to worry about it too much.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

I just had a look at the child health record book and it says in the heath assessment bit for 18-21 months, they should be using 5-10 words and understanding many more words. If he's following instructions then it might be just a matter of time before he says the word. My stepbrother as a toddler refused to speak, would just make murmuring and muttering noises until he was about 2 1/2. From that point, he would speak and say the word perfectly. It seemed he didn't want to speak until he could say it properly. I reckon B is super busy concentrating on his walking and probably running next, that he's not worried about his words right now.

Baby sign language has been shown to improve vocabulary skills, if not just directly but also towards recognition and understanding, so it helps give another form of communication and lessens tantrums because they can't get their message across.

DD1 had learnt about 10 signs by 14 months, 40 signs by the time she was 18 months, her actually vocab was only about 10. In the next couple of months her signs peaked at about 50, but her speech exploded to about 100. I what great in the mean time for her to be able to communicate.

Another consideration is that children's actual jaw structure changes about the ages of 18mths-2 1/2, apparently its thought to cause discomfort and some pain, so it can affect many things like speech, and behaviour, thought to be linked to the terrible 2's.

Before you know it, he will be chatting his head off.

he sounds fine =) lots of words.
one thing i will say though is follow your instincts, my son was starting to say quite a few words then everything stopped. when we got his ears checked by a specialist he actually needed grommets and now has quite a few words for a 16mth old and is starting to put two word sentences together. i think thats because he spends a lot of time with his 3yo sister though. we saw other developmental signs too though like he would try to stand up and lose balance easily, not hear us when he wasnt looking at us, and had ear infections as well.. just thought id put that in there, cant hurt to get his ears checked if your worried but other than that sounds all good =)

Thanks Noni*e - we actually have a paed check up in Jan and he is going to check his ears again as he'd had quite a few ear infections over winter and mentioned that grommets could be a possibility, so will definitely make sure thats checked. However his talking as picked up again just in the last week - the other day I was shutting the microwave and he said "shut", says "Pretty" for the xmas lights and "car" when playing with his toy cars so it seems we are getting a new word or two each day again - whew!! :)

Gosh, thats nothing to worry about at all. When my DD was that age, we were really worried and counting words up until just before her 2nd birthday.She'd had a few persistent middle ear infections. She is now 3.5 and talks a lot better than others in her age group.

My DS is 19.5 months and he says dada, mama, Bree (sister) nana, woof woof, ah (as in ta - please and thankyou) og (dog), up. So that's only 8 words. I think he's just like his sister and his expressive language is just going to develop gradually. Receptive language is the super important issue at this age. As long as he understands everything you tell him/ask him, all is good.