hi girls. for anybody with kids a year and a half to two and a half years....

how old are they and what sort of things can they do. can they say many words? can they wave, clap hands, do they know different body parts?? please give me an idea of whats "normal" for this age bracket.

the reason i ask is my friends two year olds seems very very slow with development and his dad thinks he may be autistic. he doesnt speak, just makes noises, doesnt interact with anybody or listen when his name is called or anything. We are curious to see just how far behind the little boy is X

Millie is two in 10 days. She is a bit slow on the talking but probaly says about 25 'words' although most of them are ones she had made up lol She can do all of the other things you mention and will follow quite complex instructions like 'can you fetch the blue ball from the playroom' she will hold a conversation of sorts with you and will tell you what she did yesterday etc. She does tend to ignore you if she doesn't want to listen but most of the time comes when you shout her and listens if she knows you are talking to her.
Hope that helps
xx

Hi Linzi,

I suppose this is a tough one cos as with babies, toddlers develop so differently.

Joshua is 15 months old and is walking and climbing up the stairs and onto the sofa, opening every drawer cupboard available. He can say mumma, da da, nana, ta, hi ya, yes and no. If you ask him a question he will say yes or no but he doesnt understand what he's answering too, eg, i asked him if he had been painting today at nursery and he said no when he had been lol! He turns to his name, if you ask him to bring you something he usually does unless he wants it for himself! He's at nursery and seems to play with other kids ok, he was pushing another lil joshua around in a car the other day it was so cute! If you ask for a kiss he opens his mouth and tries to snog you. He can feed himself a yoghurt an most of his dinner with a spoon or fork but it takes a while and can be quite messy. He waves goodbye and claps his hands but doesnt know his body parts even though im constantly singing heads shoulders knees and toes!

I would say Joshua is quite slow with speech compared to my some of my other friends' babies but im not worried cos i know he can hear fine and he is only 15 months lol!

Can your friend see the hv for hearing checks or just a general development review...you never stop worrying do you! Im hope everything is fine im sure it will be xxx

Hi, my oh mum is a childminder so I've had lots of contact with toddlers since I've been with my oh. The three she's got now are between 2 1/2 to just turned 4, and when they were 2 - One of them (Girl...haha!) was very advanced at 2 and 1/2, talking as fluently as an adult, almost fully potty trained, and basically doing everything you describe. The other 2 are boys and at 2 they were doing pretty much everything you describe but one of them is 3 1/2 now and still not potty trained. xxxx

hi linzi - I replied on this post in the baby forum too.

Isaac - my 18 month old can wave/clap. he can also spk pretty well - asks what u doing? says hello/bye. can identify family members can make the sound of animals when u ask him.

J - my 2yr 9 month old can sing nursery rhymes word for word and u can have a full blown conversation with him.

It sounds like there could be something in the way of his development although children really do grow and develop at very different ages. My neice (a month older than J)couldnt spk very well till she was about 2 but in the last few months shes really picked up everything and speaks as well as J does.

Maybe he has something wrong with his hearing?!

If they are worried they should take him to see the local HV or Doc and see about getting him reffered.

Hope everything is ok with him.

Elaine xx