Toddler talking and communication: what to expect and how to help

Toddler talking: what to expect

Toddlers are starting to use recognisable words and simple sentences. For example:

By 18 months, your toddler might know and use 20-100 meaningful words.
By 2 years, your toddlers will start putting 2-3 words together – for example, ‘No ball’ or ‘Me do it’.

At first, your toddler will use early words to name things they can see, like ‘bird’, ‘stick’, ‘moon’ or ‘teddy’. They might also use words to ask you for something – for example, ‘Carry me’, ‘bottle’, ‘banana’ or ‘milk’.

Your toddler will also start to understand some of your words and follow simple requests like ‘Bring me your book’ or ‘Wave bye-bye’.

Your toddler will probably enjoy joining in with others to sing familiar songs and rhymes. They might also like making animal and other noises as they play with their toys.

Helping toddlers learn to talk and communicate

You don’t need to ‘teach’ toddlers to talk. Your toddler learns to talk through everyday interactions, especially with you.

When you’re with your toddler, it’s all about tuning in and noticing what your toddler is interested in. Then you can comment or ask a question and give your toddler time to respond. For example, if your toddler points to a beetle in the garden, you could say, ‘Look at the little green beetle. I wonder what it’s doing’. Then wait and see how your toddler responds.

When you share moments like these, it’s important to give your toddler time to find words for their ideas. This is about waiting to hear what your toddler says, rather than saying the words for them.

When your toddler responds, it’s important to show you’re listening. You can do this by making plenty of eye contact and saying things like, ‘You think the beetle is going for a walk? Yes, there it goes!’ When you do this, you send the message that what your toddler is saying is important to you. You can also send this message by linking later conversations to your child’s experience. For example, you might see a picture of a beetle in the book and say, ‘There’s a little beetle. That’s like the one we saw today’.

Simple and meaningful interactions like these encourage your toddler to talk more and use more words. They help your toddler learn about the pattern of conversations and encourage your child to use words to understand their world.

Back-and-forth interactions with your toddler build your relationship. They help your toddler feel loved, safe and secure, which is good for their wellbeing and development.

Helping toddlers turn wants, needs and emotions into words

Toddlers don’t always have words to express their wants, needs and emotions. They often use body language or other kinds of nonverbal communication, like crying, instead.

For example, your toddler might:

tug on your pants to be picked up
shake or nod their head
reach for something they want
jump up and down if they’re excited
cry if a toy breaks or they hurt themselves.

These are great times to encourage your toddler to use words. You can do this by repeating back what you think your toddler wants or needs. For example, ‘You look hungry. Do you want more apple? Yes or no?’

You can also help your toddler understand how words go together with needs, wants and emotions by talking about them and making connections. For example, ‘Thanks for showing me the paint is knocked over. I can see you’re sad that your picture got messed up’. This links the emotion with the word ‘sad’.

Understanding emotions and being able to talk about them are important steps towards self-regulation.

Tips to get toddlers talking

Here are everyday ideas to get your toddler talking and help them learn more words:

Read together and share stories. Stories that have word patterns, rhymes and colourful pictures often capture toddler interest and attention.
Sing songs or say rhymes. This helps your toddler understand different word sounds – and it’s fun. If you need help remembering the words of songs and rhymes, check out our Baby Karaoke.
When you play with your toddler, use words to describe what’s happening. For example, ‘Push the ball back to Mummy’ and ‘You got the ball!’
Give your toddler choices using words and objects. For example, you could hold up 2 pairs of shoes and say, ‘We’re going outside. Do you want to wear your red boots or your blue shoes?’
When your toddler uses ‘made-up’ verbs like ‘goed’, repeat the sentence back with the correct word. For example, ‘Yes, the man went out the door’.
When your toddler uses simple word combinations like ‘Dog go away’ or ‘Daddy come here’, repeat the words back in full sentences. For example, ‘You want Daddy to make the dog go away?’

Tips to help toddlers understand words

Toddlers understand more and more of what you say to them. But they don’t understand everything. Here are ideas to try when your toddler seems puzzled by something you’ve said:

Get your toddler’s attention, and make sure they’re looking at you.
Say the same thing in different ways. For example, ‘Put the blocks in the box’, or ‘Here’s the box. Put the blocks in it’, or ‘Take the blocks to the box, and put them in’.
Use the same words to describe things. If you repeat the same words, your toddler will start to understand them. For example, you might always use the word ‘pyjamas’ when you talk about what your toddler wears to bed.
When you need to give instructions or requests, make them clear and use only 1-2 steps. For example, ‘Lids on the markers. Then put the markers in the tub’.

If you’re concerned about your toddler’s language development at 1-2 years or your toddler’s language development at 2-3 years or you feel that something isn’t quite right, it’s best to get help early. See your child and family health nurse or GP, or speak with a child health professional like a speech pathologist.