Hi friends! I’m back with another post in our ongoing Language Basics series. Last time we talked about how language is more than just vocabulary, which has already become one of my most popular posts to date, so hop over and read it if you haven’t already before you tackle this one. Today we are going to continue our discussion of all things words by talking about expressive language development. If you are a parent who is wondering when your little one is REALLY going to start talking, this is the post for you! Read on for five signs that your toddler’s language is about to explode.
The toddler years are a very exciting time for language development, but they can also be worrisome for parents who are wanting to be sure that their child’s communication skills are on track. If you’ve ever been around multiple toddlers, you’ve probably noticed that there is a very wide range at this age when it comes to expressive language. For instance, at age 18 months, some children may already be using several hundred words and putting together 2-3 words sentences, while others only use a few words (i.e. “Mommy,” “Daddy,” “uh-oh!”). Even though both children are within the normal range of development (typically you want an 18 month-old to be using around 8-10 meaningful words), it can be hard for parents not to compare their child’s language level to those around him and become a bit concerned.
The Language EXPLOSION Period
Typically, children start to say their first words around their first birthday. What happens after that is interesting- most children add new words to their vocabulary at a slower rate (maybe one word a week) until they hit a stage in development called the “language explosion” period. When this happens, watch out! Toddlers at this stage begin to learn and use new words very rapidly- you may hear new words every day! This is also the time when children usually begin to combine words into phrases. Although this language explosion phase happens for some kids at around 18 months, for others it comes a bit later, as every child has their own unique rate of development.
When Will My Child’s Language Explode?
If you are wondering when your child will hit his/her own “language explosion,” here are some signs that an increase in expressive language is just around the corner:
1. Able to communicate wants and needs. Before expressive language blasts off, your child should have a good grasp of using different forms of communication (both verbal AND non-verbal) to send messages to other people. This includes pointing, gesturing, sign language, facial expressions, eye gaze (looking at you, then looking at what he wants), non-word sounds and noises. **The ability to use pointing, gestures, and gaze to communicate has been directly linked by research to expressive language development!
2. Communicates to show and share experiences. The ability to use communication for social purposes is JUST as important as communicating to get needs met. Your child should be using different forms of communication to draw your attention to objects and actions that excite him! For example, he may see a firetruck down the street, point to it to show you (possibly pairing with a gesture or word), and then look at you to see if you are looking, too. Another example of this is sharing enjoyment- if you are reading a book together and come to a funny part in the story, your child might laugh and then look at you to see if you are laughing, too. **It is also important that your child is able to FOLLOW your point with his gaze- if you were the one pointing at the firetruck, your child should be able to identify what you are looking at based on your pointing alone.
3. Receptive language is on track. Receptive language, or language comprehension, is how much language your child understands. Receptive language develops before expressive language and is a bit more predictable, although it can be hard to assess in the early years. If your child is able to identify familiar objects, follow simple commands, respond to his/her name, and understand some action words, he’s on the right track. Other receptive skills that are developing in this age range include identifying clothing and body parts and sorting objects by category (i.e. putting blocks with other blocks, animals with other animals, and balls with other balls).
4. Initiates turn-taking games and routines with adults Does your child enjoy turn-taking games like “Peek-a-boo” or rolling a ball back and forth? Does she like to take turns “beeping” noses or sharing a snack with you? The ability to participate and initiate these types of routines signals that she is ready for the back-and-forth nature of a conversation.
5. Symbolic Play The relationship between play and language development is incredibly fascinating. Children progress through different stages of play throughout early childhood that mirror their cognitive development. The appearance of symbolic play, which is when a child uses a toy or an object to represent another object (for example, zooming a block around like a car or “feeding” a baby doll), signals that he is cognitively ready for language because he is able to use symbols- after all, words are really just arbitrary symbols for actions, objects, and ideas!
Now, although I am writing this article to inform (and hopefully reassure) you about early language development, this advice is not a substitute for the opinion of a licensed and certified speech-language-pathologist who has actually met your child! If you have concerns about your child’s speech/language development, please don’t hesitate to contact a professional in your area for a screening or evaluation. If you need help finding one, my friend and fellow SLP Katie over at Playing With Words 365 has a great article called “How to Find an SLP” that is extremely helpful.
I hope you enjoyed this latest post in our Language Basics series! If you’ve missed any of the posts in this series, click here to view the entire collection.
My daughter has had multiple explosions. She just turned two & we took her on a cruise last week. During that week, she became a whole different child verbally. She was forming longer sentences & asking questions that blew my mind. Where did this come from? Lol! It is a fun stage.
Hah! It totally happens! It seems like my twins experience periods of rapid language growth quite often as well. The developing brain is a beautiful and mysterious thing!
I’m loving this series so much and every time I read a new post, I get questions and ideas.
I guess my question relates to intervention. Are there age/stages where a parent should seek intervention? By that I mean is it possible that a child that seemed on track at 18 months could need help by 3 years?
It is! Any time you become concerned about your child’s communication skills is the “right” time to seek the opinion of a speech pathologist. Every child develops differently and different skills develop at different ages, so sometimes things aren’t apparent right away. When in doubt, check it out! We know that the earlier you seek intervention the more effective it is, so it can’t hurt a thing!
I like your comment - “When in doubt, check it out!” I think it’s so important for teachers and parents to know that if something is making them worry, that they should check it out. It could be nothing, or it could be something!
This is going to be helpful to so many parents, thanks!
Thank YOU, Vicky, for your sweet comment 😉
I totally agree with Vicky! This is gonna be so helpful for parents. Is almost inevitable that we as parents compare our kids development with other kids around us. My little one at the age of 19 months had an explosion when he shared stories imitating noises such as “splash and poing”.
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Absolutely! Its so hard not to get caught up in the comparison game. Yay for language explosions!!
just curious - - my granddaughter is 15 months old and since very early on, my daughter and I have used sign language as a communication. She understands everything that we say, and uses the signs perfectly. I think she has a sign vocabulary of about 50 words. Should we cut back on the signs? She may say Mama once in a while, but that’s about it. She communicates solely thru sign language. Are we hindering her?
Hi Cheryl!
This is actually a very common question from parents. I am a huge advocate of signing with babies and did it extensively with my own children as well. Research actually shows us that hearing babies will begin to use speech instead of sign when they are developmentally able to- we are programmed to communicate in the easiest way we know how, and for hearing babies that is through speech! It has also been shown that signing with hearing babies actually increases their ability to communicate effectively when they begin speaking, so don’t limit your sign! She’ll start talking when she’s ready. At 15 months, I wouldn’t worry too much about how many words she has and focus on the other communication behaviors that I have written about in my articles. Thanks for your comment and have a great day!
thanks Stephanie! Your answer was on point for me. We love her to pieces and are thrilled that she’s able to communicate no matter what way! Appreciate your responding. Enjoy your blog!
When we went to see the nurse for my son’s 18months old check up and for the 1st time since he was born I wasn’t worried about anything, until she asked me how many words he had. So I told her 15, but then she told me that it was not enough, as professionals were expecting 18 months olds to have at least 50 words and that if 2 weeks later he didn’t have another 20 he should go to a speech pathologist !!! So meh… I brushed that off as I thought she exagerated a tad too much. By the time he was 2 he had only a few words extra than when he was 18months old, but I didn’t worry as he was communicating when he needed something, and his hearing was fine. By the time he was a few months older I started to worry a bit but the first “explosion” arrived and all the sudden he was making 2 or 3 words sentences and made a massive leap in the number of words he used. Then he improved slowly at a steady pace until he started day care at 3 and a bit and the second explosion came. Now he speaks constantly from the minute he wakes to when he goes to sleep, his speech his great and understandable, he makes long sentences, stories etc… Like any 3 1/2 years old. He doesn’t have any siblings or young cousins so he never had to make much an effort to get attention or when he needed something. My friend’s daughter is a few months younger than my son, she has an older brother and she could make sentences by the time she was 18months old (like telling the nurse she hurt her shoulder when she gave her a needle) but I never compared my son to her and now he has caught up with his friend… So honestly I think that as long as they can hear properly, and they ask one way or another when they need something it’s the main thing. Like the article said every child his different !
Wow! Great post and thanks to Johanna for the great comment. Our B/G twins are 20 months today and I have been a bit concerned that their language development isn’t moving as quickly as other friends’ kids. Our daughter seems to be making great progress, but our son is a bit behind. Both are strongly showing all five signs of language explosion, which is a relief! On the other hand, our pediatrician sounds very similar to your experience. My son definitely doesn’t have 50 words yet, but his is obviously smart, creative, and aware. I’m going to ease off on the worry for now and go with my instinct. I work at home and my husband cares for the kiddos and I believe that we are in the best position to determine whether they are at risk or doing just fine.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- while there are many talented pediatricians out there, they do not have the specialized knowledge to give detailed recommendations regarding speech and language. Although I have to add that I prefer the ones that over-refer to the many, many who under-refer and tell you not to worry, that “they’ll grow out of it.”
I have a 10 yr old that was a late talker. He didn’t really say much until around 3 yrs old. Now he won’t stop from morning to night always asking all kinds of questions with no shyness what so ever. Now I have an almost 18 month old and him too doesn’t say a lot of words but he sure understands simple commands like let’s go outside, go play in your room, give momma and dadda kiss and where is baby sister. If you show him to jhelp you he will do it. Could that be genetic? Oh by the way I never took my oldest one to a speech specialist.
Parents do often report that “late talkers” are common in their families, and we do know that certain speech patterns can run in families. Great question, Araceli!
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My son is 19 months old and doesn’t say much but understands every comment given, pretend plays, and likes to show us things he’s interested in. At 15 months he only said dada and sometimes momma so his dr suggested speech therapy, I declined as I thought he was too young. He had also started to say more (bubba, dog, papaw) around 10 ,months but then it just stopped. Around this same time his ear infections started and haven’t really ceased yet. He has one every couple months. My questions is this, could his ear infections have an impact on his speech? I’ve def thought about seeing an ENT already but haven’t made the appt. his hearing has always tested fine and I know he can hear! If not this, when would you recommend looking into speech therapy?
I’d definitely see an ENT if you are dealing with repeated ear infections. An ENT will be able to tell you if there are any concerns regarding fluid or hearing acuity. Beyond that, any time you have concerns about speech and language is the right time to seek a professional opinion- when in doubt, check it out! Either the therapist will reassure you once and for all that his development is normal, or he/she will recommend services that can help with development. That’s the best I can tell you without actually evaluating your child myself- good luck, Toni!
This is a very timely post for me. In fact, I just blogged about my non-talking daughter this week. She’s 35 months old and says less than 20 words. From what we can see she has no problems and the country we are living in doesn’t have speech pathologists. We’ve been told by many people that it is because she is our 4th child and because she is exposed to people who speak different languages (and different accents of English.) So we have been waiting it out, continuing to love her and talk to her just as if she could talk to us. She has a lot of breakdowns & tantrums because we don’t understand what she wants, but for us the key is to remain calm and help her communicate with us. We’re just hoping that she has a language explosion soon!
I never comment but today I think I should. My 28 month old is brilliant yes I sound like a typical mom lol but he doesn’t speak. He just started saying yup up and kitty. I got him checked and he’s perfectly fine everyone is amazed by how on the ball he is. So why isn’t he talking still? He passes everything but he won’t speak and only I understand when he says kitty.
I totally get that.
My daughter is 2 yrs old (in 6 days) does not say much, speech delayed and in therapy for it since 14 months old.
But recently she started singing, she can sing the whole alphabet on her own without missing a letter. Knows head and shoulders word for word, twinkle twinkle little star and a few others.
But when it comes to talking she has her few set words that she has said for a while and thats it. She wont use the words from song in `talking form at all. Its strange. lol
But I feel a word explosion coming on pretty soon.
my son was the same way. he barely spoke a word until he was 2 1/2. he just started speaking in nearly full sentences. look for the other signs that the article talks about. does he communicate in other ways? does he interact well with others? does he take directions? can he identify different things (body parts, colors, animals, cars, etc) when you ask? some kids don’t talk until later. they watch and learn. if he seems like he’s struggling to connect or learn, i would have him evaluated. if you have taken him and they said he’s ok, just watch him. btw, my son’s is a perfectly normal 12 year old. try not to stress too much, mama.
Hi !!
Thanks for all the info!!!
While reading i thought of children living in bilingual environment. Do they start speaking as early as the others?
Love also all your regio work !!!
My daughter just turned 18 months and she says about 12- 15 words is that normal? It worries me that she doesnt put two word sentences together. She will point or hold your hand to take you to what she wants or where she wants.
How exactly does one get a child to have a language explosion? My nine year old daughter does maybe about two things on this list. When she was a toddler people used to say, “oh, wait and see, she’ll start talking soon and then you won’t be able to shut her up!” No dice. For my kiddo, there wasn’t a language explosion as much as there was a language fizzle. I’ve gone through therapies and technology for her with a fine toothed comb, but your post made me wonder if I have missed anything.
I had the same dilemma regarding my son’s speech development. We noticed that at 2 1/2 yrs old he wasn’t saying as much. We were worried and informed his pedia about he said it wasnt something to be worried about, its normal and just keep on talking to him more he’ll eventually grew out of it. After his 3rd bday, there wasn’ t much progress so we brought it up again with the pedia, he refused to give us a referral to a speech therapist or to a audiologist, but was told the same thing + that if anything its a behavioral problem and told me that my son has ADHD. I was in tears coming out of the clinic. I never got a complaint from my son’s daycare about any behavior problem.
We finally had to find another one pedia that will take us. We found one that listened to our worries…she told us that most kids blooms or grows out of this stage but there some that needs to get some help. She sent us to audiologist to test his hearing and found out that his left ear couldn’t hear as well. We are now on the waiting list to see and be evaluated by speech therapists.
Now at 4 yrs old, we were told that we should have seek help earlier. Because it takes awhile to get on top of that list….which doesnt leave us a lot of time to work on the problem since he’ll be starting kindergarden next year.
Lessoned learn is to trust our maternal instincts, find a doctor that will listen to your worries and seek a second opinion if necessary. Thanks!