first words

[Kamaikia]

I'm wondering what age is considered normal for a baby to start talking. The thing is my 8 month old has been chattering away for the last 1 1/2 months. He can say mum, dad, pup, cat, ta, no and yes - mostly no and dad, whereas a friends 18 month old can only say dad,mum, and ta. what's normal - or more common

[draught]

As always there is no normal. My daughter was 18 months before she started saying words and all the information we could find indicated that she wasn't outside the "normal" range of speech development - particularly as her non-verbal communication was incredibly developed.

However I think you can be safely assured that your little one is ahead of the game in the language department !

[mumof2girls]

My daughter was an "early at everything" baby she just had to do everything and she also spoke at a very early age she was actually talking sentences " Mum may I have a drink please" at the age of 12 months, she was walking at 8 months and reading at aged 2 1/2 years. Just keep encouraging her and let her go she sounds similar to my daughter. It is more common for children to start talking around the 12 month age but they will talk when they are ready :)