DS is 11 months old now and has been saying, Dada for quite sometime. He has been saying Indy (for the dog, although not clearly) and Kaaaaaaaa (for the cat for the past month. Today he clearly said Hi to me, but I cannot get him to say Mama .

At what age did you're little ones start saying words that you could understand?

By Jelygu on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 09:45 am:

When my son was about 9 months, he would say momma and dada on occasion. Up until he was 13 months, it didn't seem like he was saying very much. Then in one week, his vocabulary just exploded. He now says (he is 14 mos) mama, dada, bye, hi, hot, thank you, doggie, kitty, up, car, and a few more. He seems to try to say everything I say.
I was worried that he was behind until he started saying all these words. Don't worry, soon enough he will start chattering away

By Unschoolmom on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 01:38 pm:

About 2 -21/2 for my son? He's 3 now and it's really starting to come but for the longest time he just didn't talk.

I finally figured out a) he was a doer. If he was thirsty he would go get the milk from the fridge, a cup off the counter and bring them to me instead of saying anything.
And b) I didn't talk to him. We can play and play and it's all giggles and facial expressions. He's now wonderfully expressive and a little expert at reading faces.

But he loves TV now and so much of what he's saying he's gotten right from the TV. I wonder if he didn't watch it as much if he'd be talking yet?

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 02:19 pm:

DD started really talking with a big variety of words around 18 months old. I think around 12 months old she was saying about 10 words or so, now she's 22 months old and has a vocabulary of at least 75 words and can almost make full sentences. But she's always enjoyed when I read to her so maybe she picked it up from that? I also noticed her vocabulary increase quite a bit after I started taking her to playgroups and keeping her around a lot more children.

By Happynerdmom on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 11:39 am:

Well, I don't remember exactly, but dd was having full conversations with adults on her 2nd birthday, and at ds's 2nd birthday, he was still at "mama" and "dada!" It's amazing how different two kids from the same family can be, LOL!

By Debbie on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 01:54 pm:

My oldest ds only said a handful of words until he was almost 2. Then in just a few months, he went from a few words to sentences. Until he really started talking, he made up a lot of signs for things and communicated his own way. My youngest started talking around a year, but then started getting a lot of ear infections. He didn't progress much with his talking after that. We got tubes put in his ears when he was close to 2. At that time, we found out his hearing had been effected by all the fluid in his ears from the infections. Not long after we got his tubes, he really started talking. Every child is so different.

By Meltonmom on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 02:12 pm:

About 2 years old. My first daughter heard me calling our family dog, his name was TJ and her first word was "TJ!" and our second daughter was very quiet til we went to Disney World then she "came out of her shell" and talked at the park all day. We don't know her first word because we were so floored that she was speaking at all! She "chattered" all day. But my kids were late in their milestones because they were both premies.

By My2cuties on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 02:24 pm:

I thought Katelyn talked at around 2 but when I look back at videos I see that she would "jibber-jabber" a full sentaence and at the end say a real word, it was really cute. She started talking a few months after she turned 2 though, it seemed like it was overnight! And Hailey will say a few words now, moma, dada, bath, cow moon, and plenty more.. but only puts a couple words together like she says..."where did it go", and "bye bye dada", so I am thinking she will be about the same as Katelyn....I'll give her a little more time and she will be talking my ear off..lol

By Pamt on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 06:52 pm:

As a speech therapist I can give you the averages. First word approximations (may not sound perfect, but close enough and the child uses them repeatedly to refer to the same thing) appear at about 10-14 months. Most 1 year olds have a vocabulary of about 3-5 words. Kids start putting 2 words together around 18 months, such as "more juice" and "daddy bye-bye." You can expect a vocabulary of about 250 words at 2 yrs. and 3000 words at 3 years. 24-36 months is the time of greatest language acquisition. You should understand about 75% of what your 2 y/o says and strangers will understand about 50%. By 3 yrs you should understand 90% of what your child says and outsiders should understand about 75%. Also, kids simplify adult speech because they don't have the fine motor coordination to produce adult speech, so speech won't sound totally adult-like until 5-7 years of age. HTH!

P.S. Sounds like your DS is right on track!

By Heaventree on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 07:54 pm:

Thanks everyone and thanks especially to you Pam. That is wonderful information that I will keep for future reference. I love this place!

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 07:41 am:

Sarah started saying some words when she was one, but didn't really take off with sentences, until about 2-1/2, after Emily was born. Emily was talking with lots of words and simple sentences, by the time she was 2.

It is fun to go through the "word-a-day" stage, when everyday, they say something you had never heard them say before! I don't quite remember when that happened with my kids anymore.

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 09:16 am:

J & J were talking by age one. We never baby-talked to them, plus they had adolescent siblings who were constantly talking to them, so I *think* they were fairly verbal early on. I know by their first b'days they were saying 2-3 dozen words. Jen said her first complete sentence around 18 months. To this day, we remember it. LOL It was *Mimi, want a cookie?*. My X-MIL would always offer her cookies and speak while she was offering, and Jen just naturally picked that up.

Like others, I read to my kids every day practically from the time they were born. I am a firm believer in reading to kids. It stimulates their imagination and IMO, encourages them to want to speak. Pamt is the *expert* here, but I also agree that *socializing* them helps encourage speaking, though every child is different.