Normal, delay or other...and would you say anything?

I have a dcb (20 months...turns 2 is Dec) that barely talks. I have heard him say a handful of words and they aren't really clear or the pronunciation isn't very good. For example...the words he does say...bye bye - buh buh...shoes - shoooozzz...dog-daw. I know some words are not going to be perfect at this age and that is totally normal. This kid seriously sounds like an ape or a cave man. He whines and grunts for EVERYTHING and it's very nasally sounding like doing it/saying through his nose . The majority of the kids I've had in care have been WAY more vocal at this age. They can say at least 2 word sentences. The mom says he talks at home but I don't believe her. When he does "talk" (instead of grunt or whine) it is nothing but babble baby talk. There are no real words in there.

For me and my experience, this is not normal at all. I'm just wondering what other's thoughts are on this. Is this normal and he is just a lazy whiny kid who sounds like a grunting caveman or is there something more to this?

Totally normal Fruitloop :)

At 20 months you have a wide range of what is" normal" speech . If he is communicating in other ways eg. Pointing to something he wants and there are no other delays it is not out of the range at all. boys tend to be a little slower in speech than girls, for the most part. If at 2 years old he has not gained any new words or lost the words he already had, then that would be a red flag. 4 months is a long difference from 2 years old. In 4 months he will probably gain many more words.

Are you working at all with him to build his vocabulary? Flash picture cards perhaps? I worked together with a speech therapist when my son was 24 months and learned a lot of tools I practice on my younger daycare children to help build their vocabulary. My son was a slow on talker at that age. Now at 9 years old he is the most expressive, articulate child I have ever met !!

Yup, completely normal. My dcb just turned 3 and is now putting words into small sentences. His speech took awhile to develope (though he understood everything) and now everyday he is saying new things. His mom did get his hearing checked to be just to be sure his speech delay wasn't due to a hearing problem. All my dcb's started talking after my dcg's. The delay rarely has to do with intellect, so just be patient. :)

Sorry, that should read 22 months because he turns 2 in Dec. See, this is so not normal for me. Most, if not all, are talking roughly 2 word sentances by about 18 months. I try talking to him, telling his what words belong with what object, etc and he just looks at me blankly andwalks away and then continues to grunt like a caveman. I have NEVER come accross a child like this.

I would say its normal. I had a boy in care just like yours. Seemed to understand everything I said to him, but his speech was well below that of some of the 16 month olds I had in care at the same time. Every child develops differently. I would, however, keep an eye on him and if I noticed no improvement say by 2.5 I would probably suggest his mom have him looked at just to rule out any delays.
Could also be that his parents don't encourage him to talk since they respond to his grunting and pointing and that is why he is so delayed.

I would say totally normal too. I have 2 - 18 month olds. the girl is starting now to put sounds together to make words, but the boy is no where close. When mine were little the general rule that the parents should be able to understand them by age 2, everyone else should understand them by age 3. Just a guidline from what I remember.

I also have two 16 month old girls born 1 day apart. They are like night/day. One is walking, talking, mimicing me, nods her head up/down and very curious. The other equally intelligent, doesn't walk (scoots around), says mama and then vocal gibberous and not terribly curious. I have learned alot observing these two with their differences.

I answered you question on another forum, but found the link to "Small Talk" for you to check out. http://www.smalltalkinfo.ca/18_24mos.html#24mos

Thanks daycaremum. I'll check it out later.

When the child points to his cup/a car/ball and grunts say " say cup" or what ever it is you want him to say and don't give it to him till he does .... If he just stares blankly repeat it again then walk away if he wants it bad enough he will use his words but if grunting gets him what he wants then what's the incentive. I had a dcb that was over two before he spoke anything other then mom dad uhoh. this child's parents also did all the talking for him ... For instance if we were outside and he pointed to a plane his mom would say oh plane .... Instead of saying "what is that"? Which would have allowed him to think and use his words .... He was just lazy and grunting worked perfectly!