19 month old - words and phrases

Gurgle expert Eileen Hayes says:
Just as with anything else to do with development, children vary a great deal. Some may walk early, some will talk early, but they mostly all get there in their own time. From a research point of view, language experts say that at twenty months, young children have developed the concentration skills to listen, pay attention, and really start to develop their language, so hopefully in the next couple of months his speech will really take off.
However, if you are at all worried about the development of his language, it is definitely best to talk to your health visitor.

It is a good sign that he can let you know what he wants by pointing and making sounds. This is a pre-verbal stage for children, and he may well be sticking with this a bit longer because he is managing to communicate his needs to you quite well without words. You could try to respond less immediately to his pointing and sounds, making sure you say the word or sentence needed first.

The best way to help young children to learn to speak is by speaking directly to them, down at their level. They don’t pick up as much from general conversation going on around them.

The other is repetition –saying a word over and over until they associate it with the object –for example, “here is your cup, do you want your cup?”
Provided you keep doing these two things, he should get there in the end.

all children are different hun some learn bits and pieces over a period of time others seem to suddenly start and carry on from there. my daughter learnt here and there but her cousin who is 15 months older hardly said anything up until he was over 2 and then bam! couldnt shut him up! they are now 2 and 3 years old and both talk a mile a minute and chat away to eachother happily. i wouldnt worry best thing to do is keep talking to him, bout anything however mundane it sounds lol and he'll start remembering words and chat back. wait til he gets to his polly parrot phase- you'll have to watch every little thing that comes out your mouth coz he'll repeat the lot- especially the stuff you wish he didnt! x x

hi.i wouldn`t worry bout is as every child is different. my son is 27months old and is isn`t really talking. like your son he points at things and has his own way of making me understand what he wants etc. he`s recently started nursery which i think is helping him. my own opinion is that like everything else he will do things when hes ready. so what if other kids his age are talking better than him, i`m sure hes thriving in other areas compared to them. xxx

Hi. My little boy is 19 months old on 9th Nov 09 and is not really saying many words. A month or so ago I thought he was starting to say daddy and mummy but that seems to have stopped now. I now what he means when he points at things etc, but he is unable to put words together, as I have read that he should be able to do at this age. Just wondered if any other mums were experiencing the same thing or I am just worrying over nothing and enjoy the peace while it lasts!!!