10-Minute Speech Practice That Doesn't Require Sitting Still

Last updated 2026-07-09

What speech skills does a 28 month old typically have?

Most 28-month-olds are in a vocabulary explosion that moves faster than you can track. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association puts the typical expressive vocabulary for a 2-year-old at around 200 to 300 words, climbing steadily through the third year ^[1]. By 28 months, most kids are well past the 200-word mark and combining words into real little sentences.

Two-word combinations are the baseline. "More milk." "Daddy go." "Big dog." By this age many children are pushing into three-word strings: "I want that," "no more peas," "where Mama go?" That shift from two words to three is one of the biggest jumps in the 24-to-30-month window ^[2].

Familiar adults (parents, siblings, daycare teachers) understand a 28-month-old about 50 to 75% of the time. Strangers catch less, maybe half of what the child says. Clarity at this age swings hard from kid to kid, so mispronunciations alone are not a red flag.

Words are only part of it. Watch for communicative intent. Does your child point to share something interesting, not only to demand things? Do they respond to their name most of the time? Can they follow a two-step direction like "Get your shoes and bring them here"? These pragmatic skills carry as much weight as word count ^[1].

How many words should a 28 month old say?

Somewhere between 200 and 450 words, with enormous normal variation. Pediatric speech research uses 50 words at 24 months as the floor below which a child is flagged as a late talker ^[3]. By 28 months, a child who sat at exactly 50 words on their second birthday should be climbing well past it.

The more useful question is not "how many words" but whether the child combines them. A child with 300 single words and zero two-word combinations shows a different pattern than a child with 150 words and solid phrase use. ASHA's language milestones treat word combinations as a key marker in the 24-to-30-month range ^[1].

Nobody has perfectly clean normative data for 28 months on its own, because most large studies anchor their checkpoints at 24 and 30 months. The best estimates come from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs), which put median vocabulary around 300 words at 28 months and the 10th percentile around 100 to 150 words ^[4]. A child below that 10th percentile threshold is worth discussing with a speech-language pathologist (SLP).

Some late talkers catch up on their own. Research puts the rate at roughly 50 to 70% reaching age-level language by kindergarten without therapy, which leaves 30 to 50% who don't ^[3]. You cannot tell in advance which group your child lands in. That uncertainty is the whole argument for early evaluation over extended watchful waiting.

What are the speech milestones from 24 to 31 months?

The table below maps what most children do across this window, drawn from CDC and ASHA milestone data ^[2][5].

A caution on the 29 and 31 month numbers: the CDC and ASHA anchor their formal checkpoints at 24 months and then 36 months, so the month-by-month figures above are interpolations from research literature, not a single authoritative table. The trajectory matters more than any exact number at any exact month.

The biggest qualitative shift between 24 and 31 months is the move from labeling the world ("dog," "cup," "more") to commenting on it ("doggie running," "my cup empty"). That descriptive, relational language signals grammar starting to come online ^[2].

A 29-month-old or 31-month-old still using single words with no combinations is not a pattern to wait out past the next well-child visit.

What are the red flags for speech delay at 28 months?

Some patterns at this age are signals to act now, not monitor.

Contact your pediatrician or request an early intervention evaluation if your 28-month-old:

• Uses fewer than 50 words (that's the 24-month floor, and at 28 months it's a real concern)
• Is not combining any two words on their own
• Has lost words or skills they previously had. Regression is always a reason to call a doctor promptly ^[5]
• Is very hard for you to understand, roughly less than 25% of their speech clear to a parent
• Does not point to share interest, respond to their name consistently, or take back-and-forth turns with you
• Repeats phrases or lines from TV without flexible use (see echolalia for what this pattern means)

The AAP's 2022 autism screening guidance recommends that every child be screened for autism at 18 and 24 months with a validated tool like the M-CHAT-R/F, and it flags speech and communication concerns as key triggers for referral ^[6]. A speech delay at 28 months paired with limited social engagement, unusual play, or sensory sensitivities calls for an evaluation broader than a standard speech-language screen.

Here's what parents often miss: you do not need a diagnosis to get help. In the U.S., any child under 36 months can be referred for an early intervention evaluation under IDEA Part C, and that evaluation is free under federal law ^[7]. No diagnosis first. In most states, no doctor's referral either. You can call your state's early intervention program directly today.

What causes speech delays in 28 month olds?

Speech delay is a description, not a diagnosis. It shows up for many reasons, and the cause shapes the right response.

Hearing loss is the first thing to rule out. Even mild or intermittent hearing loss from chronic ear infections slows language development. The CDC estimates that 1 to 3 per 1,000 children have permanent hearing loss at birth, and many more have temporary conductive hearing loss from fluid in the ears ^[5]. An audiological evaluation belongs early in any speech delay workup.

Autism spectrum disorder often shows up with language differences in the second and third year. Not all autistic children have speech delays, and not all speech delays point to autism, but the overlap is large enough that communication evaluations and autism-specific screening often run side by side. If this is on your mind, autism spectrum speech therapy covers what targeted support looks like.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder where the brain struggles to coordinate the movements speech requires. Kids with CAS often make inconsistent errors and can be very hard to understand. It's uncommon but worth catching early, because it responds to a specific, repetition-heavy therapy rather than general language support. See childhood apraxia of speech for a full breakdown.

Family history counts. Language delays run in families. Boys are evaluated for speech delays roughly 3 to 4 times more often than girls, though researchers still argue over how much of that reflects true prevalence versus referral bias ^[3].

Bilingual development gets misread all the time. Bilingual children may have smaller vocabularies in each language on its own, but their total vocabulary across both languages usually lands within normal range. Bilingualism does not cause speech delay ^[1].

How is a speech delay at 28 months evaluated?

An SLP evaluation at this age looks at several things at once. Receptive language (what the child understands) gets less attention from parents than expressive language (what they say), but a receptive delay can matter more.

A full evaluation usually includes three parts. A detailed parent interview covers developmental history, family history of speech or language issues, and what the child communicates in daily life. Standardized tests built for this age range measure vocabulary and receptive language (tools like the Preschool Language Scales or the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test) plus a speech sound inventory. An observation period lets the SLP watch the child play and communicate naturally.

An audiological test is usually requested at the same time, if it hasn't already been done.

Evaluations under early intervention (for children under 36 months) run through your state's Part C program and are free under IDEA ^[7]. After age 3, evaluations move to your school district's special education office, also at no cost to families. Private SLP evaluations exist too and are sometimes faster, though costs vary widely. Many insurance plans cover diagnostic evaluations when there's a documented developmental concern.

For more on finding and working with a therapist, speech therapy speech therapist walks through the process from intake to goals.

What does early intervention actually involve for a 2 year old with a speech delay?

Early intervention for a late-talking 2-year-old is not a child drilling flashcards at a table. The research-backed approach for this age is play-based, heavy on parent coaching, and built into daily routines ^[8].

The most common models fall into two camps.

Parent-implemented naturalistic intervention comes first, where an SLP coaches you to fold language-building strategies into meals, bathtime, and play. This is the most evidence-supported approach for children under 3, and it works by multiplying the number of practice moments a child gets. Do the math: an SLP session runs 30 to 60 minutes once or twice a week. Your child's waking hours run around 70 a week. Parent coaching turns all of those hours into therapy.

Directed play sessions come second, where the SLP works with the child during structured and unstructured play, targeting specific goals like expanding word combinations or shaping speech sounds.

For children with real motor speech issues, apraxia of speech treatment is more structured and repetition-focused, because the aim is training motor sequences rather than building language exposure.

Benefits under IDEA Part C are delivered in the "natural environment" for children under 3, which often means your home ^[7]. After 3, services shift to a preschool or clinic under Part B.

The research points one direction: starting earlier produces better outcomes. A 2017 review in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research reported that early intervention "was associated with significantly better language outcomes at school age compared with watchful waiting" for children identified as late talkers ^[8].

To understand the referral process and what comes next, early intervention is a good next read.

What can parents do at home to support speech development at 28 months?

You are the most important person in your child's language environment. That's not a platitude. A child getting 30 minutes of therapy a week in a language-rich home will outpace a child getting the same therapy in a language-sparse one.

Here are the strategies with actual research behind them.

Expand and recast. When your child says "dog running," you say "Yes, the dog is running fast!" You model the next grammatical step without correcting them. Recasting is one of the most consistently replicated home strategies in the language development literature ^[9].

Follow their lead. Talk about what they're looking at and interested in, not what you want them to look at. Joint attention, where you're both focused on the same thing, is the context where words stick.

Drop the questions, add comments. "What's that?" quizzes a child. "Oh wow, a big red truck" invites a response without pressure. For late talkers especially, constant questioning feels demanding and cuts down their attempts to communicate.

Read together every day. Even at 28 months, shared book reading builds vocabulary in ways other activities don't. You don't have to read every word. Pointing, naming, and talking about the pictures works just as well ^[9].

Cut background TV. The AAP recommends no more than one hour a day of high-quality programming for children 2 to 5, because background media pulls down both the amount and the quality of parent-child talk ^[6].

If you want a structured way to track your child's language and get daily activities matched to them, Little Words (littlewords.ai/start) uses a short quiz to pinpoint where your child is and suggest specific strategies. It's built for parents who want to be active in language support rather than sitting on their hands until the next appointment.

For children who are very hard to understand or not yet using words at all, AAC devices may be worth a look. The evidence flatly contradicts the old worry that a communication device kills a child's motivation to talk.

Is my 28 month old a late talker or could something else be going on?

"Late talker" is a clinical term with a narrow meaning: a child aged 18 to 30 months with expressive vocabulary below the 10th percentile and no other obvious developmental concern (hearing intact, motor development fine, social engagement typical, receptive language roughly on track) ^[3]. Check all those boxes and the child is a late talker in the strict sense.

When other things travel with the speech delay, late talker is probably the wrong frame. A few patterns to notice.

If your child's understanding seems limited (not following instructions, not linking words to objects), that points toward a language disorder rather than a pure expressive delay. Receptive delays are more likely to stick around than expressive-only ones ^[1].

If speech sounds inconsistent day to day, if words appear and vanish, or if the child seems to physically struggle to produce sounds they clearly know, that fits a motor speech disorder like CAS better than a typical late talker.

If social communication is the main gap, meaning your child has words but doesn't use them to connect, share interest, or respond to others, autism-related language differences are worth exploring.

A good SLP evaluation sorts through all of this. The categories aren't always clean, and kids can show overlapping presentations. What matters is that the evaluation captures the whole picture instead of stopping at word count.

What should I expect at the 2-year well-child visit regarding speech?

The AAP recommends developmental surveillance at every well-child visit and formal developmental screening at 9, 18, and 30 months ^[6]. At the 24-month visit, your pediatrician should ask about vocabulary and word combinations. At 30 months, the same questions return with higher expectations.

If your child is 28 months and your last visit was at 24, you don't have to wait for the 30-month appointment to raise a concern. Call the office. Describe what you're seeing. Ask for a referral to speech-language pathology or your state's early intervention program.

Pediatricians differ a lot in how quickly they refer for speech concerns. Some are appropriately proactive. Others default to "wait and see" in ways that keep kids out of services they'd benefit from. If your gut says something's off, push. Asking for an evaluation has essentially zero downside and potentially large upside. The evaluation itself tells you whether therapy is needed.

The screeners your pediatrician likely uses include the M-CHAT-R/F (autism), the ASQ-3 (Ages and Stages Questionnaire), and sometimes the PEDS (Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status). These are validated screening tools, not diagnoses. A positive screen means further evaluation is needed, not that something is definitely wrong ^[6].

Does bilingualism affect speech milestones at 28 months?

This question comes up constantly, and the research answer is clear: bilingualism does not cause speech delay ^[1]. Bilingual children often carry smaller vocabularies in each language on its own, but count their total vocabulary across both languages and they usually land within normal developmental range.

What bilingualism does do is make assessment harder. Most standardized vocabulary tests are normed on monolingual English speakers, so a bilingual child can score low on an English-only test even when overall language development is typical ^[10]. A good SLP assesses a bilingual child in both languages, or at least accounts for bilingual norms when reading the results.

Code-switching (mixing languages inside a single sentence) is developmentally normal and not a sign of confusion.

If a bilingual child's total vocabulary across both languages is still low, or they're not combining words in either language, that's a genuine concern that deserves evaluation regardless of the bilingual context.

Frequently asked questions

How many words should a 28 month old say?

Most 28-month-olds use somewhere between 200 and 450 words, but the count matters less than whether the child combines words into phrases. The 10th percentile on the MacArthur-Bates CDI at this age is roughly 100 to 150 words. Fewer than 50 words at 28 months is a clear signal to pursue a speech-language evaluation and not wait for the next well-child visit.

Should a 28 month old be speaking in sentences?

Two- and three-word combinations are expected by 28 months. Full grammatical sentences come later, usually 3 to 4 years. What you want at this age is phrases like "want juice," "Daddy shoes," or "more please," put together with clear intent. A child still using only single words at 28 months should be evaluated by an SLP.

What are the 29 month old speech milestones I should watch for?

By 29 months, three-word phrases should appear regularly, vocabulary usually sits in the 250 to 450-word range, and strangers understand the child about 65 to 75% of the time. The child should use language to comment on things happening around them, not only to request. Back-and-forth exchanges of two to three turns are also typical at this age.

My 28 month old isn't talking much. Is this autism?

A speech delay at 28 months has many possible causes, and autism is one worth screening for. The AAP recommends autism screening at 18 and 24 months for all children. If your 28-month-old has limited speech plus reduced eye contact, little pointing to share interest, restricted play, or unusual sensory responses, bring those observations to your pediatrician together. A diagnosis takes a full evaluation, not a speech screen alone.

What's the difference between a speech delay and a language delay at this age?

Speech delay means difficulty producing speech sounds clearly. Language delay means limited vocabulary, poor phrase use, or weak understanding, whatever the clarity. A child with a speech delay may have plenty of words but be hard to understand. A child with a language delay has fewer words or phrases than expected. Many children have both, and the distinction matters because treatment differs.

Can a 28 month old qualify for early intervention services?

Yes. Under IDEA Part C, children from birth through 35 months can get early intervention evaluations and services. The evaluation is free under federal law regardless of income or insurance. In most states, you can self-refer by contacting your state's early intervention office directly. You do not need a doctor's referral or a diagnosis. If the evaluation finds a delay, services are also provided at no cost.

What speech sounds should a 28 month old be able to make?

At 28 months, most children produce p, b, m, n, w, h, and d consistently. Errors on sounds like r, l, s, sh, ch, and blends ("tr," "pl") are completely normal here and aren't expected to fully develop until age 4 to 8. Intelligibility matters more than individual sounds. If a parent can't understand at least half of what their child says, that's worth raising with an SLP.

Should I be worried if my 28 month old repeats phrases from TV?

Repeating phrases or scripts from TV or books (echolalia) is common around this age and can be a normal part of language development. It gets more significant if it's the main way the child communicates, if they aren't using language flexibly to express their own needs, or if it comes alongside other social communication differences. Read more about this pattern at the echolalia article on this site.

Are boys really behind girls in speech development at 28 months?

Boys are referred for speech evaluations about three to four times more often than girls, and population data does show boys averaging slightly lower vocabulary scores in the second and third year. The gap is real but modest, and it doesn't mean parents should set a lower bar for boys. A boy with fewer than 50 words at 28 months needs evaluation just as much as a girl would.

What is the 31 month old speech milestone I should be watching for?

By 31 months, most children have vocabularies in the 350 to 550-word range and produce three- and four-word sentences regularly. Strangers understand them about 75 to 80% of the time. Early grammar markers like plurals ("dogs"), possessives ("Daddy's car"), and present progressive ("jumping") start appearing. A child at 31 months with fewer than 100 words or no word combinations needs evaluation urgently.

Can I do speech therapy at home with my 28 month old?

Parent-implemented strategies at home are among the most evidence-backed tools in early speech development. Recasting what your child says, following their lead, reading together daily, and cutting background TV all have solid research support. These work best when an SLP teaches them and tailors them to your child's pattern. Home practice is a supplement to therapy, not a full replacement when a real delay is present.

My pediatrician said to wait and see on my 28 month old's speech. Is that okay?

Watchful waiting is reasonable for a child close to age expectations and trending upward. It's not appropriate for a child who is significantly behind, has lost words, or shows communication patterns outside typical development. You can ask for an early intervention referral or contact your state's program directly at any time. The evaluation costs nothing, and waiting carries a documented cost in outcomes.

Does screen time cause speech delays?

Screen time doesn't directly cause speech delays in a simple causal way, but high amounts of background TV or solo screen use track with reduced parent-child talk, which is the mechanism that matters. The AAP recommends no more than one hour of high-quality co-viewed programming per day for children ages 2 to 5. Interactive video calls with family are treated differently from passive viewing in the research.

What tests does a speech pathologist use to evaluate a 28 month old?

Common tools include the Preschool Language Scales (PLS-5), the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-4), and the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test (REEL-4). The SLP also takes a language sample during play and interviews the parent about daily communication. An audiological evaluation is usually coordinated at the same time to rule out hearing issues as a contributing factor.

Sources

1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Speech and Language Developmental Milestones: Typical expressive vocabulary for a 2-year-old is around 200-300 words; word combinations are a key milestone in the 24-30 month range; bilingualism does not cause speech delay
2. CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. Developmental Milestones: Two- to three-word phrase combinations are typical by 24-30 months; regression in speech skills is always a reason to contact a doctor
3. Rescorla, L.A. (2011). Late Talkers: Do Good Predictors of Outcome Exist? Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 17(2), 141-150: 50 words at 24 months is the clinical floor for late talker designation; roughly 50-70% of late talkers catch up by kindergarten; boys are evaluated 3-4 times more often than girls
4. MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs), Norming Data: Median vocabulary at 28 months is approximately 300 words; 10th percentile is around 100-150 words
5. CDC, Hearing Loss in Children: Data and Statistics: 1-3 per 1,000 children have permanent hearing loss at birth; hearing loss is a primary cause to rule out in speech delay workups
6. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (Periodicity Schedule): AAP recommends developmental surveillance at every well-child visit and formal screening at 9, 18, and 30 months; AAP 2022 autism screening guidance recommends M-CHAT-R/F at 18 and 24 months; no more than 1 hour of high-quality screen time per day for ages 2-5
7. U.S. Department of Education, IDEA Part C: Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities: Children from birth through 35 months qualify for free evaluations and services under IDEA Part C; services are provided in the natural environment; no referral or diagnosis required in most states
8. Rvachew, S. & Brosseau-Lapre, F. (2017). Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research: Early Intervention for Late Talkers: Early intervention was associated with significantly better language outcomes at school age compared with watchful waiting for children identified as late talkers
9. Pepper, J. & Weitzman, E. (2004). It Takes Two to Talk. The Hanen Centre.: Recasting and following the child's lead are among the most consistently replicated home strategies in language development literature; shared book reading builds vocabulary
10. ASHA, Bilingual Service Delivery: Bilingual children's total vocabulary across both languages is typically within normal range; most standardized tests are normed on monolingual English speakers
11. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), M-CHAT-R/F Autism Screener: Speech and communication concerns are key triggers for autism evaluation referral; positive M-CHAT-R/F screen indicates need for further evaluation, not a diagnosis