My twins are the same--I think they're fine. Try are definitely speaking better and learning new words all the time. If they weren't improving at all, I'd be worried. That said, if our pediatrician recommends speech therapy at our 2 year visit, I'll happily take them.

I also model 2 word phrases for them all the time-- I'm assuming they will eventually get it. They sing in phrases , does that count?

OP here: yes, I've modeled phrases. He says "read!" and I say "do you want mommy to read this book?" or he says "eat" and I say "you want to eat berries?" - I talk to him constantly. or he says "hot!" and I say "the bath is hot!" or if I sneeze and he says "sneeze!" I say "yes, mommy sneezed." it doesnt seem to help though.

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried modeling phrases for him or encouraging him to use them? My son was alot like that, but around he would come up to me and hand me a book and say "Read". And I'd respond, "who do you want to read the book?" When he said "mommy" I'd respond "Ok, can you say Mommy read?" DS caught on pretty quick, but I'm not sure when he would have done it if we hadn't started to insist a bit.

Bad advice. Trying to get your kid to repeat stuff is not effective. Read "It Takes Two To Talk". It's completely worth it (it's expensive) and very useful in working out ways to play/talk with your child that will encourage communication, But saying "can you say..." is not helpful. That said, he's not behind yet. Goal is to be combining words BY two. My oldest didn't until a few months after he turned two. He's an exceptionally smart kid (taught himself to read at three, for example), so I figure if he didn't combine until past 2, I won't worry about my younger kid (who is 22 months and not combining).

Went to 2-year appointment today and was told they look for 2-word phrases and speech that's half understandable.

NP--our son was the same way. Then when he was two he all of a sudden started speaking in complete sentences--skipped did the "mommy read" etc.

At my DD's 2 year visit she had a vocabulary of over 200 words but wouldn't combine anything at all. the pediatrician said that he wasn't too worried because of her vocabulary but also said that if she wasn't combining words in another 3 months then we should start speech therapy.

Do you speak to him in phrases? We say simple things like "bath hot" and "bye bye daddy" ad nauseum, and he mimics.

Have you tried modeling phrases for him or encouraging him to use them? My son was alot like that, but around he would come up to me and hand me a book and say "Read". And I'd respond, "who do you want to read the book?" When he said "mommy" I'd respond "Ok, can you say Mommy read?" DS caught on pretty quick, but I'm not sure when he would have done it if we hadn't started to insist a bit.

Our daughter was the same. We joke now that she used to say three words- "mama", "dada", and "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The crazy thing is that our son- 2 years older- understood her and knew what she wanted. I think that actually contributed to the delay a bit.

I'm not in the area but here, our daughter qualified for speech therapy thru the county. Then at age 3 1/2 she transistioned to the school speech therapist. She's now 14 and perfectly fine and normal. She's only non-verbal when she's pissed at me for God-Only-Knows-What.

Milestones are general guidelines. Take a deep breath, everything will probably be fine.

But you should be concerned and seek professional help.

I actually had a phone consult with a speech therapist who said that if his receptive language is perfect, and if he has that many vocabulary words and no other delays (his motor skills etc. have always actually been ahead), he would never qualify for EI. not doing phrases at this age isnt technically behind. so question would be whether to pursue private speech therapy but I DOUBT he'd qualify for early intervention

Anonymous wrote:havent seen ped since 18 month checkup. at 18 months, they said it was a 2 year milestone but we're coming up on 2 years

Okay, then wait for the appointment. IF, and that's a big IF, there is a speech problem, early intervention really can make a difference. And you'll get him what he needs. Until then, step away from the internet and enjoy your child.

havent seen ped since 18 month checkup. at 18 months, they said it was a 2 year milestone but we're coming up on 2 years

My son was the same. Could understand very detailed directions but didn't string words together. We went to speech therapy for 1 year+. I am not sure how much it helped honestly. I think some kids just do things on their own time. At about 3 1/2 his language just took off and you wouldn't know that it was ever an issue. I am sure he will catch up but I completely understand how stressful it can be. Good luck!

What does your ped say?

he has a HUGE vocabulary and talks often and receptive language is clearly perfect, but he doesnt say any phrases like "mommy read" or "daddy sit" or "big ball" or "eat yogurt" etc. (even though he can say all of those words by themselves)