What do you consider "words"?

[alexsam]

My 14 month old has some words. He says "hello" and "no" clearly and appropriately. He also says "woof" for the dog (and when he sees pictures of dogs), "woah!" when anything falls or is interesting or surprising, blows "shhh!" when he sees a candle, "dit!" with pointing when he wants to draw your attention, and waves bye-bye. He understands quite a bit and is generally a happy, playful, affectionate, and social little guy and loves when people talk and read to him and has NO problem at all communicating what he wants or is feeling using sounds and motions, just seems like not a whole lot of "words".

So, my question is- do you count verbal language (like animal noises or "woah") as words when you are thinking about "how many words your toddler has"?

[laughymama]

[buttercups.nest]

While I don't count animal noises and such as words, I do mention them when talking to the doctor etc as I believe they still count for something.

Reading what your toddler is saying, is no less than what mine said at that age. Now I can't get her to stop talking I can understand most of what she says, she sometimes has her own little conversations lol which are hilarious and completely non-understandable

[katelove]

If he's saying the word "woof" rather than making a barking sound then I'd count it. I'd also count "woah". It's more or less the same as "wow" and it's a word rather than just a noise to express surprise like "arrggh" or "eeek" or something.

[azzeps]

Sure they're words!!! Count them all!!! We did. We wanted to encourage our DD's language abilities. She had about 30-40 words at age 1. Some of them were one syllable, and represented multiple things.... like "buh" was "bird" and "book" and "butterfly" but she used it consistently for those things... and soon she added on... like "buh" for butterfly became "butter" and "buh" for bird became "bird".

DD's first word at 6 months was "quack" which sounded more like "cah" but she said it consistently when in the tub with her ducky! I think the more you encourage the language, the more quickly it blossoms. Have fun keeping track of all the words! Soon you'll be writing down sentences!

[sapphire_chan]

For expressive language development, the need is for the child to have X number of ways of communicating. "Words" is an easy way to describe that, but it's misleading. Waving "hi" is a word. If a child claps a certain way to get a glass of water, it's a word.

I consider Lina's first 'word' to be the tongue clicking noise we use to call the cats to us.

[BarnMomma]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

For expressive language development, the need is for the child to have X number of ways of communicating. "Words" is an easy way to describe that, but it's misleading. Waving "hi" is a word. If a child claps a certain way to get a glass of water, it's a word.

I consider Lina's first 'word' to be the tongue clicking noise we use to call the cats to us.

I agree.

DS talked late. But at 9 months could understand every last thing we said and follow very specific instructions. Like, go get mommy the yellow rectangle, and off he's go into the den and get the rectangle. Or don't walk down the stairs becasue you'll fall, wait for mommy.

By 2 he had lots of words but not sentences. Then boom- sentences.

When the doc used to ask me how many words my son had I used to say all of them becasue he understaood all of them and I knew it was only a matter of time before he would communicate them.

[Thalia the Muse]

If the sound is consistently used as a symbol to represent a particular thing -- like shhhh for candle and woof for dog, or tongue-clicking to call the cat -- I think it counts as a word.

[InMediasRes]

Ah, the meaning of words. I consider anything a toddler says that represents something consistently to be a word. Signs are a "word", noises are a word. My toddler had no real "words" until 19 mo, but he had about 20 animal noises, 15-20 signs, and a made-up word for milk.

My 10mo claps after she pees and blows raspberries when she needs to go poop. She's communicating, in my mind, so it counts!

And she may have more words than you realize is she's just not pronouncing them properly. I realized a month or two late that DS had been saying a word for apple, but didn't sound enough like apple for me to notice.

[alexsam]

Yes- just today I realised that he was making a quack-like noise about ducks. But I hadn't realised it was "quack" until I saw his intensity and focus on the duck and the fact that he only made it *at* the duck. It just sounded more like "wuh, wuh, wuh". He also "growls" at animals- my older son's toy dinosaur, fish in a tank, the neighbors cat. It's not a "specific" word, but it has meaning in that it says "animal". So I'm betting there are more "words" *I'm* not getting!

I'm also seeing more and more how much he understands. He has a terrible diaper rash right now and I said "Let's look at your bottom" and he freaked. I said something to my husband about him liking a book called "Oscar Otter" and he crawled right over and picked it up.

He is absolutely communicating and interacting. I guess every one is just kind of hung up on # of words and what I think of as words (which include "woof" and "dit" and "shhh") might not be counted that way for every one. And, I'm glad I can add a "goodbye" and a "goodnight" wave as "words" . He also starts "blowing" when we say "hot" (like, blowing on hot food). So I'm counting that too!

[SparklingGemini]

Our pediatrician counted animal noises as words because it still falls in the labeling verbally category.

I learned the same in my Child Development courses in college.

[Dreamy]

I consider "words" to be any sound he pronounces consistently with a real "meaning" behind it. "Wow" is a word because he uses to proclaim his amazement over something. Recently he's been yelling out "Ni!" when he sees Christmas lights, so that's a word to me. I'm still trying to figure out what "Di" means though - he says that while pointing to a window (I think it might be "dehors", French for "outside").

[Frunchy Mama]

Wow! I am practically in tears over here reading these posts! My son is turning one tomorrow and he is not saying or understanding words like some of you guys are describing! He is learning two languages, English and Shona, the native language of Zimbabwe, and we also teach him signs, which he has about 7 that he's mastered consistently. Other than that, he really only SAYS mama, dada and caca (milk). I know that bilingual babies take more time to begin speaking, and he's starting to understand more words, but not a lot really...definitely not able to follow directions like "go get the yellow blanket" or whatever.

I have just finished two semesters of school on top of working part time which spanned about from when he was 4 months to just before 12 months (now). I feel like because I have been gone, he is behind on so much. He is also not walking and not even really standing on his own. I am worried that my absence has affected his development. I am so torn over this. I am in school so that I can switch careers to something where I can work part time so that I can be home with him to raise him and homeschool him. Yet it feels like I've sacrificed so much and he's suffering developmentally cuz of it. I am taking this coming semester off to be with him, but I've accepted a full time job out of financial necessity.

During this time my husband has stayed with him during the weekdays because of his weird work schedule, and I've been with him on the weekends. He is an extremely happy baby and LOVES my husband who is an active parent...but I think he just hasn't done the one-on-one direct teaching that maybe I would have if I had more time. I tried to make the time I WAS with him quality time, but I feel like apparently it wasn't enough...

Should I be worried about my son's development??

[Caterina]

Originally Posted by Frunchy Mama

Should I be worried about my son's development??

Oh, mama! Your baby is developing at HIS own pace, and is just where he should be at. You say yourself that he is an extremely happy baby, and that's what's really important. My 14 month old just started standing on her own this week for short periods (like a couple of seconds) and seems to be pretty close to walking but definitely isn't yet. She has a couple of sounds/words (buh for baby and book, mama, dada) and a few signs (milk, more, tired) but she is learning every day and is happy and healthy! That's really the important thing... babies don't need one-on-one teaching, all they need to learn is attention and love... but it sounds like the school and work stuff has been stressful to you too and that's hard. Don't worry about his development - it certainly sounds to me like he's doing just fine!

[Dov'sMom]

Originally Posted by Frunchy Mama

Wow! I am practically in tears over here reading these posts! My son is turning one tomorrow and he is not saying or understanding words like some of you guys are describing! He is learning two languages, English and Shona, the native language of Zimbabwe, and we also teach him signs, which he has about 7 that he's mastered consistently. Other than that, he really only SAYS mama, dada and caca (milk). I know that bilingual babies take more time to begin speaking, and he's starting to understand more words, but not a lot really...definitely not able to follow directions like "go get the yellow blanket" or whatever.

I have just finished two semesters of school on top of working part time which spanned about from when he was 4 months to just before 12 months (now). I feel like because I have been gone, he is behind on so much. He is also not walking and not even really standing on his own. I am worried that my absence has affected his development. I am so torn over this. I am in school so that I can switch careers to something where I can work part time so that I can be home with him to raise him and homeschool him. Yet it feels like I've sacrificed so much and he's suffering developmentally cuz of it. I am taking this coming semester off to be with him, but I've accepted a full time job out of financial necessity.

During this time my husband has stayed with him during the weekdays because of his weird work schedule, and I've been with him on the weekends. He is an extremely happy baby and LOVES my husband who is an active parent...but I think he just hasn't done the one-on-one direct teaching that maybe I would have if I had more time. I tried to make the time I WAS with him quality time, but I feel like apparently it wasn't enough...

Should I be worried about my son's development??

FWIW, neither of my two sons had any consistent words at 12 months. Not even Mama/Dada. When DS2 was born, DS1 was 14 months old, and his only words were "ba" for "ball" and "baby" for ... me!

By the time he was two he was using 6-8 word sentences, had most pronouns down pat, and was experimenting with past tense.

DS2 was a little faster early on. He also had no words at a year, but picked up maybe 10-15 by 15 months. He's 23 months old now, knows his colors, can count to five (higher, but not reliably), average sentence is maybe 4-5 words but can go as high as 8-10, and not only recites nursery rhymes, but alters them to play with rhyme and to apply to what's going on around him. We were at the optometrist's last week and they had a miniature horse in the window, and he told me: "Ima, dat horse wear dasses. Dat horse have dasses no have eyes. Why horse have dasses no have eyes?" and indeed, the horse had glasses but no eyes.

In other words, he's speaking way better than many of his age-mates who did say their first words earlier than he did.

[Cavy]

Originally Posted by Frunchy Mama

Wow! I am practically in tears over here reading these posts! ...Should I be worried about my son's development??

Neah.
DC1 is the only one of my 4 who managed any word sounds before he turned 1yo. His 2nd word (not counting animal sounds, not sure about those) came when was nearly 19months old. Years later (no interventions) we were told when he started school how fantastically articulate he was.

If it makes you feel even better, my 22 month old (DC4) has maybe 4 words that resemble spoken English, 5 or 6 signs or significant gestures, and he wolfs or growls at some things (animal noises). We're not bilingual, he doesn't have special needs, some kids are just late talkers.

[Frunchy Mama]

Thanks so much for the encouragement! It seriously makes me feel so much better! Especially to hear that the same later-talkers ended up being great talkers later on!

I appreciate it!

[ShyDaisi]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

For expressive language development, the need is for the child to have X number of ways of communicating. "Words" is an easy way to describe that, but it's misleading. Waving "hi" is a word. If a child claps a certain way to get a glass of water, it's a word.

I consider Lina's first 'word' to be the tongue clicking noise we use to call the cats to us.

Yup. This is why signs count as words.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Frunchy Mama

Wow! I am practically in tears over here reading these posts! My son is turning one tomorrow

Should I be worried about my son's development??

No.

I've lived through the jumps from 12-14 months and 14-15 months and 15-16 months and I barely believe them. But there is a TON of language learning. Average "words" for a 12 month old (your ds) is four average for a 15 month old (my dd's age) is 20.

Multi-lingualism can slow things down, but what I think it really hinders is how quickly you'll recognize a consistent word.

And the baby who could follow complex instructions about getting blocks was very advanced and was being put forth as an example of how receptive and expressive language don't develop at the same rate.

At age 1, he should, when in the mood, respond to some simple requests with pointing "bring the book (point) to me (hold out your hand)"

[Materfamilias]

I count animal noises, but I hadn't counted signs. Guess I will now, because DD clearly has some words she only signs for. In fact, the only word she both says and signs is "help"