how to encourage 16 month old to talk ?

[dpmother]

Our 16 month old does not speak as many words as she should be?.
tho understands pretty well?

Any pointers on how we can encourage her to speak more ?

 

[erina320]

Talk to her more. Ask her to say simple words and repeat them often. Give her big praise when she does speak.

If you're concerned have her hearing checked.

 

[Newbie_hk]

Here are some quick tips

http://www.nowchic.com/Parenting/Ne...welve-Ways-to-Encourage-Toddlers-to-Talk.html

While I kept my conversation simple when I was talking to my toddler, I never do "baby talk" to her (would you like a 'banana' instead of saying 'nana'') I think it's important to model words correctly for your toddler.

 

[nicolejoy]

I think one big tip is to wait for, and expect a response. My 19 month old has the verbal skills of an 8 month old and it has been really hard for us. Her speech issues are mainly due to hearing loss and cleft palate. We are currently waiting for surgery, and nothing can be done to help those issues until after surgery.

I ask her lots of questions and make eye contact, and her understanding is quite good. Even though she cannot say more than a couple of words ("Mama", "Noooo" and "Huwo" (hello) are about it), she is getting better and better about responding. At the moment, she mainly signs or nods/shakes her head - but that's all we can expect from her for now. It has taken a lot of effort on our part to learn what works but we're getting better... and even though she is not "speaking", she is communicating more and more all the time because we are learning to "listen" to her...