My almost 16 month old doesn't want to talk?

[female]

My son will be 16 months next sunday and he doesn't really say much. I have heard him say juice, ma for more, dada for daddy, and babbles a lot! He babbles singing, and mama, and others that I cant understand. He understands pretty well, I ask him where certain things are and he knows, he know what it means to brush teeth, hair bed time etc... So I know he knows what I am talkin about but he doesnt tell me what he wants. He points to things, and when he does I say the name of it 3 or four times and wait for him to say it, but when I wait for him to say it he gets frustrated and starts screaming a LOT! He doesnt even try to say it! The other day he pointed to his juice and I say juice here is your juice, and when i handed it to him he said juice! It was pretty perfect the way he said it too! But he said it in a low tone and he doesnt say it often! So what should I do??? I read a lot to him, and I talk to him. He is very social, and happy, I just dont know why he doesnt want o talk!!!!!!

[Jean]

That's normal. At 16 months, they understand more than they can say. If you want to help your baby communicate, try taking a baby sign language class, babies learn to communicate with their hands on average 6 months earlier than they learn to speak and it can ease the frustration they feel at the 2yr mark when their vocabulary is still very limited, but they're old enough to realise that they can't say the words for the things that they need