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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, did your ped express concern about expressive language? Your kid sounds just about on track to me. Only a handful of words are expected at 18 months. [/quote]

Agreed. I don't think there is harm in speech therapy at this age but I am surprised at home many PPs sought speech therapy for an 18 month old with limited speech. My DD only had two words at 18 months and was not doing some of the other things they look for to be "on track" (for instance, she didn't make animal noises even though she heard them in songs and at playgroup).

But our pediatrician was not worried after we determined there was no hearing issues, and suggested we just see how it progressed for the next few months. She gained a few more words and got more talkative after starting at a part-time nursery school, and by two she was super talkative. She's now 4 and her PK teacher says she's an unusually verbal child (for better or worse, lol) and she's doing great with pre-literacy skills. No ill effects whatsoever.

Anyway, again, I don't think there's anything wrong with seeking out speech therapy if you are concerned, but I would not panic at 18 months or even 20-22 months, as long as there is progress. It seems like a lot of kids get a rush of language right before their second birthday. I'm not even sure that's considered "delayed" because it's so common.[/quote]

This is OP. Thanks everyone, for your messages about your trials and tribulations with late talking! It really has helped. And to answer this question, DD really very rarely uses words. It's hard for me to describe precisely, but it's like she doesn't prototype spoken language and build on anything she learns with expressive speech. For example, she's said mama but like for 2 days before she quit saying it never to call me mama again. She hasn't said mama in maybe 6 months. She doesn't call me anything. She does say dada for her father though, again rarely. Only other consistent words are door/bath/this. "This" is probably her most consistently used word. Some day she'll say no words at all, just groan, point, get frustrated. She doesn't even try to repeat sounds after us. She has no animal sounds. We taught her the signs for "eat," "more," and "please" and she's used eat and more for a couple of days weeks ago and abandoned signing ever since. At her 15-month appointment the pediatrician flagged her for early intervention because she wasn't saying mama or dada and she wasn't walking yet (though she started soon after and rapidly caught up)--the pediatrician admitted she was being overly cautious that nothing seemed like a really worrisome delay but early intervention services are there for a reason and the worst that could happen is we don't qualify. We're doing private therapy instead since EI is virtual where we are, but EI uses ages and stages and at 18-months they look for minimum 8 words beyond mama/dada, and also the beginnings of two & three word phrases.

For DD I guess I'd describe as she has the blocks but seems stumped at how to build with them and isn't keen on trying. Other than speech I don't really have too many other worries--she's cheerful and exploratory, loves to be with others and share with them things she finds interesting, and is very busy. I'd be floored if she suddenly started talking at 20 months like some of your children did. I hope it happens and the therapy isn't needed, but wanted to cover my bases.

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