My 15.5 mo old isn't talking much. She will attempt to mimic words as we tell them to her (cup, ball, truck, book, please, thank you, etc). We have taught her some signs but she has stopped doing those and is now attempting to say the word. She saw her Pediatrician 2 weeks ago and she said she was fine and not to worry. However, some family/friends have asked me if she talks more or they try to get her to say something and she won't. She has met all other milestones just fine--some even early (walking at 10 months). I'm a FTM and I just don't know if I should be concerned. She can follow instructions very well (go get me..., put this on the...., come to me, stop/no thank you, don't touch, use your fork--another challenge all to itself 
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I was in your same shoes a year ago and I was starting to notice my son wasn't talking much. I waited until 2 to see if he caught up (16-24 months seems like a time of huge language development.) At 24 months, I saw that he hadn't made much progress so I had him evaluated and he is nearly a year behind in both receptive and expressive speech so he is starting speech therapy.
In short, your LO might catch up but having a plan in place is great, too. Depending on your state, you don't need a pediatrician referral.
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@nugget16: I think a lot of toddlers suddenly start talking a lot more around 18 months so if the pediatrician isn't worried I don't think I'd be too worried yet. My son was the same way (walked at 10m too) and he just made 2 and talks a lot now. There is such a huge spectrum of normal. I definitely wouldn't base it on the things family and friends are trying out, they are just doing it for fun, and many of them probably have no idea when babies are "supposed to" talk or have certain words.
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15 months wouldnāt concern me much. Agree that 18 months is when we had a huge language explosion. Before that it was attempting to mimic but not quite getting it. Like we knew what he was saying (words not sentences) but no one else did.
I would take my pediatricians advice wayyy more than random family members who donāt have a true understanding of a toddlers development. Iām sure they WANT him to be saying more but that doesnāt mean he should. -
My advice is to not worry at all. My daughter didnāt talk much until she turned 2. Sheās almost 3 now and her vocabulary is incredible. So, donāt worry!
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I would wait til 18 months as that is when talking is 'expected' to take off. I say this as a mom of a nearly 3 yr old who has been in speech therapy since about 20 months for a motor speech disorder. 15 months I wasn't concerned, but our doctor referred us at his 18 month appointment 'just in case'...he also wasn't concerned at that time but knowing the wait lists, he made the referral anyway. It took 6 months to get in the public program (saw private while we waited) and I was glad to have the appointment waiting for us as we were one of the ones who needed it. So, wait and watch, but don't be afraid to get an evaluation in a couple months. As for family comments, ignore them! But trust your gut if you feel worried.
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At my 15 month checkup she asked how many words he was saying and I just laughed. The doctor was like āthey donāt have to be recognizableā so I said 5 but I was lying. Heās 19 months and heās talking a lot more. I would wait at least three months and see.
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DS1 had a language explosion around 2. It still is early!!
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15 months is early! Since your LO is following directions and seems to understand what you say and is trying to say some words, I definitely wouldn't worry at all.
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15 months is still really young to be worried about delays. Plus it sounds like she is on the right track.
We had to work really hard to get a short list for his 18 month appointment. Our Dr. said anything that we could understand that he associated with a person/thing counted. Some things were totally random (like a weird string of syllables that was "dinosaur" and the very small difference between ball and balloon). My son just didn't want to talk. Just before age 2 he had a big explosion and now by age 3 is totally caught up.
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@nugget16: We really stretched to get to this point at 18 months:
Word/Sound List
1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Uh-Oh
4. Bye Bye
5. Open (Oh-en)
6. Color (Ol-er)
7. Flower (Ow-er)
8. Hat (At)
9. Ball (all)
10. Balloon (A-ooh)
11. Book (Ook)
12. Truck (Uck)
13. Dinosaur (Ca Ca?)
Other Sounds
14. Vroom15. Quack
16. Moo
17. Neigh
Sign Language
18. More19. Please
20. All Done
21. Eat
22. Drink
23. Hat
24. Bird
25. Baby
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My LO1 was an early talker so I was a little concerned when LO2 seemed to have zero words at 15 months and barely five at 18 months (including mama/dada). The doctor wasn't too concerned but said she'd refer us to a speech therapist if things didn't pick up in the next few months. We tried to be more intentional about talking to him, reading books (even though he'd previously shown no interest), pointing things out at home, etc. He ended up starting to talk a lot more by around 21 months so we didn't end up going in for therapy.
There's a wide range of normal but there are things you can do to encourage language, including:
- Unloading the dishwasher, hold up every item and say what it is "plate! oh thank you for handing me that spoon! here's a cup!"
- Get on the floor with no distractions around and talk about what you see, i.e. playing with blocks, narrate "let's put this blue block on top. and now this one on top. on top, on top, on top...." -
My son didn't talk at all at 15 months outside of an occasional mama and dada. I was totally worried but it just took him longer to get started, I think. He was a walker but not a talker. He was saying words a lot more by 17 months.
Especially since she can understand things and attempts to mimic words...I don't think you have anything to worry about (but I completely understand the worry!).
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Sounds totally normal! Mine had maybe 5 words (MAYBE) at that age. And then went through a language explosion between 20 months and 2 years. The fact that her receptive language skills are so good is a great sign! Just be patient.
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My son's receptive language was excellent at that age, in two languages. But he had an oral motor delay, that had we identified, could have avoided a ton of problems later on.
I would look for two additional things...one is can your child make a wide range of sounds, or are there certain ones (like L and D in my son's case) that he avoided using and what's the feeding situation like, is your child open to different textures of foods?
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Agree with others that it is still early and to not be concerned. My LO1 was barely talking at that age (I think she had like 3 words, and she didn't even say mama or dada). She had a language explosion at around 18 months and since then she has basically never stopped talking!
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My son didnāt say much at 15 months. Iād heard there was a language explosion at 18 months so I waited. And waited. His language explosion didnāt happen until he was about 25 months! He was also very advanced with gross motor skills and our pediatrician said sometimes when they are very advanced in one area, the others take a while. She warned us that he would probably be on the later side for talking and he was!
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My LO (16 mos) is a big talker, but she has a cousin the exact same age who only has a few words. I think cousin understands more language (or at least follows directions better), though, and no one is concerned. Cousin is much more physically advanced and daring, can put together puzzles like a champ, and just seems focused on other skills. I think it just goes to show that kids develop differently. If your ped isn't concerned, I wouldn't be either.
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@nugget16: I worried, too. For some reason I thought kids should be speaking at least some by one! My son did not. He only had a handful of words until 20 months and then literally one day, the explosion happened, just like everyone said it would. He is 23 months today and easily has 300 words/short sentences.
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DS didn't have very many words before 18m and had his language explosion at 20m.
DD is 14m and says Mama, Dada and signs more (sometimes). She started walking at 9m though, so I think her brain has been working to figure out the gross motor stuff and next up will be verbal skills. Personally, I won't worry until we get to 2.
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Agreed with PP not to worry. I feel like a lot of kids are walkers or talkers. DD was a talker (lots of words early), but didn't walk until almost 16 months. Maybe your DD is just the opposite.
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At my daughters 15 month check up they asked if she had 2 words. At 18 months they will ask if she has 15-20. I wouldn't worry.
My daughter whines mama!!!! and points when she wants things. But I've started telling her the word and asking her to say it and she's actually trying a bit. She is 16 months.
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@Dahlia: I agree. My friends little guy is 15 months and the words he can say... it's insane. But he doesn't walk and isn't that close to it.
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my two girls were the same. the first one took off at 18-19 months and i stopped worrying. my second is turning 2 next week and still doesn't have as many words as her peers, but has totally improved on her own, so if i don't see more improvement by 2.5, then i'll get an evaluation.
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You guys are the best!! I feel so much better! I'll definitely address it at her 18 month check up if I feel it's necessary! Thank you all so much!!!
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15 mos is still young. I was worried that my LO didn't have the 5-6 audible words to move him to his next daycare room. Low and behold, what he was saying and could understand was plenty to move him. Our pediatrician assured us what he was saying and identifying with a point and sound was normal for his age. He just turned 18 months and put together a two word request "more milk." Fear not, yours will speak soon enough.
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@nugget16: I wouldn't worry at this age. Seems normal and on track. The only thing that would concern me is if your child has had a lot of ear infections.
DS1 barely had any words at all at 18 months and his words were like gobbledigook sounds he had for things. Even then the doctor didn't worry that much but we never had that language explosion. At the same time he had back to back ear infections (he started daycare at 16 months) and by 20 months he had a referral for tube surgery. They found then that he had significant hearing impairment because of the fluid and just when his language skills should have been exploding, he simply couldn't hear because of the ear infections. So he was speech delayed and we worked really hard to get him caught up after tube surgery at 22 months. He's 3 now and finally in "normal" range for speech, although definitely not on the top end of verbal (which we are fine with).
DS2 on the other hand is 16 months old and had tube surgery at 10 months and is totally normal in development and he has the same level of language you describe. He learns a new word every few days and is very excited to show off about it. We do the Priddy word books all the time (both my boys LOVED these books while learning words) and he will point out a new thing each week.
Definitely agree you should reassess after 18 months but before 2 years.
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My DD was an early talker and great talker (still is). She never even said "baby words" and was talking full on sentence mode at like 15 months.
So...when my son at 15 months could only say mamma, I was worried. Then at his 18 month checkup, the nurse was going through a checklist and asked me if he had 15-20 words and I got even more worried bc he had had like two. He's 20 months now and even though the number is like up to 6, it's still concerning. My pediatrician, she's not worried at all. We're hoping the language explosion will come soon
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My daughter did not have her language explosion until 26 months. At her 18 month and 2 year appointments she just barely hit the bottom range of ānormal.ā Now she never stops talking.
I only mention this because I kept waiting for that language explosion at 18 months and it never came. I was totally stressing out. But she started talking when she was ready!
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I wouldn't worry yet. All kids are different and reach milestones at different ages. I would just look for continued improvement even if it's small. Both of my boys were late talkers. At 2, DS2, really didn't talk much. The pediatrician asked if we saw he was improving at all. Which he was, just slowly. She said if we didn't see any improvement in a few months, she would refer us to speech therapy. Well he did improve slowly over the next few months. But his explosion didn't really happen until closer to 3. Then it was fast. Full clear sentences in a matter of a couple of months. He's a little chatterbox now at 3.5.
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My son just turned two and is not talking. He can say mama, dada, baba (grandpa), yaya (grandma), and some other specific sounds for names. He only says names.
He makes up his own sound effects and gestures for other words and strings these together to tell stories (he's never, ever quiet - always trying to communicate). Starting at 15 months we have tried so hard to get him to copy us or say letter sounds and simple words and he gets so frustrated. He screams in frustration so we no longer push the issue.
Despite his impressive library of signs and sound effects (none of his animal sounds are the standard cutesy sounds like "neigh" "oink" "quack", etc. He actually sounds like a real pig, a dog, a cat, a chicken, etc.) he is still extremely frustrated with not being able to communicate as effectively as he should be, and as a result has many more tantrums than a typical toddler should have.
EI therapy sessions finally begin this week.
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DD1 had two words at 17 months: mama and dada. Between 17 and 18 months she clearly said "purple" and "waffle" so we knew she was just being a perfectionist (she has an incredible vocabulary--by 2 she was speaking much more clearly than some of the 4 year olds in her class now). She was just very quiet. DD2 (18 months) on the other hand has a lot of words and started out probably around 15 months (not yet strung together in sentences), but most aren't understandable to people other than me. She is pretty vocal!
But ohmygosh, please don't be concerned--15 months is barely 1 year! She will most likely be just fine.
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