Why does my 22 month old talk tons and tons of gibberish but very little comprehensible words? Anyone else?
She’s very talkative we just have no idea what she’s saying.
Posted Apr 26, 2022, 2:25 AM UTC
725
It’s a stage. They kind of learn different vowel and consonant sounds via babble before they can piece it all together
9
It’s a stage called “Jargon.” @raisinglittlertalkers on Instagram explains it
2
The tricky thing about learning to speak is that she can't see how your mouth makes sounds. Your teeth, tongue, and lips are moving quickly, and she can only see the outside of your mouth!
She's gotta practice making sounds, and use trial and error to figure out how to make and combine vowels and consonants.
She's clearly figured out that mouth-noise is interesting and meaningful, but she's still working out how to join in.
6
If you listen very carefully to the tone you can often pickup on what they are actually saying. Though they have a lot of random words instead of the actual words. My kid is obsessed with being swaddled like a baby right now and when we did it last night she yelled out in gibberish “I’m a big baby” the syllables were there and the tone was there, the words were a little off and mashed together
5
My 16 month old actually knows way more words than I thought someone her age would. Her favorite thing to say? "Yyyyaaaa! Yyyyaaa!" She mostly speaks gibberish. Thanks to her, I'm almost fluent.
3
They know WHAT they want to say, they just don’t understand the actual mechanics to do it yet. It’s also wild how their language development can highlight who the primary parent is….. my husband will respond to my toddler like, oh yeah dude, you want to go outside! And I’m like, no, he wants to go upside down! (Awful example, but it’s the closest I can think of on the spot!).
1
My daughter is big on pointing. Only problem is she usually points to a general area and it's always a guessing game as to what she wants. But I'm with her all day every day so I usually know based on time of day and a million other things exactly what it is she's pointing to and wants.
1
Yes! My almost 3 year old has been doing this for a while. She has a speech delay but now has tons of words, but when she talks to herself it's mostly gibberish.
Except it's not really... just in the last month or so we've been able to pick up more and more of what she says/sings to herself. Like oh she's singing twinkle twinkle little stare or ABCs or bah bah black sleep (you get the idea).
Sounds like your little one is practicing and using their voice which is fantastic 😀.
2
This sounds normal to me! Take my opinion FWIW, my kid will be 3 in august, and we’re just starting to get into a groove of understanding everything he says. Before he was two, he never shut up, but it made no sense. Now he never shuts up, but I understand it, and it’s mostly whining for me, food, or the binkie we’re trying to wean 😅 I know it’s the bullshit you don’t want to hear, but be careful what you wish for 😂
2
Bahahah this is what my husband said
2
My 20 month old says a few phrases and knows a lot of words but right now he’s obsessed with this gibberish “leedle leedle”😂 it’s pretty cute and I have a feeling since our littles are obviously very interested in communicating, words are coming soon…and will probably be nonstop!
1
Yep my kiddo does this too! She is almost 2. We’re starting speech therapy. I love that she’s so communicative even if we have no idea what she’s saying most of the time.
1
My 22 month old is the same way- super verbal but only a few, consistent real words (this, yes, no, and a bunch of exclamations like wow/yay/uhoh). He does however use a ton of signs regularly and correctly, so communication isn't normally too difficult (more, all done, hungry, milk, water, a modified version of help, please, and thank you. Plus he waves goodbye for "night night time"). We've even started working on signed "sentences" like combining "more" and "milk", rather than throwing his cup at us and signing more lol.
His receptive language (what he understands) is massive, but we're still waiting for his expressive language to explode. It keeps feeling like it will be any day now!
1
Same here. She uses a lot of gestures. And seems to understand far more of what we say.
1
Have you brought this up to the pediatrician? The guideline for 24 months is at least 50 words and starting to put together 2 word phrases. Early intervention can be super helpful, especially when started early!
1
Yes, it was brought up at her 18 month check. She didn’t feel anything is really wrong, since I was also significantly speech delayed as a child, but sent off a referral to SLP and we’re just waiting to get in. She agreed that she won’t be surprised if my daughter just spontaneously starts talking on her own terms before we ever get in to see SLP.
2
they changed the milestones recently. 50 words is the minimum for 30 months now, not 24.
0
AAP says 50-100 words by 2 years. AAP Link Regardless, the doctor said their child is speech delayed and they are waiting for their first SLP appointment. Just better to get started earlier then continue to delay, but they are on the right path!
0
the link you provided has information from 2019. the cdc and aap released new guidelines in february of 2022.
the new guidelines can be found here and state that a child should have about 50 words at 30 months.
0
The guidelines have been updated as to not have as many specifics so that the providers can make evaluations with their best judgements. In this case, their provider evaluated that their child indeed would benefit from an SLP and they have been referred.
0
They’re all different. No one could understand my oldest til he was like 3. He was like Donnie from the wild thornberries.
My middle child is now two and he’s been speaking in 5 word sentences since he was about 18 months.
My youngest is one now and hasn’t made a peep
1
My 2 1/2 year old is like this
1
Our 20 month old is like this. I don’t think we’re too worried yet, she’s obviously communicating with us…. Just not in our English.
That’s our thing. I don’t see any signs of autism or anything concerning, and other than the lack of actual words she’s right on track for development. She’s also technically diagnosed as speech delayed but our doctor didn’t suggest much to do yet other than keep talking to her and wait for SLP to see if they have any ideas to help her.