A. By 1 1/2 years children are usually using at least 5 or 6 words in addition to mama and dada, and you may have encountered toddlers your child's age who are saying several dozen words, causing you to worry all the more. Your concern is a very common one, and you can be comforted that many kids who seem slow to pick up language eventually catch up to their peers.
To foster language development in any child who seems to be lagging significantly behind his peers, the first step is to rule out an underlying medical problem or developmental disorder. You don't want a treatable cause, such as a hearing deficit, to go undetected (sometimes subtle hearing problems will only be picked up by formal testing).
Having said that, language development in all children is promoted by a lot of one-on-one interaction. Pointing at objects and naming them-this is a ball -does very little, and gets rather dull for parent and baby alike. Often, kids can go get the ball long before they have any interest in actually saying ball. In other words, they know perfectly well that this is a ball, they just aren't ready to say the word. Instead, concentrate on interactive games, and talk about what you are doing, using the same word in different sentences (go get the ball--I'm rolling the ball to you--good, you caught the ball, that sort of thing).
It is certainly reassuring that your son's language comprehension is good. Still, it is definitely worth discussing the matter with your child's doctor, no matter how bright your son seems. It is unusual at 17 months not to use mama, or some equivalent.
A final word: don't let anyone tell you your child is not speaking because he is lazy or because everyone is talking for him--this is a common myth, completely unfounded, and can be rather insulting.
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