How old should my son be when he starts: walking, saying words, and potty-training?

Question

My fiance's daughter is 2 and only points and can only say mommy and daddy. My mom says should be saying more than that and I thought girls grew up faster than boys in that area, but my nephews could talk in full sentences by 2.

Answer 1

Every child develops differently. At the age of 2 she should be saying short sentences like i want a drink. and i want a bite and begin walking around 9-15 months and potty training can start as early as 18 months. boys take longer to potty train than girls. hope this helps

Answer 2

Expected ages of milestones such as talking and walking should begin at around the same age, approximately one year old. Delays could be a number of things. It is important for your fiance to take her to a pediatrician or an audiologist to have his hearing tested. Slight hearing loss or numerous ear infections (excess fluid in the ears, or others) are linked to language delays. Other possible causes, could be an Auditory Processing disorder. This is something that is treatable and can be overcome with speech therapy. I would explain all of it to its fullest on here, but here is a website reference.

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ears/central_auditory.html

Depending on what state you live in, there are programs for kids that can provide great services (such as hearing testing and even speech therapy) up to the age of 3. In KY this program is called First Steps. I know in Ohio, the services come out of New Hope centers. After she is 3 she will qualify for federally funded programs that can provide speech therapy and anything else she would need up to the age of 18. I am surprised that the pediatrician has not already made a referral to an audiologist or speech pathologist for some standardized testing to help diagnose or explain her delay. Early intervention with this is what is key with language development. It's not too late and certainly don't think that this is some kind of a terrible thing. Children are all different. It is just important to rule out anything that can be treated or corrected early. At 18 months, children should have approximately 50 words that they can produce that are intelligible. The MLU (Mean Length of Utterance) should be equivalent to the childs age. If she is 2 years and 3 months, the MLU should be 2.3 or there abouts. MLU is calculated with a language sample of 50 utterances and then the average is found to see the approximate number of words she produces in one "sentence". It's great that she is able to say mommy and daddy! Certainly ask your physician for a hearing test and an OAE. That is a test that essentially tells the "depth" of the ear and the pressure in case it is difficult for the doctor to diagnose an ear infection. It will tell the doctor if there is fluid in the middle ear, making it hard for a child to hear good modeling behavior from the speech around her. It would sound like hearing someone talk underwater. Makes it pretty hard to know exactly how to produce sounds and words. Here is another website to check out:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20041101/1713.html

Now that I have probably sufficiently frightened you, I will say that as a clinician, if I had a 2 year old on my case load the way you describe her I would be sure to run these tests and get her hearing checked. Like I said, all kids are different. So don't be too scared!

Potty training varies a lot. In order for your child to be able to eliminate when s/he wants to (voluntary vs. involuntary), her/his sphincter muscles have to be developed / mature enough to delay excretion for a brief period of time. All my research including the American Academy of pediatrics say that children's elimination muscles reach full maturity somewhere between 12-24 months, and the average age of maturity is 18 months.

I use to teach preschool and we had a little girl that was 3 and didn't have any words. The pediatrician told her mom that it was because she had a pacifier when she was little. Later she was diagnosed with apraxia of speech. With therapy and lots of molding behaviors she said her first sentence in a matter of 6 months! It's an incredible thing to watch! Here's a site about apraxia.

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=787891&ct=464119

I hope this was a help. Check with your pediatrician and get a referral. Good luck! I am sure she'll be talking in no time and then you'll wonder why you even wanted her to start talking in the first place!!

Answer 3

I don't think there is a set time for these things. However, at the age of 2 they should be potty trained, walking, and saying more than two words. My daughter is 10 mos. and she is trying to walk all ready, and is saying about 10 words. And I had my oldest girl potty trained at a year and a half. I have heard that it usually takes boys a little longer to potty train, but everything else is pretty much the same. I hope your finance starts either making her daughter get up and get stuff for herself, or starts making her ask for things, just so that she doesn't have problems latter on.

Answer 4

Every kid is different. Don't worry about when they do things as long as they do in a resonable amount of time. But walking somewhere around 1 year(give or take) talking one word as early as 9 months and not full sentences intil they are 2 or sometimes 3 especially boys. When they point and grunt try to get them to say the word for what they want. Tell them the word over and over they'll get it!! Potty training GOOD LUCK my son is 5 and still poops his pant sometimes!!!

Answer 5

Generally speaking, girls are go 'verbal' quicker than boys However after they start talking they don't stop...so things equal out.

As long as she is 'clearly' saying mommy & daddy, its okay.
My first daughter didn't talk much, she pointed and wanted you to get her meaning...she was controlling us.

My first son didn't speak clearly and was a frustrated talker.

We took him to the doctor and found he had severely clogged ears and we had some tubes put in.

That combined with some sessions with the Speech Therapist and he was back on track.

I said that to say...if her ears are clear she is hearing fine and if her persoanlity is agreeable she is well adjusted.

Maybe she doesn't have much to say right now.

Time evens things out in the long run. The daughter graduated from college in 05 and the son is in his third year of college....not so important now when they started talking.

Answer 6

You need to remember that EVERY child is individual and develops at a different rate. Children should walking before 18months, talking up till about 3 years and potty training before they are 3 3and a half. Try and not compare, I know it is difficult but all children ARE different and some will do somethings quicker or slower than others. By the time they all start school they have MOSTLY caught up with each other. Just enjoy your fiances daughter while she is young.

Answer 7

It is normal if by two she only says mommy and daddy. By age 3, you shuold be concerned. There is no scientific proof that girls grow up faster than boys. Dont want to scare you but look online for signs of autism and see if any of the signs sound familiar. The earlier you detect it, the sooner it can be treated.

Answer 8

I'd say full sentences by 1 1/2 is about the beginning age. My first thought is no one is expecting her to talk. Call it a bad habit for parents, but sometimes we stick with what works. That said, she should be encouraged to use words.
Having an expert evaluate her is always an option to check on developmental delay, but first I'd work with him to expect her to speak. This can be done in an easy, encouraging way. ex. She wants to be picked up/held so she holds her hands in the air to someone and grunts. "Oh! You want to get up? Say: UP" then pick her up, repeat. Then work up to her saying part of the word and on and on. Good luck. Not being her mom yet, it's hard to take this on yourself.

Answer 9

stop comparing children gods sake! children learn at all different time, they are all different! as long as the 2 year old understands everything being said to her then whats the problem give her time.

potty training any time between 2 and 3 usually but could take longer. walking can be any age up to 16 or 17 months sometimes.

give her a break. all the pressure is probably making the poor child go nuts!

Answer 10

kids usually start walking one year- 1 and a half i started at ten months verbalizing like going goo and aaa should start around 1 and 2
by 2 and a half the kid should be making little sentences like hungry mommy, i have to go potty, ect.

and by three they should be fluent