When Can We Expect First Words?

As long as he understands when YOU speak to HIM, then you have a lot more time before you need to worry about talking to the pedi. Our kids were early talkers (in the 10 month range when words --or their version of them--started appearing.. actually our daughter was 7-8 months when she started saying something that over time morphed into her brother's name...we just didn't realize at the time that THAT is what she was trying to say: a forceful "U-n!" looking at her brother became "Urn!" became "Ur-in" became "Aaron"). But again... our kids were early talkers. Your son might very well be saying something that counts as a word, you just don't know it yet. ("words" for babies are anything that they use to mean something specific... it doesn't really even have to sound like anything recognizable--as long as it has meaning: Bah! could be "bottle" if he is using it with meaning, for example).

Give it a bit more time. I know lots of kiddos that didn't say any recognizable words until almost 2 years, who are absolutely FINE and NORMAL.

My daughter could babble mum and dada at around 10 months. She said her first word at around 12 months....then didn't say it or anything else for a few months after it. At 18 months she said maybe 5 words. At her second birtherday she still wasn't talking much, and not very clear. She was way under what the ped said was "average" for her age. Shortly after her second birthday she started using whole sentences.
I completely flipped out.
In my experience each ped may have a different opinion on when to start early intervention. I had one that wanted to send her at 18 months because her level of speech was unacceptable. In my gut I didn't agree, cut her as a Dr and started to look for another one. I saw one as a temporary and she didn't recommend one until the child was preparing to enter preschool, and the one after that said 2-21/2.
The thing with us is, even though my daughter didn't talk, we communicated, and for the most part she would understand me. At 16 months, only saying a few words, she could understand "Baby go to your room and get your sock monkey." Here she would run in there and come out laughing and laughing with the sock monkey in hand. The hardest part was her expressing stuff to me because she couldn't speak.
At 10 months I would probably wait to ask the ped about early intrvention. After 1 if it's still bothering you, trust your mommy gut and bring it up. Hope this helps. =)

My son's first real word was our dog's name ("Stu!") I think around 11 months. After that, lots of words came very quickly. Now he is almost 16 months old and has a vocab around 10-15 words (even if we're the only ones who can understand most of them.)

My daughter could kind of say mama and dada at that age. She didn't really associate those sounds with me or my husband though. Around 12 months she would call her polish grandmother (Babcia) "baba". Around 13 months she started to say her version of duck and airplane. At 14 months she started to explode with all kinds of words - most of them don't sound too close to the right pronunciation, but it's getting better :) Unfortunately, the word clock is missing the l sound, and that's one of her favorite words - lol.

At my daughter's 15 month check-up, the doctor asked if she could say just 3 simple words. So I'm sure your little one is doing just fine and has lots of time! I doubt there's any need to even start thinking intervention. It seems to just come out of nowhere very fast.

Not to worry. If you worry anyhow, talk to the doctor. My children were at least a year old before they started saying words. (And they haven't stopped since then.)

Each baby is definitely different. My oldest waited until he was about a year old to speak English, but he could babble a little in German (I was stationed there and my sitter was German). His younger brother started talking at 10 months!

Don't worry too much about it. If you are concerned, your pediatrician can give you a list of milestones, but he's still just a baby! ;o)

10-15 months is the average age when children start replacing gesturing with single words. Most kids have completely replaced gestures with words by 18 months (can't always understand them, but they try). By age 2, most kids are linking two or three words together. Language (for most kids) really explodes after age 2.

If your child isn't using words by age 2, you should have an early intervention eval conducted. It involves a team of language and developmental professionals meeting with you and observing your toddler. They will ask your child to do/say/identify different things. Based on their observations and your reports, they will determine whether or not your child's skills fall within the developmental norm. If they do- they will likely give you some suggestions on how to further his language development. If they don't, they will refer you for language therapy.