Toddler Only Communicating by Crying or Screaming
The short answer
Toddlers who rely heavily on crying and screaming to communicate are usually frustrated because their language skills have not caught up with their desires. They know what they want but do not have the words to express it. This is a very common phase between 12-24 months. Teaching simple sign language, acknowledging their frustration, and modeling short phrases can help bridge the gap. If your toddler has very few or no words by 18 months and relies entirely on crying, a speech evaluation may be helpful.
By Age
What to expect by age
At this age, many toddlers have only a handful of words and rely heavily on pointing, grunting, and crying to communicate. This is within normal range. Teaching 5-10 basic signs (more, all done, milk, help, eat) can dramatically reduce frustration while verbal language catches up. Respond to their attempts to communicate by naming what they want: "You want the ball! Ball!"
By 18 months, toddlers typically have at least 10-20 words and should be starting to use them to request things. If your child still relies primarily on crying or screaming to communicate needs at this age, consider a speech-language evaluation. Some children benefit from early intervention speech therapy, which focuses on functional communication skills.
By age 2, most toddlers use words and short phrases to express needs. Continued heavy reliance on crying and screaming at this age - especially if your child has fewer than 50 words or is not combining words - warrants speech therapy evaluation. Frustration-based tantrums are still normal at this age, but your child should also be using words for basic requests like food, drink, help, and comfort.
What Should You Do?
When to take action
- A 12-15 month old who has a few words but still mostly cries or points to communicate
- Crying from frustration when a toddler cannot find the right word in the moment
- Screaming during tantrums even when the child has good language skills at other times
- Increased frustration and crying during illness, teething, or overtiredness
- Your toddler has fewer than 10 words by 18 months and relies on crying for most communication
- Your child does not point or use gestures to supplement crying
- Frustration from communication difficulties is causing frequent intense tantrums
- Your child seems to understand what you say but cannot express themselves verbally
- Your child has lost words they previously used (language regression)
- Your child does not respond to their name, does not point, and does not use any gestures by 15 months
- Your child has no words at all by 18 months
Sources
Related Resources
Related Speech Concerns
Speech Delay in My Child
Speech delay means a child is developing speech and language skills in the expected order but at a slower pace than typical. It's one of the most common developmental concerns - affecting about 10-15% of toddlers - and early intervention through speech therapy is remarkably effective, with many children catching up fully by school age.
My Child Is a Late Talker
Late talkers are children who have fewer than 50 words or aren't combining words by age 2, but are developing normally in other areas. About half of late talkers catch up on their own by age 3, but the other half go on to have lasting language delays. Early evaluation and speech therapy can make a big difference, so it's worth acting even if you're told to "wait and see."
Baby Not Using Gestures
Gestures - like pointing, waving, reaching, clapping, and shaking their head - are among the most important early communication milestones. Most babies start using gestures between 9 and 12 months. Gestures actually predict later language development better than early words do, so if your baby is gesturing, their language is likely developing well even if words are slow to come.
Toddler Tantrums and Meltdowns
Tantrums are a completely normal and expected part of development, peaking between ages 1.5 and 3. They happen because the emotional centers of your toddler's brain are developing faster than the parts that control reasoning and impulse regulation. On average, toddlers have one tantrum per day, and each typically lasts 2-15 minutes.
Accent vs Speech Disorder in Bilingual Toddlers
When toddlers grow up hearing more than one language, they naturally blend sounds, patterns, and accents from both languages. This is normal and healthy, not a speech disorder. A bilingual child may pronounce some sounds differently than monolingual peers because they are learning the sound systems of two languages simultaneously. True speech disorders affect both languages equally, while accent influence appears only in specific sounds borrowed from one language to another.
My Baby Is Losing Words or Skills
If your child was consistently using words and has truly stopped, this is something to act on promptly. Regression - the genuine loss of skills a child previously had - is different from a normal plateau or a toddler being too busy to talk, and it always warrants a conversation with your pediatrician sooner rather than later.