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Yea, it took DS (second child) well until 18 months to really start "talking". At 18 months it was maybe 6 words but lots of animal sounds and sign language.

Wouldn't worry, she's still soooo young. My los both didnt have any words at 13 months.

@LuLu Mom: SAME exact thing is happening to us w/ DD1 being super advanced and DD2 not talking. DD2 is now 25 months, and her pediatrician recommended she have an evaluation. She's actually only 5 months behind, but they said that she is SO expressive in other ways (facial expressions and intonation), that they don't think it will be long before she really talks. (She only has about 15-20 words now).
I hear it over and over again how the 2nd child doesn't talk much if the first is a big talker.

@LuLu Mom: I think the other thing to look at in communication is receptive language: does she follow directions? Understand when you ask her to do things? If you ask her to bring you her shoes will she do it? Point to the dog in a book?

And does she try other non verbal ways of communicating, like pointing and shaking her head for yes/no? If she does things like that I definitely wouldn't be worried about words emerging a little later than your first DD.

I work in early childhood and we usually look for 15 words by 18 months and two word phrases/"sentences" by age 2 as rough milestones.

I was worried about my DD because she wasnt saying much at 18 motnhs. She maaaaaybe had 5 simple words. I talked to my pediatrician about it, and asked about EI, and the doc recommended waiting a bit because they tend to pick up more around 18-20 months. The pediatrician said DD should be adding another 5-10 words in the next couple months, and stressed that every child was different. It has been true that DD has been picking up more words, and is trying to say more, but I think she is still behind in her speaking, and she doesn't speak clearly. She is 19 months now, and I'll talk to my Ped about EI again around 21 months if she hasn't pick up more words.

At 13 months, my son said 'mama' occasionally but I wasn't even sure whether I could count it as a word. At 15 months, he had 3 words ('mama', 'dada' and 'moo'). Pediatrician wasn't too concerned (in his case, bc he is a twin and twins are often delayed in speech), said to wait 3 months and if he hadn't improved at all, to start speech therapy. But in those three months from 15-18 months old, we suddenly had like, 20 words and has been fine ever since! Don't worry yet

As an SLP, I'm going to attach the rough guidelines I use with parents at 12 months and 18 months. I find that doctors and pediatricians are a bit more lax on guidelines than speech pathologists are. However, there is such a range of normal development at this age and like others have said some kids are just slower to develop words and will all of a sudden have a huge language explosion.

I usually do like to see a couple words at a year but I look at the big picture, at how the child is communicating overall. There are tons of ways to help stimulate development at home and it sounds like you are doing lots. Reading and singing are key! Talk as much as possible around your LO even if it feels like you are just narrating your life.
" Wash, wash, wash the dishes. Mommy is washing the dishes. Pop, pop, pop the bubbles." You didn't ask for ways to encourage language development so I don't want to write too much, it sounds like you are doing great. I would not be worried about your LO at this point. I get concerned at 18 months if a child is not talking at all and recommend classes for parents on how to stimulate language development.

@LuLu Mom: lots of good input here which I would just be repeating mostly...but one side note.

Has DD2 had many ear infections? Our first had several bad ear infections which ultimately led to tubes at 18 mos. prior to tubes I felt her speech was borderline - i felt she understood me and our ped was not concerned bc she was doing fine big picture.

The pediatric ENT said her hearing had likely been compromised 30-40% by the fluid in her ears. About 2-3 months after the tube procedure her talking exploded!!!

@LuLu Mom: With DD1 we had to wait through 7 infections before our Ped would refer us. I asked at our 2w appointment with DD2 if she was more likely to have issues bc of what we had experienced with DD1 - he said no.

I let him know right then and there that I was not going through 7 ear infections before having surgery this time...I'll give it 3-4...I'm not going to make her suffer though. Our tubes have been a huge success!!!

@LuLu Mom: Just wondering if you've seen progress since this post. DD is 12.5 months and in the same boat. She understands a lot of what we say, but her only coherent word is Dada (and it's pretty inconsistent). Thanks

@T.H.O.U.: Thanks so much for the reply I don't think my son met all those guidelines at 12 months either, but he did have at least 3 words I can recall. His real explosion was around 21 months when he went from words to sentences seemingly overnight - it was crazy. I know it's terrible, but I just assumed as a girl she'd be talking much earlier.