Any tips on getting toddler to talk?

Question

Hi guys! I have a sweet boy that is 20 months old. He does say “dada” very clearly.. he tries to say sister, hi, here (when handing us something) and that’s about it. He baby talks a lot still. He doesn’t have trouble telling me what he wants though, he will point or grab whatever he wants or needs. He also understands what I tell him. He’s very bright and I know he’ll talk when he’s ready but is there any tips on how I could help him. It just worries me that he isn’t talking yet.. thanks 😊

Answer

My son was also barely saying anything at 24 months. Pretty much just dada, yeah, no, and up. We attended a class for some tips, and it was helpful. He had over 50 words 2 months later. He is 27 months now and talks about everything. Here are some tips that were given to us by a speech therapist:
1. Don't ask "Can you say...?" It can cause them anxiety and not cause him to not want to speak (true for our son).
2. Acknowledge any form of communication for what he wants (like pointing or signing). HOWEVER, respond slower than what you do if he verbally asks for something. 
3. Speak to him with one word more than he uses. If he says "pig" then you would say "pink pig". After three words, you can move to simple sentences. 
4. Narrate what you are doing or what he is doing. This gets exhausting at first, but pretty soon you will be doing it out of habit. 
5. Intentionally "forget" things that he needs. For example, at meal time don't give him utensils and wait to see if he asks for them. Obviously, give them to him if he never asks.
6. Instead of reading a book word for word, just talk about the pictures with him. I found the "First 100 Words" series super helpful. 
7. If he calls something a different name (ex: a dog is a "woof") then don't tell him he is wrong. Just continue to use the correct term. He will eventually get it. 
Hopefully these help. Definitely talk to your pediatrician if you are concerned though, they may be able to recommend a resource such as a class.

Answer

My son is 20 months old and is still within the 20 word range. Every child is different. A typical 24 month old child knows 50-75. Not thousands. Always ask your pediatrician.

Answer

Try to not let him point to communicate. This is hard but when he points tell him what it is. If it's not something he needs but just wants tell him to say "word" and if he at least tries give it to him. He will get better at pronouncing it and eventually stop pointing for things. All kids develop on their own time tables so I wouldn't worry to much as long as you see progression and him trying to speak. Start with easy stuff too. Like point up and say up or zip a jacket and say up and down. Show him his toys like trains, dogs, books. Have him say baby instead of sister until he can master baby. Learning stuff on his face should be fun. That's how I got my 2 year old really going. He loved to say eye bc it was easy. He eventually picked up how to say nose, ears, and mouth after a small amount of time of practicing. Just whenever you can practice with him. Make it fun so he's interested. You can do it while feeding your baby or anything. It could simply be that he's waiting bc you have a new baby and this is how he gets more attention. If you up the learning with him that's more attention for him and will encourage him to want to talk

Answer

I actually spoke to someone about my son’s speech when he was about that age...and now at 26m he DOES NOT stop talking 😂
Sometimes I try and get him to play the ‘lets not talk for 5 minutes’ game...
I was told that as long as they’re babbling, that shows that they’re trying. And if they respond to you, that’s good too (as in, if you say ‘come here’ / ‘sit down’ / ‘please bring me that toy’ & they do it).
Best thing to do is just keep talking when you’re with them, rather than trying to get the child to repeat specific word(s).

Answer

You didn’t say but I bet your son is home with only adults and not around other kids. My son was the same at that age and I worried so much to the point I called a speech therapist and had him evaluated, they simply said he was a bit delay in speech because he was only around adults who would do what he wanted if he pointed to things. At that point my pediatrician recommended daycare. 3 mths into daycare my son was speaking 3-4 word sentences and now the kid won’t shut up. Prior to daycare I would read and do ALL types of activities to help his speech, nothing worked. Daycare was our solution

Answer

I bet over the next few months as he gets closer to 2 you’ll notice him picking up more and more words. All kids are different and I’m sure you’re doing an amazing job, Ive noticed most kids pick up words slowly until they turn 2 and then it starts to ramp up after that. 
I read recently that reading the same book over and over again is actually quite helpful with language development.

Answer

Each kid is different keep working on it if by three he still isn't very verbal do speech therapy but I know my doctors said it's normal for them because each kid learns and developments different my son we are working hard we repeat it thousand times before he says it he learned touch down hi by love you bubba dadda Pappa nanna but we repeat over and over again from young age

Answer

He should have about 15-20 words by now, not thousands. He’s probably fine! Do you read to him everyday? When you do, make him part of it. For example, point to the dog, say “do you see the dog?” “Can you say dog?” “Show me the dog!” Just little things like that encourage growth.

Answer

Yes. Teach him some signs and use them with the word. Model for him what you want him to say. If he wants his cup and points to it, say “cup. Cup.” To the extent possible, don’t give it to him until he says it or attempts to say it. When you’re playing with him, narrate the activity, using simple sentences and simple words. My son was exactly the same when he turned 2. We had to do speech therapy. These were some of the techniques we learned and it’s worked wonders. My son will be three in a few weeks and is speaking in full sentences. 
Talk to him one step ahead of where he is. When he’s confidently using a good number of words, start modeling two word phrases. When he’s got those, model three word phrases.

Answer

My little guy hardly talked at all till he was 2, then he just exploded with words lol, just make sure you read to him a lot, that's I think what helped mine so much

Any tips on getting toddler to talk?

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