speaking

My pediatrician recommended seeing a speech therapist at 18 months if speaking less than 10 words. But he said that certain sounds (if they clearly have a meaning, like wa wa for water, and animal sounds) also count as words at this age.
But like you said, every child is different, so I wouldn’t be concerned. You’re doing a great job!

You can check with your pediatrician to see what they recommend! I would look at the language milestones as a whole and see if you think your child is progressing overall. How is their receptive language?

Sometimes I think kids who have an older sibling meet milestones earlier - because the older sibling is the model for things, but then sometimes it’s later because they “let” the older one do things for them. My cousin didn’t talk for a long time when he was really little - he let his 4 older siblings talk for him.

Don’t forget to include animal sounds or signs in their word count, along with approximations.