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How do I encourage talking in my toddler?

My toddler is now 19 months old. He has been an early developer in everything his whole life with the exception of speaking. He can say dada, and occasionally mama, but that is it. What is the best way to get him to start speaking words?

Public Comments

1. don't baby talk to him.
talk to him like an adult and encourage him to use his words when asking for something. don't allow the Eh Eh and pointing.

2. SPEECH THERAPY! It sounds urgent. I would get him early intervention and get him evaluated. call you pediatrician.
oops- I didn't mean to sound like I was shouting. I just want to tell you its important to get him help and demand it.

3. Have conversations with him. The more he hears you say, the more he'll try to say it.

4. .Since day one with my kids I talked to them. When they were in the front pack where I carried them when in the store I would talk to my newborn. I would say for example ok lets see we need potatoes and milk. Here it is,I found the milk. Also, when you do things for him say for example" mommy is giving you delicious chicken you like chicken? Also,do you make him use his words to ask for what he wants or do you anticipate what he is trying to ask for if he points for it then give it to him? If he wants something tell him he will have to ask for it. Say to him if he points for his sippy cup for example, "ask mommy, Can I have my cup please? He may say something incoherent but close. But this will get him using his words. If he is crying about something and wants something tell him.. " me what you want, use your words or I don't know what you want" You may already be doing all of this and I am not trying to offend you or anything but I don't know the whole story so I am just advising on what I did to help with my kids language developement.

Now if this isn't the case then perhaps check to see if his hearing is ok. Did your son or does your son have alot of ear infections? One of my nephews was speech delayed because he had hearing issues due to constant fluid in his ears. When he had tubes but in his ears his speech quickly developed...Good luck to you, I hope I helped.

5. Talk to him, sing to him and read to him. A lot of times even early developers are slower to talking when it comes to boys vs girls. Verbally label everything when you use it or he does state the name of it and say "now you tell mama what it is" or something similar. I would not worry too much about it at this age though just keep encouraging him.

Edit: I also talked a LOT to my kids and explained everything I was doing since birth pretty much, or made it into a song. They are now 7 and 9 and I do the song thing to irritate them LOL

6. I wanted to makes sure that I had correct information. This is what I found on the yahoo health website.
Language development. At 15 to 18 months, a typical toddler understands 10 times more words than he or she can speak. By the second birthday, most toddlers can say about 50 to 100 words.
Language. The ability to use words grows quickly in these years. By age 2, most children can say at least 50 words. By age 5, a child may know thousands of words and be able to carry on conversations and tell stories.
I got both age groups so you could see where your child should be now and in a few months. Your child definitely sounds like he is behind in his speech development. I would take him to the pediatrician to discuss your concerns. Yahoo health also has a portion on how to help your child develop language skills.
http://health.yahoo.com/parenting-resources/language-development-between-12-and-24-months-of-age/healthwise
Good Luck

7. My son was a late talker. I talked to him about everything from day 1, and we have a very talkative family. He just didn't really seem interested. I worked at a daycare, and the older kids were playing a game called Zingo. I am convinced that this game helped him be interested. The game is like Bingo, but instead of numbers it's things like dog, cat, house, bat, and so on.He wanted to play so badly he started yelling DOG! CAT! So he could get his tiles. If your boy is like mine, he's incredibly smart and has more going through his little mind than some others, and he needs just a bit more stimulation. My kiddo is now 3, and he speaks proper english as well as my 8 year old neice.

8. it does sound like he is a bit behind. He may just be a late talker and catch up on his own, but he may have more going on than that. Your best bet is to contact your local early intervention program and ask for them to screen him for a speech delay. They will honestly tell you if you have a reason to be concerned. If he is truthfully delayed they will arrange for him to have free speech therapy regardless of income.

My son only said 10 words at 18 months old--about 1/3 of the normal 18 month old. The doctor told me to give him time and he would be fine. At 24 months he STILL only said 10 words--now about 1/5 of the normal 24 month old. the doctor STILL said nothing. I contacted early intervention after seeing a flyer for free developmental screenings. They tested him and he was fine except for his speech. they sent him to a speech therapist eho could not actually test him b/c he had almost no language to test. she started to see him for 30 minutes 2x a week and within 3 months or so he had 400% more vocabulary ( 40-50 words). after about 4-5 months he started to speak in sentences. Just last month he was given an apraxia test and scored as moderate to severe apraxia and that was after 9 months of therapy! He is still about 12 months behind on several things in his speech.

I would talk to him alot and ask him to try to say words instead of grunting and pointing, but you need to realize that even if he is a complete genius he may physically NOT be able to actually say these words.

9. "50-100 words" by age 2? Sorry Kelly, I don't think you found the right info. It depends on the child. By the time I was 12 months, I could talk in full sentences and sing more than 10 kids songs, plus some that were playing on the radio. And I knew more than 100 words...
Just talk to your child. No baby talk. And describe everything you do. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Lets get something to eat. I'm going to open the refrigerator and take out the cheese." Don't say things like "Mommy is hungry, is (ex.) Sally hungry?" Adults don't talk like that, and kids shouldn't either. And after about 2 months of doing this don't give him ANYTHING unless he asks for it. The only exemptions to this rule are food and water. And make him say please, and thank you. There's nothing more annoying than rude kids.


10. The best thing you can do is to talk to your child like an adult. Of course don't cover the same issues you would as an adult but expect the same level of talking. It is also very important to read to your child. This is just reinforced talking. It is more deliberate and gives the child a chance to watch you as you talk with out any pressure to respond.

But at 19 months I would certainly look for a speech therapist.
When we needed one for our 18 month old our pediatrician told us he thought the slow progress in his speech was connected to the many ear infections he had as a toddler. This made it a medical condition and our insurance paid for the speech therapy. Perhaps your toddler has had the same issue.

Good luck!! Remember they all talk the same when they are teenagers. Too bad..