# When could your DC answer yes/no questions?



## ellemenope (Jul 11, 2009)

Just curious, is it worrisome that a 19-month-old does not answer yes/no questions yet? When did your DC answer yes/no questions?

This is in reference to my neice. She seems to kind of grunt. But, it is the same grunt for a yes as it is for a no. What really stumps me is that she can say yes and no pretty darn clearly if you ask her to.

In fact, she can do this for a lot of words, probably hundreds, but rarely tries to communicate throughout the day.

She also does not shake or nod her head.

I could not find this specific milestone anywhere. DD would say and shake her head no meaningfuly well before her first birthday. And uh-huh, too. Yes came a little later.

I am constantly asked now if DN is normal. I can't remember what normal is. What do you'all think?


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## physmom (Jun 15, 2009)

Hmm... I don't think that sounds so strange? DD doesn't always answer either for whatever reason. She also has a pretty big vocabulary but doesn't choose to speak normally during the day (usually, she's way too absorbed in whatever she's doing and it would take up too much of her time!







). She does speak when she's tired quite a bit, so right before bed and first thing in the morning. No clue why, maybe she's more relaxed? Who knows? Also, DD doesn't speak as much to other people. After 1.5 months of daycare she's just now starting to speak more to them (then again, I doubt they understand a lot of it). So maybe she's shy around other adults who are not her parents? DD's pretty shy with any of the extended family with the exception of MIL who lived with us for awhile.

FWIW, this is what my mom said I was like too as a child and then one day I just started speaking non-stop.


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

My 19 month old doesn't shake her head yes or no either. She does answer questions...she says 'no' for the answer every time.







: She's not at all speech delayed and is, as far as we know, completely neurotypical (because I have 2 children that aren't neurotypical, they have weekly psychologist appointments, and that psychologist has seen Amelia every week--not as a patient, but sees her because she comes with me and sits in on the appointments. He says that he has no concerns about her development, which is good because with the other two, we knew there were issues at this age).

If your niece has "hundreds" of words, she sounds ahead of the game. A dozen or so words is typical at this age.


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## just_lily (Feb 29, 2008)

At 25 months my DD answers yes and no questions, but rarely do you get the correct answer. Sometimes she is in a "YEP!!" mood, and sometimes she is in a "NO!" mood, and that is what you are going to get.


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## Phoenix~Mama (Dec 24, 2007)

DD is 19 months old and will answer 'no' to every question. lol But she has two different kinds of no's that I think only my Mom and me can tell the difference.

Her no that means yes is said more quiet and non-chalant like. Her definite no! she squishes up her face and lips and has a little attitude behind the word no. lol

Oh, and a couple of times when she really really is excited about something she will do a very enthusiastic yea! lol

I figure most kids like saying no more than yes. lol


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## treeoflife3 (Nov 14, 2008)

my kiddo only just started shaking and nodding her head at about 16 months.. MAYBE 15 months? But only the past couple of weeks has she chosen the correct answer more often. She uses yes and no (only in motion, she doesn't speak yet) but often incorrectly. She also prefers yes to no haha.

She grunts mostly too. all the time. She'd rather grunt and point than do anything else but its much less now that she has 20-30 baby signs at her disposal.


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## gagin37 (May 25, 2008)

ds only just started, and he's almost two. he doesn't always get it right though, and sometimes if he gets over excited he grunts and points instead of saying yes.


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## ErinYay (Aug 21, 2008)

At almost 19 months, my niece answers "Okay!" to everything. If you try to actively do something she doesn't like (to which she just cheerfully said "Okay!" to...) she says "naaaaaaanaaaaaaa" and shakes her head.

She's been pretty advanced across the board, so I don't think a lack of yes or no responses at this age is anything to worry about, barring other concerns.


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## NewMoonMum (Aug 18, 2010)

Our son is 2.5, and he still does not really do the "yes" or "no" thing yet. He finds other ways to agree or disagree. At his 2 year checkup, I counted the words he uses with any regularity, and came up with well over 200. His sentences are ridiculously long, yet for whatever reason he does not say yes or no. I would not worry one bit.


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

DD just started at 21 months. She'll answer no readily, but for yes she just gets quiet and you're supposed to know that silence means yes. She's really enthusiastic about her no's though!


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## GoGoGirl (Oct 13, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Honey693* 
DD just started at 21 months. She'll answer no readily, but for yes she just gets quiet and you're supposed to know that silence means yes. She's really enthusiastic about her no's though!

Yep, exactly that. DD is 17 months.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

We have kind of let my 18mo DS 'go at his own pace' with learning but saying 'yes' & 'no' was one thing we actually intentionally taught him. He used to always just repeat whatever you'd say. "Do you want to go in the car?" - he'd answer, "Car?" or "Do you want food?" - he'd say, "Food?" and it drove me nuts because I couldn't often tell if that was an affirmative or a negative! So around 14mos or so we started asking him, "Do you want to go in the car, yes or no?" & "Do you want food, yes or no?" And he got the hang of it after a day or 2 & now consistently answers appropriately (though every once in a while gets confused or 'stuck' on yes to everything or no to everything). So I have no idea what's developmentally normal & if he would have learned that on his own soon if we hadn't taught him, but it sure makes life easier now that he can answer properly! However the funny thing is he almost always shakes his head yes or no rather than verbalizing the words. He has hundreds of spoken words & phrases and some sentences but chooses not to verbalize those 2 words.


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## ~cassie (Aug 31, 2009)

Youngest ds is 2 and he has been answering yes or no for probably a year now. However, he would say no when he meant yes, and vice versa,just depended on his mood. Recently, around 18-19 months is when he started using them correctly. But he is verbally advanced, my oldest didn't answer correctly until about 25 months or so.


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## ellemenope (Jul 11, 2009)

Oh, I feel much better now. But, it still is frustrating. I will let them know it is fine but something we can work on.

We have been staying with them for about 2 weeks now. She is the most charismatic little girl I have ever met. She took to me instantly. (In this way she is the exact opposite of DD)

My sister has legitimate reasons for concern. DN was on strong medication for epilepsy as an infant. But, I also think they have seen DD talking in sentences at this age and can't help but to compare.

It is a lot of fun to see her at this stage. She loves to point at objects and let us know she knows what they are and can say the word. Loves to do that. But, she doesn't seem to want to use words to get what she wants. She leaves screaches and grunts for that.

She must be able to say every single one syllable noun out there. My sister stopped keeping track at 100. It is just curious to me that she can understand so much but not be able to answer yes/no questions. I am glad this sounds normal.

Thanks.


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## CherryBomb (Feb 13, 2005)

It's amazing how different kids can be and yet still be well within the range of normal. Many kids are answering yes/no questions at that age, but many aren't, and I wouldn't be worried at this point that she's not. It can be hard if you have a much more verbal child of a similar age to compare to!


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## CookAMH (Jun 2, 2008)

That seems awfully early to expect that. A 2-ish yo I know doesn't even say yes or no much of the time. Often, if you say, do you want some more milk? She'll say "want some more milk" and not say yes or no. If her answer is no, then she doesn't repeat anything.

I wouldn't expect that from my 16mo DS for some time yet.


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## AirMiami (Feb 3, 2009)

My 19 month old says "no" every single time I ask her a question and has never said the word "yes", even though she has a pretty decent vocabulary. Our conversations go like this:

Me: "Do you want yogurt?"
Her: "NO YOGURT" *runs to fridge and tries to open it to get the yogurt inside while chanting "yogurt yogi yogi yogurt?"*


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## Miasmamma (Sep 20, 2006)

My DD2 doesn't say "yes" or "no", but she's been nodding or shaking her head yes and no since she was about 9 months old. She's always correct in context as well. It's done a lot to stop the toddlers tantrums!


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## dachshund mom (Dec 28, 2007)

Another normal vote here. 17mo has a too high to count vocab, but neither says yes nor nods, and doesn't say no to a question (but will shake her head). If I say "do you want pizza?", she'll either say "pizza" for yes, and either ignore me or maybe shake her head for no. I don't say yes often since she doesn't ask questions yet, so that isn't a word we use much with her I guess. If she's getting into something, she'll yell "no no no!" when I find her though.


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