My toddler only says parts of words and many of their sounds are incorrect... Is this normal?!

This is a question that I encounter all the time. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of it all, the answer is yes (for the most part). See, articulation, or, the way that words are pronounced is a gradual process that improves over the course of several years. And for good reason: there is SO much growth happening. Your toddler is not only learning the meanings of new words on a regular basis but they are physically becoming more adept at producing them over time. This takes a ton of practice (and patience)!

Generally speaking (and in a logical fashion), toddlers begin experimenting with sounds that are the easiest to produce. Sounds like "b", "m" "n" and "d" are among these sounds and this is because they involve more simple movements in the front of the oral cavity (e.g. placing the lips together, or placing the tongue behind their front teeth). What's more, these sounds are also easy to visualize in others i.e. a child can see what Mom and Dad are doing with their lips! (Consider how difficult it is to discern what somebody is doing with their tongue when they're making the 'r' sound). Not only are toddlers starting to use earlier sounds, they are pairing these with early vowel sounds like "ah" and "uh" within simpler syllable shapes. Your toddler progresses from playful babbles (e.g. "babababa") to producing "ba" with intent (I.e. they've figured out that "ba" can be used to refer to something) to using these sounds in more complicated strings of sounds and word lengths (e.g. "ba-kit" for basket).

Let's look at an example. My daughter's favourite stuffy is an octopus. So naturally, this was among some of her first words. Did it sound exactly like "octopus" when she started producing it consistently? Of course not! In fact, over the last several months, the word "octopus" has gone through several transformations as her sound inventory and oral-motor control have improved. Here's how it has evolved over time: "buh" --> "bus" --> "bee-bus" --> "o-puh-pus". Notice how it started out as a very simple part-word and it has developed into a multi-syllabic word with different consonants and vowel sounds. It is still not pronounced perfectly, but she is gradually becoming more skilled at getting her message across (and this is awesome!).

In fact, toddlers have their own unique developmental trajectories when it comes to their consonant inventories, vowel sounds and syllable shapes. These become more complex over time with lots of practice. As such, the way that they produce specific words within their vocabularies, is usually unique to them. That said, there are general guidelines for the ways that sounds typically develop over time and I've created a helpful graphic to demonstrate the ages of sound mastery (this helps us to determine if articulation is progressing normally or not). Consider this a guide rather than a rigid set of rules. Each vehicle represents an age at which 90% of children have mastered that sound (based on data gathered from American children). Notice how it is a gradual process that wraps up at around age six. For guidelines based on data gathered from children around the world, please reference the image with a globe next to it:

Age of mastery of consonant sounds in American children

Age of mastery of consonant sounds in children across the world

Another consideration is how syllable shapes develop over time. It's no wonder why first words are usually one syllable in length. Have you ever met a toddler whose first word was "hippopotamus"? Perhaps... but more commonly, toddlers start by producing simple syllable shapes like a consonant followed by a vowel (e.g. "Ba!" or "Go"). Simple syllables can be easily replicated in succession like in "mama" or "nana". With time and practice, these syllable shapes start to get more complex and young children will start to use multisyllabic words with ease.

So jumping back to the original question: is it normal for toddlers to produce parts of words and words containing sound substitutions? Most of the time - Yes! So when might somebody become concerned? If your toddler demonstrates limited to no babbling, has few consonant and vowel sounds in their inventory and seems to have limited syllable shapes, this may warrant an evaluation with a Speech-Language Pathologist.

To sum things up: you should notice more sounds, syllable shapes and precision with time. In the meantime, model corrected speech without requiring them to repeat after you. Emphasize the sound or syllable that is still under development. It looks like this:

Child: "On my Peet! (feet)"

Parent: "you want it on your ffff-eet?"

Child: "Yea!"

Child: "want tar. (guitar)"

Parent: "You want the GUI-tar? Ok!"

With ongoing exposure and practice, your toddler will become more skilled in their articulation skills.

-- Meg