language development

PhillyGal34

My son will be 17 months actual/15 months adjusted in about a week.  He's pretty much on target with his actual age but he isn't saying many words.  he will say a few but there are words or phrases (all done) that he no longer says that he used to say.  How many words should he be saying at this age? we don't go back to the doctor until next month for his 18 month appt but I'm just curious.  I know that boys are often slower with speech than girls but by 15 months my niece was saying 2 word sentences and by 18 months she was speaking in full sentences! so although I'm trying not to compare (she was overdue!) it's in the back of my head. 

thanks!

Missa_g

At their 18m appointment our pedi expected them to have at least six words in context. My youngest twin totally blows that number out of the water and is having a huge language explosion right now. My oldest twin has four words (maybe, context is questionable) but our pedi wasn't too concerned since he understands a ton and can follow basic commands ("bring me the ball" etc). However, she likes to err on the side of caution and refer to ECI early. We have J's evaluation on Monday when he turns 19m actual. Apparently ECI stops adjusting at 18m so I know he will qualify.

At his age I would just wait for the 18m appointment since it sounds like he has words he just doesn't always use them. Every kid really is different and speech has such a wide range of "normal". Your niece sounds very advanced as I don't think they expect two word sentences until they're two years old.

kck329

There are two parts of language development that your pedi or an ST will look for:
Expressive Language--what a child can say
Receptive Language--what a child understands

In my experience, therapists and doctors get concerned when a child is behind in both areas or if there is a big gap between the two. For example, my DD was 6 months diferent between her receptive (high scores) and her expressive (low scores) so we started speech therapy at 15m.  A lot of places wait until a child is 2 to start ST but its worth asking at your 18m visit if you are concerned.

Have you tried signing? That helped my daughter a lot--she couldn't speak but she could communicate her needs a lot better and it cut down on frustration. Now she's a chatterbox but she really did need the ST to get here.

PhillyGal34

Thank you all! I didn't mean to post and run but today got away from me and I totally forgot to check.  

DS got tubes almost 3 months ago and got his hearing tested a month after he got them and it was perfect. I was worried about that as well.  He definitely understands things and is trying to say something but it is rarely a word I understand.  He used to say More (mo) and All Done (ah dun) and he will say Elmo, Cookie, Abbey (get a theme here?), nana for banana and mama and daddy and he will make sounds for other things like SSS for our dog who begins with an S, and I'm sure there are a few others. So he's definitely trying. 

We did sign language with him and they did it at school in his earlier class. He will do more when he wants more.  He never seemed to be a big fan of it.  He doesn't tantrum a lot fortunately so this is more of a me being a worrier thing.  Actually DH brought it up and that got me worried.  

I'l give him some more time... I'm sure one day he will start talking and never stop... like his mom :-)