17 month old - no words

[Anonymous]

Any consistent noise with a meaning counts as a word at this age. My toddler made sounds like “nyuhnyuh” that meant he was hungry. But you’re not wrong to be worried if there’s none of that. You said it once, they’re going to talk to the pediatrician, you’re good.

[Anonymous]

I have two sons who had no words at 18 months. One did EI and by the end of it at 3 he was at 12th percentile for speech. The younger one I did nothing.
Neither one said much until the year they were 3.
They are 8 and 10 now and normal.

[Anonymous]

OP here

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and informative replies. I will report back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any consistent noise with a meaning counts as a word at this age. My toddler made sounds like “nyuhnyuh” that meant he was hungry. But you’re not wrong to be worried if there’s none of that. You said it once, they’re going to talk to the pediatrician, you’re good.

The one thing I found interesting is my kid spent most of the year from 1-2 home with us due to COVID and his daycare being shut down. Don't get me wrong, we talked to him constantly but we used to say he kind of spoke a language only we understood (like he knew his ABCs, but had words for milk and foods that he made up). When he returned to daycare around age 2, that disappeared almost overnight, he started speaking much more clearly. So I do think a good daycare does actually help with bringing language to standard words.

[Anonymous]

My younger son hit the 50 words mark at 18 months, much slower than his older brother. After that, he had the rapid increase in talking that a lot of books mention. I remember worrying about it and then he hit the takeoff point about a month later.

Birth order is known to play a role. However, my two sons are also different physiologically (height, body shape). Intellectually as teens they are on the same level, with the older still being more verbal. Near identical total PSATs but opposite areas of strength.

It's appropriate to be attentive and raise concerns once, as a primary caregiver. Hopefully your DIL will relax once more progress is shown or an assessment gets done.

[Anonymous]

PP. Also make sure ears are checked for earwax. My younger son did have a buildup one year on his one eardrum that was noticed at a well-baby visit. He was about 2 at the time. We resolved it at home with eardrops. He said it made a big difference to have that washed out.

You can buy an LED otoscope off Amazon that lets you use your phone as a view screen and take pictures. That aids diagnosis.