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Welcome to another episode from Speech Pathology The Animated Series.

Parents have a lot of questions about their child’s speech, understanding and use of language when their child is 2.

How many words should my child have when they are 2?
Should they be putting words together?
I’m not always confident that my baby understands what I’m saying

In this video, we’ll discuss what you should generally expect of your child’s understanding and use of language when they have had their second birthday and they are approaching 3 years.

Children who are 2 will continue to build upon their milestones. At 2 years they will respond to more questions (where’s mummy?), and will follow simple instructions (give me the cup and the spoon). They can identify up to 4 body parts. They will also begin understand locations (e.g., in & on).

We begin to see word combining in a child’s second year (you may hear your child requesting: more drink! Make teddy go!). A 2-year-old typically uses between 50-200 words and their speech is clear enough to be understood 50% of the time by unfamiliar people.

If you have any concerns or would like information specific to your child, we recommend that you touch base with your speech pathologist.