Baby's First Words and Other Speech Development Milestones

5. Late Talkers

Children between the ages of 18 and 30 months who understand language, but have limited vocabulary for their age, are “late talkers.” They have normal social, thinking, and motor skills, yet speak very little or not at all. Researchers believe that this condition runs in families. There is also evidence that late talkers are primarily male children who were born at 37 weeks gestation or less or weighed 85% of their optimal weight at birth.