Communication Milestones for Speech & Language Therapy
Communication milestones refer to the typical developmental stages a child goes through as they learn to communicate. Below is a general timeline of milestones from infancy to early childhood. If you have any questions, please contact us at (407) 904-1600 for more information. Located in West Orange County, RISE Pediatric Therapies (RPT) serves Orlando, FL, and the surrounding areas.
Use these milestones (Communication milestones, 1997-2024) to gauge your child’s progress and development.
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Birth to 3 Months Old
- Alert to sounds
- Quiets or smiles when you talk
- Takes turns producing sounds back and forth with you
- Makes sounds that differ depending on whether they are happy or upset
- Coos and makes sounds like /oo/, /ah/, and /m/
- Turns or looks toward voices or people talking
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4 to 6 Months Old
- Responds to facial expressions
- Looks at objects of interest and follows objects with their eyes
- Vocalizes during play
- Vocalizes simple consonant-vowel sounds i.e., /ahm/, /da/, /ma/
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7 to 9 Months Old
- Looks at you when you call their name
- Stops for a moment when you say, “no.”
- Babbles long strings of sounds i.e., /mama/, /dada/, /baba/
- Raises arms to be picked up
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10 to 12 Months Old
- Reaching for objects by 10 months of age
- Points, waves, shows, or gives objects
- Imitates and initiates gestures for engaging in social interactions and playing games, like playing peek-a-boo
- Attempts to imitate sounds that you make
- Responds to simple words and phrases like “Go bye-bye.” and “Look at Mommy.”
- Says one or two words i.e., mama, dada, hi, and bye
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13 to 18 Months Old
- Looks around when asked “where” questions i.e., “Where’s Mama?”
- Follows simple directions i.e., “Give me the ball,” “Come here,” or “Show me your head.”
- Points to make requests, to comment, or to get information
- Shakes head for “no” and nods head for “yes.”
- Understands and uses words for common objects and people in their lives
- Identifies one or more body parts
- Has 15 words by 18 months of age
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19 to 24 Months Old
- Uses and understands at least 50 different words for food, toys, animals, and body parts.
- Begins using two-word combinations i.e., big ball, red apple, go out.
- Follows two-step directions i.e., “Get your cup and put it on the table.”
- Uses words like me, mine, and you.
- Uses words to ask for help.
- Uses possessives, i.e., “Mama’s cup.”
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2 to 3 Years Old
- Consistently using two-word combinations at 2 years of age and beginning to use three-word combinations closer to 3 years of age
- Can state their name when asked
- Uses some plural words i.e., babies, horses
- Uses –ing verbs i.e., eating, sleeping, running
- Adds –ed to the end of words to talk about past actions i.e., jumped, popped
- Asks why and how questions
- Answers “what/where” questions i.e., “What animal says moo?” “Where do you sleep?”
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3 to 4 Years Old
- Consistently uses three- to four-word combinations and begins forming more grammatically correct sentences
- Has 1000-1500 vocabulary words by the age of 4
- Frequently asks why, what, and who questions
- Can tell short stories or describe recent events
- Can follow two- to three-step directions
- Understands size concepts i.e., big, little
- Listens to longer stories and answers simple questions about the stories
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4 to 5 Years Old
- Produces grammatically correct sentences of 5-6 words or more. Sentences are longer and more complex
- Uses at least one irregular plural form i.e., feet, mice
- Understands and uses location words i.e., behind, in front of, under
- Uses words for time correctly i.e., yesterday, tomorrow
- Combines ideas using conjunctions i.e., like, but, and, so
- Uses adjectives frequently to describe objects, people, and events i.e., the big red truck
- Follows multi-step directions i.e., put the book on the table, then go get your shoes.
- Begins using language for problem-solving and reasoning
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Speech Milestones
Refers to the clarity, accuracy, and ability to produce speech sounds throughout child development:
- By the age of 2, children should be able to produce: /b, m, n, p, h, w, d/.
- By the age of 3, children should be able to produce: all sounds by the age of 2 and /k, g, f, t, n, ng./
- By the age of 4, children should be able to produce: all sounds by the age of 3 and /v, s, ch, l, sh, z/.
- By the age of 5, children should be able to produce: all sounds by the age of 4 and /r, l/ blends, /th/.
Want to Talk About Communication Milestones?
Children often reach milestones at different times than their peers do. If you have concerns about your child’s progress, please contact your health care professionals or RISE Pediatric Therapies at (407) 904-1600 for more information. Conveniently located in West Orange County, we serve Orlando, FL, and the surrounding areas including Oakland, Winter Garden, and Clermont.