Laughing baby?

Question

My 18 month old daughter hardly speaks. She knows very few words and rarely uses them. She has a three year old sister that does the better part of her speaking for her. Sometimes, though, my 18 month old will burst out into uncontrollable laughter for no apparent reason. Is she just a funny child? Imagining funny things?? Or could this mean something else?

She can say:

Mama, dada, Marara (Meredith-her sister's name), eat, sleep, Grandma, stop, no, go, and yes

Answer 1

She's probably not talking much because she doesn't have to. If you let your 3 year old do all the talking, she will. Try asking things specifically to your 18 month old and tell your 3 year old to listen and see what her sister has to say instead of answering for her. As for the laughing, she's probably doing it because she never has to talk for herself and thinks it's funny...nah, just kidding...lol

Answer 2

Well from 12-18 months, kids are supposed to know 3-5 words, point to a body part, will pint to a picture,initates some words.From 18-24 months -at 2, they should know 20 words, is combining 2 words ina phrase.Jargon used at 18 months,should be gone at 24. They should be verbalizing desires with words at 2. It could be normal.

Answer 3

Your 18 month doesn't need to speak if your three year old is interpreting her signals, this is normal!
As for her laughter, take it as a compliment, she is obviously in a happy environment in which she feels comfortable enough to laugh. Perhaps she has caught sight of something on the telly, or she has seen you or your other daughter doing something she finds amusing.

It's nothing to worry about! Relax!

Answer 4

I have a 2yr old daughter who speaks well but has only just started really making herself clear, I also have 11month old twins (boy & girl) & my youngest daughter will laugh out loud for no reason. It's adorable. I can't explain it, sometimes she'll laugh at the tv which is easily explained, the colours & movements are interesting & obviously funny to her but when there's nothing there that I can see I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to what she's laughing at!

Answer 5

That is just her way of communicating. They know what they want and find it very aggrivating that they can't communicate that out. Plus like my daughter she has an older sibling to say things for her, which actually makes it that much worse. Because they can just wine and point things out to big bro or sis and get what they want. My daughter has learned to speak so much better in the four months since my son has gone back to school! Just keep talking to her in a calm voice, in plain english ask her what she wants. And repeat it as you're giving it to her. "Do you want your cup?" "Mommy will pick up your cup in a minute." "Here is your cup." She'll get it Mom!!

Answer 6

LOL! How darling! At least she's laughing. My 14 month old talks ok, says about as many words as your daughter, but she doesn't laugh! Hardly smiles at all. I'm a little worried she isn't a happy baby, but it's not like a frown she has. If I try to tickle her or something she just looks at me like I'm retarded. So I think every baby is different, and your daughter might just be a goofball. Enjoy it!

Answer 7

She doesn't have to talk she has her own personal mouth piece there with her big sis. This is fairly common in this type of situation she will speak more when she needs to. Try to get the 3 year old to help you and get her to talk for herself. But don't worry it will come probably soon and then you won't be able to get her to be quiet. Kids find all things funny so I wouldn't frett they laugh and cry for no reason at all sometimes Enjoy your happy baby.

Answer 8

By this age she should be able to say things like cow, dog, kitty, siblings names. It's such a fun age but also an age when a lot of worries comes up. I would try not to think about it too much and wait till her next doctor appointment and mention it there.
In the mean time, enjoy the quiet, lol. We had two very talkative girls. When I had my third child, a son, we agreed we were NOT going to teach him to talk, lol. God played a great trick on us by making our son more of a talker than our two girls put together.

Answer 9

This is about the right amount of words for the age level she is at. They say children have the ability to see what we cannot- and I truly believe it. When my daughter was 3, she kept telling me she talked to my fiance (who had passed away). It was months after he died that she would get a far away look in her eyes, and if I asked her what she was doing, she'd say she was talking to him or that he was making faces at her. With children, there aren't the biases and pre-conceived notions that adults have about the boundaries between real and fantasy or spiritual. Could be that an angel is talking to your little one- or making funny faces. You never know!

Answer 10

She sounds normal to me. My first two sons were 18 months apart and my second son didn't talk til he was almost two. I knew he could talk but his big brother did all the talking for him. If she has no developmental delays and your pediatrician doesn't seem to be worried then I wouldn't worry.

You could always try making her talk to you. Have her ask for everything she wants in small easy to understand words. (cup, juice, milk, food, cookie, cracker etc.)

My niece was like this. When she was almost three they decided that speech therapy would be good for her. They figured out that she knew what she wanted to say just couldn't get it from her brain to her lips. Speech Therapy helped a lot! I would wait and talk to your pediatrician and see what they think

Best of luck!!