Hi! I’m a speech-language pathologist (AKA SLP, or speech therapist) who works with toddlers... and currently pregnant with my first. The communication milestones we typically look for are first words by 1 year, 20ish words by 18 months, and 50ish words by 2 years. At 2 years, we also look for toddlers to start combining two words together.

Kids are all individuals, and they do develop at different rates. Generally, though, they should be meeting the milestones around the timeframes I shared above.

I almost always recommend consulting with your GP and/or a speech-language pathologist if you’re concerned. The SLP can do a thorough assessment. If everything looks great, great! Your concerns will be eased and you’ll still get some information on how to keep supporting development. If it looks like there’s a delay, then early intervention is the best intervention. Some children catch up without any intervention — but the problem with “wait and see” is that we just don’t know which kids will catch up and which kids won’t. Personally, I’d rather pursue early intervention/therapy and get ahead of any possible delay.

If you’re located in the US, all states should have an early intervention program where you can receive therapy for children ages birth-3. I’m not sure what other countries look like, but I imagine there are early intervention programs elsewhere too!

Hope this was helpful. Best of luck!