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Nichole L. Cannon, MA, CCC-SLP/L

Toys

Communication Milestones

Birth-3 months

Notices sounds.
Makes back and forth sounds with you.
Pauses and smiles when you talk.
Coos and makes sounds like ahhh, mmm and ooo.
Recognizes familiar people and objects.
Looks towards sounds.
Displays various cries for specific needs.

10-12 months

Points, waves and shows objects.
Starts to imitate gestures and plays peek-a-boo type games.
Tries to imitate sounds you make and facial expressions.
Likes to dance.
Says a couple words like mama and dada or hi.

4-6 months

Responds to facial expressions.
Laughs and giggles.
Follows objects with their eyes.
Vocalizes with different vowel sounds and consonant vowel combinations.
Responds to toys that make sounds.
Makes gurgling sounds or blows raspberries.

13-18 months

Looks around for things when you ask where something is.
Follows simple directions like, "Give me cup" or sit down."
nods and shakes for yes and no.
Babbles and uses some real words with speech like intonation patterns.
Understand and uses simple nouns, action words and names.

7-9 months

Recognizes the names of others.
Looks when their name is called.
Babbles long strings of sounds, like baba, mama, tata.
Reacts to the word "no".
Raises arms to be picked up.
Pays attention when spoke to.

19-24 months

Uses and understands at least 50 words with some clear speech.
Puts 2-words together like, more mama.
Follows simple 2-step directions like "Go get water and sit down."
Uses basic pronouns like my, mine and you.
Can use words to request help.

2-3 years

Tries to get your attention with words like, look mom!
Combines different types of words often.
Will state their name.
Starts to use plurals like dogs.
Ask why and how.
Answers simple what, who and where questions.
Can produce the following consonants: /p,b,m,h,d,w,n/ in words.
Accurately produces most vowels.
Speech is clearer but can be hard for unfamiliar people to understand.
Give simple reasons for things like they need a bath when they get dirty.

3-4 years

Can tell a story from a book or video.
Uses and understands more location words like inside, on, off or under.
Adds articles and the when speaking like a puppy or the car.
Pretends to read.
Can say sounds at the beginning, middle and end of words.
Can produce the following sounds in words /t,k,g,f,y and ing/.
Says all the syllables in a word.
By age 4 people should be able to understand most things your child says.
By 4, your child may still struggle to produce these sounds (l,j,r,sh,ch,s,z,v and th).
By age 4, your child should say all the sounds in a consonant cluster but may not produce the sounds correctly like, tweet for treat.
By age 4, speech should be smooth sounding.

4-5 years

Sentences are long and more advanced and grammar is correct.
Uses words like and to connect ideas.
Starts to use irregular plurals like mice vs mouses.
Uses time words like tomorrow and yesterday.
Can find the front and back of a book.
Conversational speech is understood by others and your child is saying most consonants correctly.
Blends words together like rainbow and is able to understand words that rhyme.
Can recognize 10 or more letters.
Can follow the rules for simple games.

These milestones are not a diagnostic tool, and every child develops uniquely. It is important to consult with your child's doctor and a speech-language pathologist if you feel your child is not meeting milestones.

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