How well do you understand your LO's speech? (18 months)

laurelita42 · January 2014

Just curious how well you all understand what your LO's are saying. DD is very good at mimicking the beginning of words but still drops the end of most words that end in a consonant (ie, if I ask her to say 'duck' I get a 'duh' but no 'k' sound). She has a couple dozen words but pronounces most of them in this pattern. She's also just started combining some phrases and while I understand them (Mo App for More Apple) I'm not sure anyone else would. Do I have unrealistic expectations for her speech at this point, or is it pretty normal?

maryxc1 · January 2014

I think this is pretty normal. DS just turned 20 months and I probably understand 90% of what he days. My husband understands about 80%. I have been told by many people that he speaks very clearly for his age but the rest of the world still probably only understands 60% of what he says. There are several words that sound nothing like the word he is saying but he always says it the same way so if you know what to listen for you understand. For instance, his name is Austin and it sounds like "Sassy" when he says it.

ashiscute · January 2014

That sounds pretty normal to me. Just make sure when she says "mo app" you respond by saying you want "more apple?"

At that age as long as you understand her that's most important. My DS is very understandable with some words and not with others. They'll get better.

APendola · January 2014

That's pretty much my DD who is also 18 months. She says words like "no" for "nose" "muth" for mouth, "Ma" for more, "Da" for Dora (obsessed with Dora the explorer), and "mak" for milk. So she is saying a few words now, but doesn't really pronounce anything right.

She keeps saying "oh-she"...and I have no idea what she means by that. Other than that, I can understand her words and what she wants.

She also nods, shakes her head, and points to help communicate.

tifdaski84 · January 2014

That's how my LO says a lot of his words to, either dropping the end or substituting one sounds for one for another. Sometimes, with a new word, it takes a couple of times before I catch on but, once I do, I can recognize it pretty well.

The toughest so far was "mamoon". I couldn't figure it out for the life of me until he started saying it while pointing at a balloon at MILs. Lol.

emberlee3 · January 2014

I understand most of what DD says. Context helps a lot, so do the nonverbal cues that accompany her speech. I have to translate for everyone else, even DH.

oliversmommy32912 · January 2014

I figure it's ike I'm constantly interpreting for DS. I understand most of what he says. My husband understands a little less than me since I'm home with him. I think he says over 100 words and people can probably understand about 50 or 60 of them. He often drops the last consonant, too. Like instead of "moon" he says "moo" but he points to the moon when he says it so it's obvious to anyone what he's talking about. But then there are words that are too long for him to say correctly so he makes up his own version, like "oppy" for "octopus". I'm not sure anyone would get that unless they saw him consistently using it in place of octopus.
I have been figuring it's all normal and judging by the responses it sounds like it is. I just keep repeating the word back to him the correct way as much as possible. I do try to get him so say the word the correct way if I know he can. For example, he says "yue" for "shoe", but I know he can say "shoe" because he has done it before on his own and he says the "sh" sound all the time. Sometimes he repeats it correctly and sometimes he doesn't. I don't push it.

ECT2012 · January 2014

Our pediatrician told us that by age 3, people who don't know your child should be able to understand 75% of what they are saying... so at this age, I'm sure your child is very "normal"!

laurelita42 · January 2014

Thanks for your perspective, everyone! It's good to get some reassurance on this!

earlyspring1 · January 2014

I'm a speech pathologist who works with the birth to five age group. Your LO is perfectly normal! At 18 months if you can understand 25% of what they say that's the average. Also leaving off final consonants is considered typical until 2.5 years.