How many words is your 16 month old saying?

Question

My daughter is 16 months old and only says very few actual words. She says “mama, dada, yayyy, yeah, and me”. She does not say any of them consistently, except for “me’ when she wants up. My mother in law is getting in my head saying she is behind. And honestly it’s getting to me, I’m starting to get a little concerned. She babbles all the time, and we point and talk about everything we are doing with her. I’m just at a loss on if she is behind or not, or if there is more we could be doing to encourage her to talk?

Answer

At 16 months, I’ve never had any of my children saying actual words yet. They’re still babies & it’s so early still. After they turned 2, is when they started saying very few words. Only my girl was saying more after 2, closer to age 3. Boys typically take longer to talk. It’s all babbling right now & other sounds.

Answer

You might find the following helpful. It's from Speech Sisters a language pathology website. https://speechsisters.com/how-many-words-should-my-child-have/
There's a chart on the page that includes the number of words a child should have by age. It's then broken down by "milestone", "Around 'average', and "Above expected range".
Also, note from the excerpt below, there are things listed that many people might not consider or realize count as words. Remember to include those. Your little one might have more words than you realize.
From the website:
You can count the following as “words:
Actual words (of course)
Word approximations (e.g. “dah” for dog or “ba” for “ball”)
Exclamatory words (e.g. “uh-oh”, “beep-beep”, “whoa”, “ew”)
Animal sounds count as words (e.g. “moo”, “meow”, “baa”, “maa”, “woof”, “roar”)
Baby sign language (e.g. “more”, “all done”, “help”)
And you can count these examples above as words as long as your child is using it:
CONSISTENTLY (e.g. regularly and more than once)
INDEPENDENTLY (e.g. your child uses the word on their own)
INTENTIONALLY (e.g. in right context…they know what the word means)
⁠⠀

Answer

MILs are the worst for this, she had her babies decades ago so probably doesn’t accurately remember what’s right for each stage (mine is the same 🙄) babies are all so different, I wouldn’t worry. My girl is 20months and doesn’t talk much but understands most things and I’m not concerned that she’s behind she’ll catch up in her own time

Answer

I replied previously with a resource. 
My little guy has well over 60 words and puts together phrases and sentences: good girl (to our dog), I did it!, What're you doin'?, That's a good girl!, That's a ball, It's hot. 
He isn't the norm, re. speech development. All of my kids were chatterboxes early. 
All that aside, I still only understand him about half the time. People that don't see him often understand him less often. 
Here's a an excerpt on how often you (parent) and primary caregivers should be able to understand your baby.  
******
On average, depending on your child’s age, this is how much of their speech you should expect to be able to understand:
1 year old: 25%
2 years old: 50%
3 years old: 75%
4 years old: 100%
Source: https://www.weetalkers.com/blog//when-you-cant-understand-your-toddler

Answer

Mama, dada, duck, dog, kitty kot, ball, bath, more, no, night night, car, wa wa (water), ba, ma (molly our dog)

Answer

My daughter can only say mama. Each in their own time! If you’re worried maybe reach out to get assessed by a SLP to get a baseline in case they could benefit from therapy when they’re older

Answer

Mine says about 75 words. He is very smart!

Answer

I’ve been concerned about this myself but I’m trying to tell myself that my son is still young. He turned 16 months on the 22nd and he only says mama, dada and bubba . He talks a lot but it isn’t coherent most of the time. I do try to talk to him a lot and like I said he babels a lot but still Doesn’t say a ton of words

Answer

My first didn’t say more than a handful of words until right after 2 years old. My second has been saying more and more words everyday for the past month. They are all different

Answer

There’s a huge range of normal at this age. Some have a language explosion and take off while others develop words at a steady pace. If your toddler is saying a few words consistently that is a good sign. I’m pretty sure the recommendation is that if they are not saying a few words consistently or following simple instructions by 18 months then it is best to discuss with your paediatrician as early intervention makes such a huge difference for language acquisition. 
I’m no longer counting my daughter’s words after she passed 50. Learn with Adrienne has great language videos on YouTube to teach you games and activities you can do with your toddler to help their language.

How many words is your 16 month old saying?

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