# How many words/phrases can your 18 month old say?



## kgianforti (May 22, 2009)

Just wondering....thanks!


----------



## neveryoumindthere (Mar 21, 2003)

Barely any







:

baba
water
ta-da!







:

He used to say mama but doesn't anymore









He mostly mumbles, points and gestures to get his point across.

anyone else?


----------



## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *neveryoumindthere* 
Barely any







:

baba
water
ta-da!







:

He used to say mama but doesn't anymore









He mostly mumbles, points and gestures to get his point across.

anyone else?

That's pretty similar to what my 4 year old was saying at that age. He speaks a lot better now, but is still "behind" for his age.


----------



## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Down/done - that one she has been doing for awhile.
No
Mama

She'll repeat some other stuff but doesn't say it consistently. I am trying to teach her some signs cause I can't stand the shrieking.

ETA: She is tongue-tied which *could* be an issue for her.


----------



## freestylemama (Apr 8, 2009)

Why? Kids are so different. My DD said over a hundred words and used complete sentences at 18 months but still ate crayons. Her little friend, who lives in a bilingual home, couldn't say anything but could draw faces and snowmen at 18 months.


----------



## Nicole730 (Feb 27, 2009)

At that age DS had over 50 words and a few two word phrases, but I think he thought they were one word because he always heard them together, like All done. Get down. Thanks you.


----------



## karika (Nov 4, 2005)

dd1 spoke in complete sentences by that age, and had independent thoughts conveyed. Like she would say, "look at the bird in the tree. I like birds." dd2 is not talking intelligibly at 18 mo. She can say the first part of a word, like "bur" for bird, which she will say in repetition when we say, "look at the bird". she says "da" for my parenting partner that is male, acting as her father. She says "mama" pretty good again after a long time of not saying it. When she first started saying it, she said it for about a month then quit, back when she was 12 mo or so. Oh and she will say "coooo" for cookie. That was her first really recognizable thing besides mama and da... she will say daw for dog... she is trying hard to repeat what we say now, so I can tell she is very close to being able to speak, but it is strange having such disparity between the two children. I did the same sort of things with both, like talking about everything as I am doing it, carrying on one-sided conversations with them... one big difference I am sure of is that dd1 loved to hear books read to her from 8 mo on, and dd2 is only now starting to want to hear books. I am chalking it up to every baby is different. I have wondered if dd2 is tongue tied because she has such a lazy latch, only sucking on the ends of my nipples if I let her, but I read about them and checked and she can stick her tongue out properly so I don't think that is it.


----------



## barefootmama0709 (Jun 25, 2009)

Canaan said over 300 words at 18 months and spoke in sentences. He also talked about himself correctly in first-person "I like cows" etc.


----------



## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

I wanted to add - my older two talked like regular kids by that age (as opposed to like toddlers). I couldn't even guess how many words they said, but they used proper grammar, spoke long, complex sentences. It was a big surprise when my youngest was nearly non-verbal at that age. It's amazing how kids are different.


----------



## kgianforti (May 22, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *freestylemama* 
Why? Kids are so different. My DD said over a hundred words and used complete sentences at 18 months but still ate crayons. Her little friend, who lives in a bilingual home, couldn't say anything but could draw faces and snowmen at 18 months.

Why? Because I was checking out the PBS Development Tracker and was wondering how on point it was because kids ARE different.

Plus I was wondering where my 18 mo fit in. Isn't that the point of parenting forums? Asking questions and sharing experiences?


----------



## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

DS is 21 months and has about 30-40 words, but doesn't put them together yet. Some favorites are: hi, bye, thank you, and boob (when he wants to nurse, lol!)


----------



## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *freestylemama* 
Why? Kids are so different. My DD said over a hundred words and used complete sentences at 18 months but still ate crayons. Her little friend, who lives in a bilingual home, couldn't say anything but could draw faces and snowmen at 18 months.

It really is interesting how different they all are! DS leaves 3 year olds in the dust on the playground, but isn't the least bit interested in books. He is very interested in taking things apart and trying to put them together again, but he can't sit still through a restaurant dinner.

I figured the point of this thread was to see how different they all were.


----------



## kgianforti (May 22, 2009)

For the record, my small girl says over 200 words and phrases. Sometimes grammatically correct and sometimes not. Her longest phrase was "I don't have my yay-yay in my mouth." I told that to 2 people IRL and I don't think they believed me. Thus checking the PBS Development Tracker and wondering how accurate it is.


----------



## ~cassie (Aug 31, 2009)

Andrew at 18 mths had about 500 words, mostly 1 words but a few 2 word phrases--uh oh, oh no, etc. Not at 22 mths is at 800 or so words and 2-3 words mostly-one phrase he loves is "agatta, go way, chomp chomp" which is alligator, go away, chomp chomp, he's convinced an alligator is behind our couch, haha.

Now, my oldest son, at 22 mths had maybe 20 words max and hit his stride at that time and added a ton, but no where near what my younges does.


----------



## pbjmama (Sep 20, 2007)

My first child said 1-2 words at that age, they were not really clear.
My second child said around 50, very clear and some combos.

There really is a wide range of normal.


----------



## RebeccaWo (Apr 1, 2008)

I guess I need to start writing all of DD's words down in an Excel spreadsheet or something.







I have no clue how many words she says, maybe 50. No discernible phrases and definitely no full sentences. But, she babbles all day long and her verbal skills seem to be on par.


----------



## sweet~potato (May 25, 2005)

My ds will be 18 months in 10 days and says up, dada, mama, bubba (brother), snack, bird, and probably a few others I can't think of right now. My ds1 at that age said about the same amount. He really started talking when he turned 2 and he hasn't stopped talking since, lol.


----------



## Skippy918 (Jul 15, 2008)

At 18 months, DS had maybe 5 words he knew, like ball, bath and doggie. His speech just exploded a few weeks ago, he's 21 months now. He can say a lot more words, but his only sentence is "more please". But like another poster said, he only says the first part of the word, like bur for bird and du for duck, his lovey is yahyee, nak for snack. He'll try to repeat what you say if you ask him. I'm not worried. I've also been told by his daycare teacher that he talks a lot more over there.


----------



## rlmueller (May 22, 2009)

none. First word was arrow and didn't say my name until 22 months--but then it wasn't my name, it was, "Mama, are you?" (trying to find me in the library.


----------



## LadyCatherine185 (Aug 12, 2008)

DS had around 200 words at 18 months, and has added many more since (language explosion!) is up to about 300 (maybe more) at 21 months but I lost count long ago. He spoke in 2 word sentences/phrases quite a bit at 18 months, and is now speaking in 2-4 word sentences. He has always been ahead on verbal and physical milestones, though. There is definitely a wide range of normal.


----------



## JessieBird (Nov 21, 2008)

DS probably has about 30 words and one phrase - "do do no" if that counts as a phrase. He is learning 3 languages at once so I expect that to slow him down considerably. It's also very possible that he has other words that I don't realize. I can decipher all the French and English but don't know any Spanish at all so have no idea if some of his babble is actually Spanish.

ETA - a friend of his, who was born the same week and went to the same daycare provider for many months and lives in the same bilingual community as we do, had about 50 words by the time he was 14 mos. It blew me away and it just goes to show you how different they are. He has an older brother (4) so that could be a factor.


----------



## Phoenix~Mama (Dec 24, 2007)

I think DD is up to about 50 or so words right now, some of them phrases like "what's that?" that she makes into one word.

She has been adding about 1 - 2 words a day lately.


----------



## ellemenope (Jul 11, 2009)

Oh, 18 months. What a month!

We came into that month with about 50 words spoken, 50 signs, whining, grunting, and frustration. She would not even try to imitate sounds.

We left that month with a vocabulary that was becoming boundless. She was speaking on average in 3 word sentences. She would repeat back to us even longer sentences. It was like something clicked, and her receptive vocabulary, which was huge, became her expressive vocabulary. As she put more and more words together, her grammar was always near perfect.

I think that maybe the most unique aspect of DD's language development might be that within her first 50 words spoken were all parts of speech, including plurals, pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, and interrogatives.

My DD's story supports that idea that all children develop at different rates. She was perfectly average before 18 months, and now at 23 months, has cleared every verbal milestone for a 36-month-old, and most of the 48 and 60-month ones too.

She came up to me yesterday: "Mama, for my birthday I want a new baby just like <cousin's> baby with a bald head and paci. Oh, and a motorcycle and a ba-yoon."

I find personal anecdotes always more fun than charts, but FWIW I'll add:

From Babycenter.com

Quote:

13 to 18 months
Now your child is using one or more words, and he knows what they mean. He'll even practice inflection, raising his tone when asking a question, saying "Up-py?" when he wants to be carried, for example. He's realizing the importance of language as he taps into the power of communicating his needs.

19 to 24 months
Though he probably says about 50 to 70 words now, your child may understand as many as 200 words, many of which are nouns. Between 18 and 20 months, he'll learn words at the rate of 10 or more a day (so watch your language!). He'll even string two words together, making basic sentences such as "Carry me."

By the time he's 2, your child will use three-word sentences and sing simple tunes. His sense of self will mature, and he'll start talking about what he likes and doesn't like, what he thinks and feels. Pronouns may confuse him, which is why he might say "Baby throw" instead of "I throw."
This is my favorite verbal milestone chart.
Language development chart
Typical Language development at 18 months:

Quote:

Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)
Much jargon with emotional content
Is able to follow simple commands
And 24 months:

Quote:

Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under
Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
Rhythm and fluency often poor
Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused
My and mine are beginning to emerge
Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)
And, I'll also add a nephew (22 months) 100 words, 2 words phrases, a niece (17 months) maybe a word, and another niece now older who did not say a word till almost 3, and is doing great.


----------



## gagin37 (May 25, 2008)

at 18 months 40-50 words. Now at 21 months, 130-140, and using two word phrases a lot more.


----------



## PeachBaby (Apr 3, 2009)

Just one word: "Mama" (Bilingual family)


----------



## Louisep (May 1, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *barefootmama0709* 
Canaan said over 300 words at 18 months and spoke in sentences. He also talked about himself correctly in first-person "I like cows" etc.

Okay, wow, that's totally unusual right?!

My almost 17 month old just had a mini language explosion and went from 4 words to about 20. He's always been way ahead of the curve with gross motor skills but not language.

I have a friend with a 20 month old who could repeat ANY word her parents said by 18 months.

There's just such a wide range isn't there?


----------



## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

Hm. Meadow, at 19 months, says:
Mama
Dada
Bye-bye
Oh no

I know she's behind, but she'll catch up.


----------



## Biscuits & Gravy (Jul 17, 2008)

I was just talking to my mom about this the other day. DS1 had a TON of words by now (17 months). DS2 seems to finally be on the brink of a mini language explosion. I mentioned the lack of words to her and she reminded me that DS1 was never very physical, yet DS2 has always been completely physical and way advanced compared to his older brother. So it would seem that they have both focused on completely different things. My oldest was the talker (still is), and my baby is the very active into everything kid.

As far as words go he has a few: truck, mommy, daddy, dog, juice (everything you drink is juice to him), choo choo, shoe, stuck (you have no idea how appropriate it is that he knows this word), and he just learned "dump" as in dump truck. That is about it.


----------



## Cinder (Feb 4, 2003)

Janelle at 18 months had been talking in full sentences for like 4 months or so by then, at 1 she was talking in 2-3 word phrases...she said her first word at 7 months.

Kincaid at 18 months had no words, no signs, didn't know his name...he didn't say his first word till 3 1/2, didn't talk in sentences till 4 1/2, and still has a severe articulation delay. He's been in speech therapy (as well as other therapies) since 15 months old.

Travis is 2 1/2 and has 1 word, water, at 18 months he didn't have any, but he has 30 signs that he uses spontaneously and correctly, he has been in speech therapy since 20 months (and other therapies since 26 months).

River is 13 months old and has about 7 words and 10 signs.


----------



## Latte Mama (Aug 25, 2009)

Not many words. He will repeat some words but not use them in day to day speech. He's said "mama, no, Elmo







, butterfly, popcorn, hello, and a few others. Of course they sound somewhat different from how I say them







. He also gets speech therapy as his language has ony just started in the last few weeks. It's made a big difference so far.


----------



## bobandjess99 (Aug 1, 2005)

My first child had many words at that point...,i have no clue how many, but a lot.

My current baby had none.....maybe 1 word, but essentially none....he hit his second birthday with maybe 4-5 singular words.....and right after that got his verbal explosion and now at 29 months has hundreds of words and is completely "normal" for language development. I am EXTREMELY glad i listened to my gut and did not put him in speech therapy last year (even though technically, he was delayed significantly in language) because he just needed to do it in his own time.


----------



## Astraia (Jan 1, 2009)

Nigella has over a hundred words at this point, but a lot of them are very baby-talk ish and garbled (like shirt is "dirt," pants are "bats") or the animal noise instead of the word (so for bird she says "tweet" and sheep are "baaas")

She's recently started putting words together- more juice, all done, my cup, mommy's glasses, etc.


----------



## Curlyfry7 (Jun 20, 2007)

My DS had I don't know how many words at that point. He was speaking in 5 word sentences by 17 months, although not always using pronouns, etc. One sentence I remember at about 18-19 months was "that lion man scared my Caden boy" telling us something on a movie had scared him. He was also very advanced in gross motor skills. Not so great with fine motor-maybe not behind, but definitely not ahead.

DD is 17 months now. I don't count the words, but she is really having a major language explosion the last couple of week. Mama, Dada, mine, all done, nose, batman, please, hi good girl (to any animal







), several more I can't think of. She is also average in gross motor. BUT her fine motor is a lot more advanced. So it's pretty interesting to see the differences between the 2 kids.


----------



## FourTrees (May 14, 2003)

My son is 19 months old. His words are: mama, papa, bye-bye, and anana (banana). My older two were talking in sentences by this point, but I'm not worried. He'll talk when he's ready.


----------



## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

DS just turned 16 months & has 150-200 words. He had some 2 or 3 word phrases but mostly just uses 1 word at a time... and many of the words sound very similar. My favorites are 'pup pup' (puppy) & 'pagun' (playground)







The weirdest word he says is 'gnaacht' (stick) -- most of his words aren't so far off pronunciation-wise, so I have no clue where that one came from!! He also 'sings' (i.e. baa-baa black sheep & rock-a-bye baby) but it sounds more like "ba ba BA BA ba ba ba", he doesn't say all the words, only one or two.

I'm looking forward to seeing if he has another big explosion at 18 months, I love hearing him talk!


----------



## nerdymom (Mar 20, 2008)

Jack is 18 months plus 2 weeks. We just made a list of all we could thing of, he says 14 words, and 8 phrases like "bye bye" "all done" "want some" and "oh sh*t"


----------



## Abraisme (Mar 8, 2009)

When he DS was 18mo he couldn't say anything. He didn't start saying Mama until just after his second birthday. We did do sign language, so he had at least 200 signs before he started talking (which helped A LOT!). His language has always been a bit delayed, but now at 6yo he's pretty much caught up. He fully learned to read when he was 5 and was in the top of his kindergarten class. I was never worried because he was so advanced in other areas. He could put 5 wooden puzzles together (from 1 pile) by the time he was 14mo old. It is amazing how each kid is so different.


----------

