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Kids like your son generally have an "explosion" of vocabulary one day rather than learn a few words at a time. He may not talk much today, but tomorrow he'll wake up and be speaking in full sentences - so I wouldn't worry too much. But, take note of a few things: does he spend too much monitor time (tv, video games, computer, electronic "learning" toys)? Do you read to him daily? Do you talk to him all the time? Do you ask him questions (like, which cup would you like, red or blue?)? Does anyone speak in baby talk to him (they shouldn't)? Do you speak more than one language at home (that sometimes delays speech development, believe it or not!)? If you're doing everything right, then look into medical things - such as hearing and ear infections. Has he had a lot of ear infections? Take him to a specialist for a really solid hearing test. It may be that he has blocked something and just can't hear as well. I have a friend whose daughter got tubes put in because of multiple (5 before 1 year!) ear infections and her speech skyrocketed overnight. I have another friend whose son (nearly 3 now) has been going to speech therapy since 2 because he wasn't able to form words well with his mouth - something to do with muscles. Anyway, a specialist can diagnose all of that. Hope this helps somewhat!

Thanks bean! He's only had one ear infection, when he was getting 3 teeth at once and had a cold (yikes, poor kid huh? lol). The doc told us there's no extra fluid in his ears -- this was at his 15 mo. appt. She suggested if he's still not talking that we do a better hearing test at his 18 mos. appointment. We read to him a lot, have very few electronic toys, and we stay at home with him every day -- my husband and i work alternating schedules. Unfortunately I think we have the TV on a lot, mostly as background noise. We've been trying to turn it off more, old habits are hard to break. We do listen to a LOT of music though. I wonder if it's distracting him? hmmm.... No one talks baby talk, thank goodness! lol. Thanks for the advice, I'm hoping he just wakes up one day and is saying full sentences too! ~spam

hi spamanda.. my daughter is 20 months old now but she started saying words at around 1 year..i mean new words not just mama and dada and tata..but like water, apple, banana and she knew all the animals with their sounds.. that was it until 18 months..one day she woke up and she was talking in 3-words sentences!! now she's so verbal and will say anything she wants very clearly (although some words she says are really funny :p ) and anyone can understand her.. just give him sometime he is still young probably one day he will wake up just like my daughter and u will be really surprised :) it's easier when they can talk cz we understand them.. if he responds to u and listens when u talk to him, then i think u shouldnt worry about his hearing :)

I read Lucy's reply and just to clarify so you're not worried, spam.. I'm not thinking hearing LOSS, I'm thinking hearing block. My friend's son had something in his ear canal that was preventing him from hearing clearly, so words sounded too garbled for him to be able to repeat clearly. He was talking, but just the same garbled jibberish that he heard. Do you know what I mean? This was also true of the little girl who had tubes put in her ears. She talked ALL the time, but was completely incoherent simply because she was mishearing. It's nothing serious - but it helped these parents so much because they couldn't figure out what was wrong either! I would do what your pedi said and wait a few months. If by 18 months the words aren't clearer or haven't picked up, it might be worth checking out.

Bean & Lucy -- Yeah, DS responds when we talk to him. I know he can hear us, that doesn't seem to be an issue. (How well he's hearing of course might be, but he definitely CAN hear). And he has probably 4-5 words, most of which no one can understand but DH and I. Any other ideas of ways to encourage him to talk? Oh, and he's been getting teeth CONSTANTLY since he was about 10 mos. He's got 12ish I think, including at least 2 molars and now his eye teeth are coming in. Do you think tooth pain would make him talk less? Or am I just reaching here? lol. Thanks for your help ladies!

I wouldn't be too worried. My son is 23 months and says a few words-yeah, nah,Elmo,boo, car,ball,wawa(for water) probably about 30 words but they are not super clear and not everybody would understand them all. A few reasons we're not worried are that we've heard boys tend to speak later (my sister's 15 month old is about even with my son verbally). Also, he IS COMMUNICATING what he wants, just not verbally, so I know there isn't any cognition problem. The explosion Bean mentioned is how I started talking. My mother said I didn't say much but single words until I was almost three and then you couldn't shut me up. It was like I'd been saving it all up. I am still catching up, I haven't shut up yet!LOL

I wouldn't worry too much. My second did not utter but a handful of words until 18 months. At that point his older sister had been speaking in complete sentences. Every child is sooooo different. Boys tend to be verbal later and I think that 18 months is a turnaround point for all children. There is a minimum number of words that your child needs to verbalize by 18 months. If you child has not reached that, your pediatrician will see it as a red flag to investigate further. If you feel it is a real problem, you could contact your local public school and they will be able to point you in the right direction for early intervention. Update us on his progress!

My dd is 17 months and only says a few words too. Kitty cat (caca), dada, byebye (sometimes) and dog (gog). She points and understands when we ask her stuff, she just isn't talking much (that we can understand). I'm not worried at this point..I think some kids just take their time.

my ds is almost 16 months ( on the 24th) nd he's about that same as yours. HE babbles LOTS all day but it's his own laungage. He does understand everything and tasks asking to be done. He does say mama, dada, car, what's that, and a few others but not all the time. I am not worried about it as he understands us very well so i know it will come when it comes.