The most intensive period for development of communication is the first three years of life. Language is both the expression and comprehension of words. It involves a set of rules that allow people to exchange thoughts, ideas, or emotions. Language can be expressed through writing, signing, gestures, speech, or other means of communication. Communication also involves hearing, which develops from the newborn stage to early childhood. Hearing should be checked at birth and into early childhood.
What follows are typical milestones for communication development in young children, as well as warning signs of possible delays. There is a wide range of typical development. However, follow up with a pediatrician if your child shows signs of delays. Many communication delays are spotted at the toddler ages.
Birth to Three Months
Turns head to the direction of a sound
Initially startles at loud noises
Smiles and quiets in response to a familiar voice
Recognizes and prefers mother’s or caregiver’s voice
Coos back and forth with caregiver; begins to babble
Laughs during play
Communicates mostly through crying, using different cries for hunger, discomfort, and pain
Three to Six Months
Responds to own name
Begins to imitate sounds
Produces vowel sounds of “eh,” “ah,” and “uh”
Produces consonant sounds of “g,” “k,” and “h”
Protests when desired objects are removed
Six to Twelve Months
By 9 months:
Imitates specific sounds
Makes sounds while playing with toys or mirror
Locates where sounds are coming from
Responds to simple requests, and to “no”
Vocalizes repetitive consonant–vowel combinations, such as “ba, ba”
By 12 months:
Tries to imitate animal sounds
Says “mama,” “dada,” and one or two other words
Makes exclamations, such as “uh oh”
Babbles with inflections
Understands several words and simple commands
Uses simple gestures, such as shaking the head for “no”
Enjoys hearing own voice
Twelve to Eighteen Months
By 15 months:
Understands and sometimes is able to point and identify objects
Understands one-step commands and may fulfill a request such as, “Go get your shoes.”
Says “bye-bye” at appropriate times
States “yes” and “no”
Uses words or signs to express needs
By 18 months:
Points to three body parts
Points to pictures or animals on request
Attempts to get objects by vocalizing or pointing
Imitates new words
Increases vocabulary to ten or more words
Begins to label one to two pictures with words
Eighteen to Twenty-four Months
By 21 months:
Communicates needs, such as of hunger, thirst, and use of the restroom or a diaper change
Imitates animal sounds
Uses “no” and “my”
By 24 months:
Decreases jargon speech and increases meaningful vocabulary to 50–300 words
Uses two-word combinations
Recognizes names of familiar objects, people, and body parts
Points to objects and pictures when named
Understands the difference between “me” and “you”
Follows simple requests
Two to Three Years
By 30 months:
Follows two- to three-step commands
Understands the difference between big and little
Likes to listen to stories
Begins to use some plurals, for example, “cars”
By 36 months:
Identifies almost all common objects
Understands most adult sentences
Understands the purpose of most objects
Recognizes the names of smaller body parts such as elbow
Understands the difference between the concepts one, more, and all
Understands concepts of over, under, in, and on
Understands the genders boy and girl
Uses two- to four-word phrases
Uses pronouns such as I, me, you, they, and we
Expresses possession such as, “My book.”
Expresses location such as, “I want up.”
Expresses action such as, “Go outside.”
Repeats two numbers in sequence
Uses commands
Increases vocabulary to about a thousand words
Is understood by others seventy to eighty percent of the time
Three to Five Years
Understands more complex concepts, such as front/back, hard/soft, heavy/light, below/above
Knows the primary colors
Uses the question words who, what, and where
Asks many questions
Uses four- to eight-word sentences
Uses verbs such as is, am, and are
Uses plural forms
Uses possessive forms, such as “daddy’s car”
Describes objects by size, shape, and color
Engages in conversation and begins to tell stories
Counts from zero to ten
Sings simple songs
Uses the past tense
Is understood by strangers
Develops of vocabulary of 2,100 words or more