Todllers and words

DS is almost 17 months. I know by 18 months they say toddlers should have about at least a dozen words and even possibly be able to link two words together. My question is how clear does it have to be before you consider it "a word" and also...if he says it three times one day and then never says it again...does it make the list?

so far DS says :
Ball
Mama
Dada
no
down
want that
whats that
uh oh
oh wow! <~his FAVORITE term
Dog

he also named his paci boppa...I know it's not a word but he identifies his paci as this and asks for it by that name.

his "want that" and "what's that" often sound similar and are not clear.it comes out as "wanthat" or "whaddat" he used to say dog pretty clearly but now it sounds more like gog. he said grandma 3 or more times when we went to visit my mom...we all heard it (5 of us adults) but then when we tried to get him to say it again since thanksgiving he won't say it. If I discount the ones that aren't as clear or the ones he won't repeat ever again...his count drops significantly...should I worry?

Todllers and words

Based on what I've been told, I wouldn't worry. DD is 17 months also and says a lot. Not everything is crystal clear, but I still count it as a word since she repeats it, is communicating, and I'm able to understand. I also count her made-up words...like bippy is binky. She just can't say binky correctly yet, so it comes out as bippy. That's a word in my eyes. Truck sounds like truh, but she's very consistent with it. She also used to say some things that she doesn't anymore. She used to call my Dad's dog by his name - Sparky. Then she stopped saying it. I was told as new skills emerged, like walking, some of the other skills would regress and then come back. Now she uses a word for the dog, but not his name. I think your DS is doing just fine.

Re: Todllers and words

I'm no expert, but it sounds normal to me. My DS is 18 months and his list of words is about the same as your DS. But if you only count the words that are completely clear then he drops down to like one, no

My ped has told me that, for boys especially, they don't start to get concerned about speech until 24 months. So I wouldn't worry yet.

Re: Todllers and words

I was told by a speech language pathologist that at such a young age it counts as a word if it's repetitive. So it doesn't hav to be perfectly clear, just the same sound for an object.