Every 2-year-old should know at least these 25 words: researchers

[rug]

A checklist for toddler language development

By Heidi Evans / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, February 20, 2012, 10:42 PM

Turns out chatty toddlers who say “all gone” and “bye-bye” aren’t just cute — they’re showing off their essential language skills.

Researchers have identified 25 “must have” words that every child should be saying when they turn 2.

Kids who haven’t mastered them might not just be late talkers — they could be showing signs of autism, developmental delays or hearing problems .

The 25 words — including Mommy, Daddy, baby, hot and hat — were the most commonly said of a list of 310 words that kids master when they first start to speak.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/2-year-old-25-words-researchers-article-1.1025968

List at link. Disney and Nickelodeon are not on it.

[Odin2005]

1. I didn't talk much until I was 3.

Looking back it was probably an early signal of my Asperger's

[Newest Reality]

2. Or, the kid

could be a future Einstein.

[laundry_queen]

3. Interesting

I don't know many 2 year olds who have 25 words. Only 1 out of my 4 had that many words at age 2. None have autism or developmental delays and the 3 that are in school are A students. One of mine said nothing until she was 2.5 was talking in sentences by age 3 (and clearer than her 3 yo friend who was talking at 18 months but still had problems with the "r" and "l" sound at age 4). She also is an honors student, just better at Math than English. I think it's a little overzealous to assume kids who don't talk at 2 have issues. Age 3 maybe, but that year between 2 and 3 is HUGE in terms of language development. I did childcare and I've seen kids totally blossom in terms of language during that year. I do know early intervention is important, and it can't hurt, but I guess I see some of the testing as a little overboard.

[FreeJoe]

5. I agree and disagree

The vast majority of two year olds that I've known had speaking vocabularies well in excess of 25 words. My oldest son spoke in one and two word "sentences" just as he was turning two. I remember it well because all but one of his peers were starting to use real sentences and all could say far, far more than 25 words. I remember it because we were starting to worry that my son might have language issues. The only one of his peers that spoke as poorly as he did had already been diagnosed as having a problem.

The reason why I agree is what happened next. In the span of literally a week or two, my son went from his one and two word phrases, to full sentences and even speaking in "paragraphs". It was an amazing transformation in which he went from being noticeably behind his peers to being noticeably ahead.

The point of my rambling is that, based on my memory, most children can say at least 25 words by the time they reach two. Even if they aren't speaking well by the time they hit 2, they may have speak wonderfully a short while later.

[snooper2]

4. My daughter is 27 months now

I was worried about six months ago thinking she should be chaining more words together, more phrases. She was just a one word at a time for the most part.

About two months ago she really started using more phrases,

Milk now please- ( why isn't please on the list but thank-you is?)
kitty mad-
sleep in big bed

My wife said I was being overly worried and she is probably right. I guess the good thing is she knows hundreds and hundreds (I lost count) of words now and it's amazing how fast she is learning to put sentences together.

[WCGreen]

6. When I was two, I could recite the Gettysburg Address....

It was 1454....

[Fawke Em]

7. My daughter, now 4, knew hundreds of words by 2 years old...

...and she hasn't stopped talking since.

Seriously, my daughter has an enormous vocabulary and insists on using it the entire time she's awake (and sometimes in her sleep). LOL

[JNelson6563]

8. Sometimes it's poor parenting.

My niece has a very over-protective, everyone's-out-of-step-but-my-Johnny kind of mom. When the child was starting to point and grunt at things mom would say "That's right! That's a (whatever it is)!" and heap on the praise. This went on whenever she pointed and grunted. I'd say well she didn't really say anything but maybe she wants too....thinking it was a good teaching opportunity. Child points and grunts at something of interest, it might be a good time to show them how to say the word. Not congratulate them for mastering a word when only a grunt was uttered.

Julie

[Klukie]

9. I wonder if some of the delays are caused by a quiet household?

I talk a lot and my kids vocab was off the charts. Kids tend to mimic their parents in so many other ways so I don't see why speech would be any different. My brother has a very quiet household and his child was delayed. He took off when he went to preschool. I don't know..I think it is something to consider.

[surrealAmerican]

11. The more language that is directed to the child ...

... the earlier they start speaking. This is one reason older siblings tend to speak at earlier ages than younger ones: parents may be speaking just as much or more around the (younger) baby, but they're talking TO the older child.

[TlalocW]

10. Apparently, I was a grunter at that age

I would point and grunt at things I wanted, and I turned out okay.

And like a lot of things I've noticed (like how there are less pictures of me and my older brother by 2 years and no home movies of us but there are of our sisters, 14 and 16 years older), I put down to the fact that Mom had me when she was 40. After 3 other kids, and then having me at that age, I can see maybe not doing as much as you did for the previous kids, but she gave me a lot of freedom and encouraged me to be what I wanted and think for myself.

And I think that if I had been born later than what I had been, a lot of my behavior (not bad but eccentric) would have gotten me put on Ritalin.

TlalocW

[LiberalFighter]

12. Is your name "Tim the Toolman"?

[Quantess]

13. Ear infections are a major, major, cause of speech and language delays.

Get your child's hearing tested if you have doubts.