{"id":"cfeb1d01db85bd186cc3417e442c26e1","slug":"why-does-my-2-year-old-point-at-objects-but-not-say-the-word-for-them-yet","question":"Why does my 2-year-old point at objects but not say the word for them yet?","answer":"Pointing without naming is completely typical at 2 years old. Your toddler is showing you they understand what things are—that's the harder part—and the words will follow. Language develops unevenly; comprehension almost always comes before speech, and some toddlers are confident pointers and gesturers well before they're confident talkers.\n\nWhat matters most right now is that your toddler's language basics are building. Research shows that at 2, how much you naturally repeat words when you talk together, and your toddler's ability to pick out those words from your speech, both independently support language growth. Keep narrating what you're doing, repeat words naturally in conversation, and trust that pointing-without-naming is doing important groundwork for the words that will come. Your toddler is listening and learning even when they're not yet talking back.","sources":"[{\"pmid\":\"37431312\",\"title\":\"Pre-pragmatic language use in toddlerhood: Developmental antecedents, aetiological factors, and associations to autism.\",\"journal\":\"JCPP advances\",\"year\":\"2023\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37431312/\",\"score\":0.77},{\"pmid\":\"26300377\",\"title\":\"Input and uptake at 7 months predicts toddler vocabulary: the role of child-directed speech and infant processing skills in language development.\",\"journal\":\"Journal of child language\",\"year\":\"2016\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26300377/\",\"score\":0.75}]","thread_json":null,"topic":"cognitive-development","view_count":0,"created_at":"2026-09-12T23:01:44.559Z"}