How Many Words Should My Kid Be Saying?
How many words, exactly? What’s the magic number? Variations of this question come up in nearly every screening and phone call with a concerned caregiver. There are a few answers to this question with some concrete numbers but also a fair amount of wiggle room. Read on to learn the summarized answer!
Communication vs Speech
Children communicate in a variety of ways basically from birth. They smile to let us know they like something or that they just passed gas 💨. They cry to let us know that they are hungry, tired, or need a diaper change. Even without words, babies are pretty effective at communicating what they like or don’t like.
Caregivers often want to rush straight to words and sounds but these nonverbal skills are important communicative milestones that need to be in place for speech production to build on. Nonverbal gestures and vocalizations as communication are very important and should be encouraged.
Communication is the active process of exchanging information and ideas. Communication involves both understanding and expression. Forms of expression may include personalized movements, gestures, objects, vocalizations, verbalizations, signs, pictures, symbols, printed words, and output from augmentative and alternative (AAC) devices. — Beukelman, D. & Mirenda, P. (2013)
So expressive communication, in whatever form children choose, is important, functional, and serves a vital purpose. And while saying words is an important developmental milestone, a child that speaks a lot of words doesn’t automatically mean they are advanced at communication.
Okay, soapbox moment is over and time to get to the main question that this post covers — How many words should a child have at a given age?
Milestone vs Average
There are two ways to look at language acquisition numbers — milestone versus average.
- The milestone is when about 90% of children at a given age have acquired a skill. Informally people will use the word ‘most’ as in “Most children have xyz number of words.”
- The average is when about 50% of the children at a given age have acquired a skill.
Depending on which lens you use, these numbers will look very different. Pediatricians often use the milestone, when most children are doing a particular skill, and speech pathologists will consider development as a range but often use the average when determining a child’s abilities.
How big of a difference could this be though? 🤔 Here are some numbers to help you understand:
At 18 months the milestone, about 90% of children, for expressive vocabulary is 10 words but the average, 50% of children, is 50 words. The split at this age is only 40 words, but this expands as the child grows.
At 2 years the milestone for expressive vocabulary is 50 words and the average is 200–300 words. This is a difference of 150–250 words. And it only expands from there.
I made this chart for reference:
Development Is Range
Children develop skills within a range and children will have strengths and weaknesses. It is not expected that when a child wakes up on their third birthday that have a vocabulary of exactly 1,000 words. Every child is different — keep this in mind when looking at any developmental statistic.
Take my own kiddos as an example, and keep in mind that we are a bilingual household. My daughter gained words quickly, and was above average with expressive vocabulary when taking into account all the words she knew in both languages. With motor milestones she was on the lower end of the average range and was very content to sit and play. My son gained motor milestones at lightning speed (think parkour toddler) and words more slowly. He wasn’t as interested in conversation and was constantly moving.
It is important to keep in mind that these numbers are helpful only to just get a picture of how a child compares to other children. Don’t lose sleep if your child only has 48 words at 18 months or 350 words at 30 months. The most important thing is that they are communicating their wants and needs effectively.
This one number alone will not determine whether or not a child has a delay or a disorder. Counting words in a child’s expressive vocabulary is one tool that a speech pathologist uses to determine if support is needed. If your child is in the average range, meeting their milestones, and continually making gains they are likely where they should be with regards to expressive vocabulary.
Should I Be Concerned? What If I’m Not Sure…
After reading this and making your calculations you may be asking yourself “Should I be concerned?” Many well-meaning Facebook commenters (and maybe even some pediatricians) try to be encouraging saying “They are a smart kid and you should just wait and see what happens” or “Einstein didn’t talk until he was four”
::😬 CRINGE 😬:::
While this may be true, it is not the case for all children.
The “Wait and See” approach as it called is outdated when it comes to language development. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is the concept of waiting to see if a child catches up on their own before assessing or providing intervention. Basically, keep doing what you’re doing, ignore your concerns, and hope it goes away. This is my approach folding laundry and it has yet to yield a positive result. (Can you tell how I really feel?)
The “Wait and See” approach was popular in the 80s and 90s along with Dunkaroos and the fat substitute Olestra. The idea behind the approach was not to expose the child to unnecessary assessment or to pressure the child and the family. And this makes sense when looking through the lense of the idiom “A watched pot never boils.” The approach has been found to yield some positive results with regards to motor milestones such as walking and standing. But it does not translate to language development and speech production.
When looking at speech production and language development the ‘Wait and See’ approach did not yield positive results in many cases. What this approach actually found in retroactive studies is that the children that didn’t catch up on their own lost valuable time PLUS the waiting often caused stress on caregivers. There was impact in social skills and overall independence as the child was not able to communicate effectively.
Advances in the science of brain development, language development and disorders, and epigenetics support early identification and intervention, not a wait-and-see approach for late talkers. — Nina Capone Singleton, PhD, CCC-SLP
Take Away Message
Talk to your pediatrician if you ever have any questions or concerns. If you child is not talking as much as you think they should or in the way you think they should, or if you are concerned for whatever reason, the pediatrician should be able to provide guidance and recommendations. Additionally, there is a great resource to learn more about expected norms. Click on this link to learn more:
TLC Speech Therapy is a speech pathology private practice, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in feeding, swallowing, and communication skills in infants, children, teens, and adults.
For more information check out our website at tlcspeechtherapy.com or contact us at hello@tlcspeechtherapy.com
Want to take a deeper dive?
Learn more and check out these resources:
