What are speech and language milestones?
- Milestones are a set of age-specific tasks that most children can do at a particular age.
- Speech and language milestones involve a child’s communication skills including expressive language, receptive language, and articulation/speech skills.
How do I know if my child has delayed speech and language milestones?
This list is a guide. If your child is not meeting these milestones at the appropriate age, please follow up as quickly as possible with your physician.
The earlier therapy is started, the more beneficial it can be to prevent further delays.
0-3 Months
- Startles to loud sounds
- Quiets or smiles when spoken to
- Seems to recognize your voice and quiet if crying
- Increase or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound
- Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing)
- Cries differently for different needs
- Smiles when sees you
4-6 Months
- Moves eyes in the direction of sounds
- Responds to changes in tone of your voice
- Notice toys that make noise
- Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds including p, b, and m.
- Chuckles and laughs
- Vocalizes excitement and displeasure
- Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and when playing with you
7 Months to 1 Year
- Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
- Turns and looks in direction of sounds
- Listens when spoken to
- Recognizes words for common items like “cup”, “shoe”, “book”, or “juice”
- Begins to respond to requests (e.g. “Come here” or “Want more?”)
- Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds such as “tata upup bibibibi”
- Uses speech or noncrying sounds to get and keep attention
- Uses gestures to communicate (waving, holding arms to be picked up)
- Imitates different speech sounds
- Has one or two words (hi, dog, dada, mama) around first birthday, although sounds may not be clear
1 - 2 Years
- Points to a few body parts when asked
- Follows simple commands and understands simple questions (“Roll the ball”, Where’s your shoe?”)
- Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
- Points to pictures in a book when named
- Says more words every month
- Uses some one or two word questions (“Go bye-bye?”, “What’s that?”)
- Puts 2 words together (“more cookie”, “no juice”, “mommy book”)
- Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words
2 – 3 Years
- Understands differences in meaning (“go vs. stop”, “in vs. on”, “big vs. little”, “up vs. down”)
- Follows two requests (“get the book and put it on the table”)
- Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time
- Has a word for almost everything
- Uses two or three words to talk about and ask for things
- Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds
- Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
- Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them
3 – 4 Years
- Hears when you call from another room
- Answers simple who, what, where, and why questions
- Talks about activities at school or friends’ homes
- People outside family usually understand child’s speech
- Uses a lot of sentences that have four or more words
- Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words
4 – 5 Years
- Pays attention to short stories and answers simple questions about them
- Understands most of what is said at home and in school
- Uses sentences that give lots of details (“The biggest apple is mine.”)
- Tells stories that stick to a topic
- Communicates easily with other children and adults
- Says most sounds correctly except a few like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th
- Says rhyming words
- Names some letters and numbers
- Uses the same grammar as the rest of the family
