I have (almost) 19 month old fraternal twin boys and they don't say too many words.  I've always heard twins talk later though.  If one says a new word the other will immediately too, so I know they are quite capable of speaking they just don't seem motivated.

There is SUCH a need for a blog like this and a place where questions can be answered. So exciting!

Do girls tend to talk earlier than boys?

At what age should a parent be concerned if a child isn't on track as far as number of words?

What if you, the parent, is concerned but the pediatrician doesn't seem to be concerned.

I know early intervention is better. What types of services are there out there for toddlers? What are some things the parent could do at home in the meantime?

Ok that's all I have off the top of my head. =) Headed over to become a follower. =)

@Lisa....I'm glad your twins are talking...that's a great first step! :) There *is* a theory out there that twins speak later because they often have their own intrinsic communication with each other and therefore don't need to talk to the outside world (e.g., mom and dad!) as much, although I don't think that theory has been proven, per se.  Twins and language is a great topic for a blog post-- I'll research it and post on it in the future! In the meantime, let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer. I'll also be posting lots of tips about ways to increase the language of toddlers. Good luck! Stay in touch.

@Kate, I'm glad your daughter has been working with an SLP, but also glad to hear you are on a therapy vacation-- everyone deserves to just get to be a family sometimes, right?

Another mom suggested a post on pronouns, too, so I've got that post written down....and I'm also planning on touching on articulation as I build the blog. Are there any specific articulation questions you are wondering about?

@Nicole, I love your enthusiasm! Thank you! :) And those are awesome questions, I just wrote them all down. I will definitely be adding lots of tips on how parents can work on language development with their kids, and I'm going to get posts up about each age bracket and what to expect. I'll also add a post about when to talk to your pediatrician....and about what to do if your pediatrician doesn't agree! Thanks. Off to check out your blog as well.

great idea, i have a child with smith magenis syndrome so speech delays are a huge part of life. My tilly is doing brillinatly now but do you have any ideas on clarifying speech now it is here? we are repeating words back correctly and not making her feel she is saying anything wrong, lets face it each word is a magical miracle but are we missing a trick? can i just also add in that for us signing early was a key and also the baby bumblebee resources and dvds were brilliant and all my kiddies adored them, also making talking visual was wonderful for my extra special special daughter. good luck with this, i will watch with interest. jane xxxxx

@Jane, I love your comment that each word is a magical miracle....showing her that (and it's clear you do!) is probably the single best thing you can do for her. Support and encouragement for her word attempts will get you a long way!

One little tip is to hold objects up by your mouth as you label them so that she can see how you say the word.  And you are so right to repeat the words back to her correctly (but naturally).

No magic tricks, though...

A couple more thoughts...

If she's just starting to talk, you could also work with your speech therapist to help figure out what sounds and syllables she's making and what comes next--then try to work on the sounds/syllables that would typically come next (and would, therefore, be the easiest for her). For example, kids usually start out with CV words with easy lip sounds (boo, bee, bye, me, moo) and then move to CVCV words (byebye, boo boo, buboh)...sometimes we can pick up on a pattern, know what to expect next, and then help a child move to the next pattern or sound...

Feel free to e-mail me directly for more help if you need it. My e-mail is on the blog.

Hugs, and good luck.

Becca