how much should a 17 month old be talking?

[Stretched]

If you have niggling concerns, my advice would be to keep a record of when she hits social/communication milestones.

As my eldest, DD, was an advanced talker - highly articulate, read at 4yo, etc - it was always hard to know if DS was genuinely behind or behind compared to his sister. He always was within the expected range for number of words, but down the low end. He was on time/a touch ahead for putting together 2, then 3 or more, words and on time for pointing, following someone else pointing with his eyes. He had sound articulation issues with speech therapy at 3yo and they had no concerns with his language development or social communication.

However, here we are at 7yo exploring an ASD diagnosis. He is very borderline and his intelligence has helped him compensate for it up to now. The hardest thing with going through the assessment process now is I just can't remember what age he was when he did what. It's been the questions about types of play, e.g. early pretend play like pretending a random object is something else (a block is a phone, a box is a cake). I know he was late to start proper pretend play, but again, was he 4? 5? I don't know!

Seeing things with 20/20 hindsight vision, I do think the fact that he was behind compared to his sister was an early flag. He's clearly as smart, probably smarter, than her. His language should not have been so, so far behind where she was at the same age.

[Kazza78]

My kids health record books say
15 words by 21 months
2 word sentences by 24 months

[PinkPopsicle]

dd is 17 months on saturday. she communicates beautifully (makes noises, points, motions etc) but actual words are really non existent. she can say mum, dad and says ds’ name but i feel like even that’s occasional. she says “go!” if you count down “three, two, one and..” and she says “go!!”. she understands everything we say to her. just her verbal use of words seems really limited?? i’ve tried looking back at videos of ds around this age to compare but can’t seem to really find much. but i swear he was saying a bit more than dd.

at what point does one take the next step and go chat to a gp? or am i worrying prematurely?

my kids have always been late to talk. ie a few words by 2. but once they start they just kept going. DS3 (bub#4) is 19.5mths and can say hot, pop, woof, bye, dad and mum. these have all only really come about in the last 3weeks. although we.know he understands lots.
give it til 2 and then follow up with nurse or gp.
school teacher friends reassured me that as long as his receptive language development was progressing then he'll get there with his expressive

[Simil]

Mine had 20 words and sounds at 2 (sounds being brm brm for car, or moo for cow).

Between 2 and 3 she exploded with language and now at 3 talks in full sentences, sings songs and tells stories.

[Elevatormusic]

Speech is so variable between one child to the next - pay no mind to what the internet suggests - I read something like 300-1000 words by age two, including 2-3 word sentences. I don't know about you but I can't even list 1000 words at age 36 lol

Then there are other variables like whether or not they have older siblings, their temperament (I have a very physical, explorer-type 2.5 year old who could walk and run by 10 months but talking, not so much. Some kids progress at a gradual pace, others have word explosions.

If by age 2 you think they need some help, a speech pathologist can give you tips on how to encourage speech (not responding to needs immediately, asking questions and offering two alternatives such as 'do you want the milk or the juice', 'carrot or apple' etc.)