How Many Words Should My Toddler Actually Be Saying??

Want to know a 🔑 indicator of language development in toddlers??⁣

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Their 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭! ⁣

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As a Speech Therapist who has helped hundreds of toddlers start communicating, I often first ask parents how many words their toddler is using. ⁣

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💡This is because a toddler’s 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 (aka words they’re saying) develops early on and at a rapid pace! It’s also a pretty definitive indicator of whether a toddler’s language is developing on track. ⁣

AGE	MILESTONE	"AVERAGE"	ABOVE
12 months	1 word	5+ words	14+ words
18 months	10 words	50+ words	180+ words
24 months	50 words	300+ words	440+ words
36 months	250 words	1000+ words	N/A

But, most of the info out there about how many words a toddler “should” have is pretty ambiguous 🤪 So let me clear it up for you! ⬇️⁣

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💛“Milestone” refers to the skill that 𝟗𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 achieve by a certain age.⁣

💛The “average” is what 𝟓𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 achieve by a certain age⁣

💛The “above the expected range” is what about 𝟐𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 achieve by that age.⁣⁣

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If a toddler is using anywhere 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 “𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞” 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, that is considered on track for that age. ⁣💯⁣

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Remember, “words used” refers to a child’s 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 vocabulary. Sign language, animal noises and word approximations all count as words! As long as they’re being used 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 (not repeating someone), 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 and 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲!