talking

[lilly]

My son is 19 mo old, he has a very good understanding of what you are asking him and he will even show you what he wants but he only uses small words, mama, dada, buba, nana, & didi (for the kitty)he will point to specific things if you ask him to and he does underatand small directives.  My husband is worried he is behind in his speach, but I hear that children do not talk well until about 2 can you offer some advice.   Maybe our expectations are too high since he crawled and walked early.  Thank You!

[Betty]

I understand your concern. My son did not speak until age 3. Then two days after his third birthday, he spoke full sentences. From that point, he hasn't stopped. Now he is articulate, bright and an excellent reader. At that time, we went through all the evaluations and were told many, many different things. In fact, many scary things by a host of professionals. And one day it all came together for him. If your child does not have a hearing problem or any other physical ailment, be patient. Your child will be chatting up a storm very soon. The one thing I did find that helped, each person in the house needs to speak clearly, slowly and one at a time. If everyone is speaking at the same time or if the t.v. is on, it's very confusing to a young child to compete with all the noise. Good luck!

[HVM M.D. - EV]

Dear Lilly,
   It is always difficult to say what is "normal" for toddlers - because there is a wide variety of "normal." And then girls are usally more chatty than boys.  With that said - most 19 month old children have several true words in their vocabulary, beyond mama, dada - but not all.  By this I mean - they can say several words which have real meaning.  Your son does speak several words - but some are more sounds than true language. And then he uses gestures, which are a normal part of communication, as well. His receptive language exceeds his expressive language - and this, too, is normal.
   Probably your son's speech is developing appropriately - but I don't think it would hurt to have a hearing and a speech evaluation - the former, to rule out any hearing problem; the latter, as a baseline. There may be some subtle delay at this point in time - i.e., he is storing his language - but more words should be coming soon.
   Whatever the outcome - do talk, read, sing to your child - maintain a stimulating environment - which I am sure you do.
   Good luck - Dr. EV