So when do they talk?

[jd11365]

Just wondering if I should be doing more things to get her talking. She has said dada and hi, but that's about it... When do they start talking? As a teacher I know that speakers of other languages aquire first before they speak...is this the same with babies? Thoughts?

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[Momof3Labs]

Colin really started talking in the last week (gone from random babbling to using about 8-10 "words" purposefully). But he also has about 30 signs in his repertoire, so he wasn't exactly silent up to this point. And his understanding has been fantastic (actually, mind-blowing) for at least a few months, though he's understood basic commands since he was about 10 months old (I think??).

The one thing I would say is that it is waaaaay too soon for you to worry about this! Pediatricians don't start worrying in the least until at least 18 months of age, if not 2 years.

[egoldber]

There are no language milestones before 18 months, and the "milestone" for 18 months is 10 spoken words or protowords. But it can be totally normal for them to have VERY limited expressive language until 2+. A far more important milestone is receptive language (what they understand). At 15 months, a child should understand a great deal of what is spoken to them. By 18 months, it should be a great deal more. By 2 years, they should understand most everyday conversation, even if their spoken language is very limited.

But there is such a huge range of normal. I know one kid who was talking in complete sentences at 13-14 months. My DD has expressive language delay, and has only recently starting talking in 3-4 word sentences (of limited intelligibility to those not "in the know" for her speech). But generally between 18 and 24 months, most kids go through a sudden language spurt where practically overnight start acqiring dozens of words a day. Its really miraculous to watch!