I should know this probably?

[Josiegirl]

One of my dcfs asked what I thought about their child's speech? She's 2 1/2 and while she's not really very verbal, she does say some words. They're comparing her to their 1 yo who, they said, has much better speech skills. Both children are adopted. They're planning on getting her assessed.
My answer to them was this 'it wouldn't hurt to have it checked out but kids can vary so widely in their skills, especially at this young age.'

But really, is there some kind of time line, where they should be saying certain number of words, or be able to pronounce them correctly, things like that?
I have a 3 1/2 yo who started talking at 18 months and hasn't shut up since. Then I have 1 dcg who just turned 2 yo and her number of words is starting to pick up now but really, doesn't have a huge vocabulary.

What has been your experience?

[NightOwl]

My very conservative, let-them-go-at-their-own-pace pediatrician told me 50 words and putting 2 to 3 words together to form short sentences by age 2.
My son was a late talker and it was because we anticipated his needs. So why would he have to ask for milk if I'm already standing there with his sippy? So, is mom anticipating his every need? This can actually be detrimental to his speech development. I didn't even realize I was doing it until the pediatrician asked me if I was.

[Chellieleanne]

My older son started really talking after he turned 2( he is 3 now)He knew some words but like a previous poster said, we anticipated everything so he didn't need to talk. Now my second son, he is turning 2 in July. Just the past few weeks he has really started picking up words and wanting to repeat things. He also knows a few words in sign language since he didn't want to talk I tried teaching signs. He picked up more, milk and recently potty(since he potty trained himself almost two months ago). The 2.5 dcb I have, he has a decent vocabulary but still uses a lot of gibberish but since I started watching him last October it has definitely increased by a good amount. A dcg that is the same age as my younger son started talking before he did and repeating everything. I only have her a few times a month though so I can't say how much she has progressed lately.

Your response to the parents was great and I would have said the same. All kids develop at their own pace. As long as they are talking/communicating(signing) then it isn't a huge flag but if they seem really behind and only know a few words or none then it is something worth checking out.

[preschoolteacher]

It's so different from kid to kid. My son will be two in July. When he was 12 months, he was saying 20 words and we lost track of how many by 16 months, but always two word sentences. He speaks in 5-6 word sentences now at 22 months. "I want to eat those beans right now please, mommy" is one I heard today!

I have other kids who just start talking at 21 months, using two word sentences by 24 months. Some progress really rapidly all of a sudden. Others, like my son, progress more slowly and steadily over a longer period.