Speech Milestones by Age in Young Children: What Should Your Child Be Saying?

Summary

Speech and language development begins long before a child says their first word. From responding to a parent’s voice and making eye contact to babbling, pointing, understanding instructions, putting words together and eventually telling stories, communication develops gradually during the first five years. Speech milestones by age can help parents understand what is broadly expected, but they should be viewed as a guide rather than a rigid timetable. Children develop at different rates, and bilingual or multilingual children may develop their languages in different ways while still having healthy overall communication skills.

The most important things to watch are not simply the number of words a child can say, but whether they are understanding language, communicating intentionally, learning new skills, interacting with others and making steady progress. If a child is not meeting several expected milestones, stops using skills they previously had, or parents have concerns about hearing or communication, it is sensible to discuss this with a paediatrician or speech-language professional rather than simply waiting.

Speech milestones by age: understanding how your child’s communication develops

“She understands everything but isn’t talking.”

“He says lots of words, but nobody outside the family can understand him.”

“My friend’s child is the same age and already speaks in sentences. Should I be worried?”

These are some of the most common questions parents ask about speech and language development in toddlers and young children.

And there is a good reason parents can find this area confusing. A child’s communication skills do not suddenly appear when they say their first word. In fact, communication begins from birth.

A baby turning towards a familiar voice, a six-month-old experimenting with sounds, a nine-month-old babbling, a one-year-old pointing towards something interesting and a two-year-old saying “more milk” are all demonstrating different stages of communication development.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) provides communication milestones from birth to five years covering hearing, speech and language. These milestones are intended to give families a broad picture of what to expect rather than functioning as a diagnostic test. Children can reach individual milestones at slightly different times.

So, if you have been searching for a speech development chart by age, a toddler speech milestones checklist or wondering how many words your child should say at two years, let’s look at what communication development actually looks like.

First, what is the difference between speech, language and communication?

These three terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same.

Communication is the broadest term. It includes everything your child does to share information, needs, feelings and ideas with another person.

Language refers to understanding and using words, sentences, meanings and concepts. A child may understand considerably more language than they can express.

Speech refers to how a child produces sounds and words.

This distinction is important because a child who is not yet speaking in sentences may still have excellent receptive language — meaning they understand what you say.

Likewise, a child may have a large vocabulary but have difficulty pronouncing certain sounds clearly.

Looking at the complete communication picture gives us much more useful information than simply counting words.

Birth to 3 months: communication starts before words

Long before “mama” or “dada”, babies are communicating.

During the first three months, babies typically begin to:

• respond to sounds
• quiet or smile when spoken to
• look or turn towards voices
• make sounds back and forth with a caregiver
• make different sounds when happy or upset
• begin cooing sounds such as “ooo” and “ahh”.

These early exchanges are important because communication is already becoming a two-way activity.

When your baby makes a sound and you respond, and then your baby makes another sound, you are essentially having the earliest version of a conversation.

ASHA identifies alerting to sound, responding to a caregiver’s voice, cooing and early back-and-forth vocal interaction among the communication milestones for this period.

How parents can help

Talk to your baby during everyday activities. Tell them what you are doing, sing songs, copy their sounds and pause to give them an opportunity to respond.

You don’t need educational flashcards or expensive developmental toys.

Your face and your voice are already excellent communication tools.

4 to 6 months: the experimenting begins

Around four to six months, babies become much more vocal.

You may hear:

• giggles and laughter
• different vowel sounds
• sounds combined with early consonants
• squeals
• playful noises
• “raspberries”.

They also become increasingly responsive to facial expressions and sounds around them.

This is an excellent stage for parents to have little “conversations” with their baby.

If your baby says “aaaa”, respond with “Aaaa! I heard you!”

It may feel slightly ridiculous to an adult, but your baby is learning an important lesson: my sounds have an effect on another person.

7 to 9 months: babbling becomes more sophisticated

This is when many parents suddenly notice that their baby sounds much more conversational.

Babbling may include repeated combinations such as:

• “ba-ba-ba”
• “ma-ma-ma”
• “da-da-da”
• “ba-dee-ba”

Babies may also use sounds, facial expressions and gestures to get your attention.

ASHA describes long strings of babbling sounds as an important communication milestone during the 7–9 month period.

Don’t worry about whether “mama” is actually being used intentionally at this stage. Repeated sounds are an important part of practising speech production.

10 to 12 months: gestures become a big part of communication

Towards the end of the first year, communication becomes much more purposeful.

Your baby may:

• point
• wave goodbye
• show you objects
• give you objects
• imitate sounds
• respond to their name
• understand familiar words
• use sounds or gestures to request something.

Pointing is particularly important because it represents more than simply reaching for something.

A child may point at a dog because they want you to look at the dog too.

That is communication.

ASHA includes pointing, waving, showing and giving objects among the communication milestones for this age range.

Around 1 year: the first meaningful words

Around their first birthday, many children begin using one or more meaningful words.

These may not sound perfect.

“Ba” might mean ball.

“Wa” might mean water.

“Da” might mean dog.

The important factor is consistent meaning, rather than perfect pronunciation.

At one year, children may also understand simple familiar words and routines. For example, they may look towards the door when you say “Let’s go outside” or respond when you call their name.

The CDC’s one-year developmental guidance includes communication milestones such as waving goodbye, using a special name for a parent and understanding “no”.

13 to 18 months: words and understanding expand

The second year often brings a noticeable explosion in communication.

Between 13 and 18 months, children may:

• understand increasingly complex instructions
• identify familiar people and objects
• use more words
• imitate words
• point to body parts
• communicate wants through words and gestures
• follow simple directions.

For example:

• “Give me the ball.”
• “Come here.”
• “Show me your nose.”

ASHA includes following simple directions such as these among communication milestones for 13–18 months.

Don’t make the mistake of judging communication only by expressive vocabulary.

A toddler who understands a great deal but says relatively few words is showing an important communication skill too.

19 to 24 months: from single words to little phrases

This is an exciting stage because language starts becoming much more useful.

Rather than simply saying:

“Milk.”

A child may say:

• “More milk.”
• Instead of:
• “Outside.”
• They may say:
• “Go outside.”

ASHA’s milestones for 19–24 months include using and understanding at least 50 different words across familiar categories such as food, toys, animals and body parts, as well as beginning to put two or more words together. Speech may still be unclear at this stage.

And that last point is important.

Your two-year-old does not need to sound like a small adult.

Some sounds will be difficult. Some words may be shortened. Family members may understand them better than strangers.

Clarity develops gradually.

2 to 3 years: sentences, questions and plenty of opinions

If there is one thing most parents remember about this stage, it is probably the arrival of a rather impressive number of questions.

• “What’s that?”
• “Why?”
• “Where Daddy?”
• “Where are we going?”

Children are increasingly able to combine words into sentences and communicate more complex ideas.

During this period, children may:

• use their own name when asked
• combine several words
• ask questions
• follow two-step instructions
• describe objects
• talk about familiar activities
• use pronouns and simple grammar
• participate in short conversations.

ASHA lists saying their name when asked among the 2–3 year communication milestones.

Their speech should gradually become easier for familiar adults to understand, although pronunciation errors remain completely normal.

3 to 4 years: storytelling starts to emerge

By three to four years, children are moving beyond simply naming things and asking for them.

They are beginning to tell you about their world.

A child might tell you what happened at nursery, explain what happened to a toy or retell part of a favourite story.

ASHA’s 3–4 year communication milestones include telling a story from a book or video, comparing things using words such as “bigger” or “shorter”, and using increasingly sophisticated location words such as “inside”, “on” and “under”.

Grammar is developing rapidly too.

You may hear some wonderfully creative constructions during this period.

And while adults might be tempted to correct every grammatical mistake, conversation is generally a better teacher than constant correction.

If your child says:

“Doggy goed outside.”

You can naturally respond:

“Yes, the dog went outside.”

You have modelled the correct form without turning breakfast into an English examination.

4 to 5 years: conversations become much more sophisticated

By four to five years, children are increasingly able to hold conversations, explain ideas and tell stories.

They may:

• use longer and more complex sentences
• describe events in sequence
• use more sophisticated grammar
• understand and use location and time words
• follow directions and rules for games
• recognise rhyming words
• produce most speech sounds correctly
• make themselves understood in conversation.

ASHA’s milestones for 4–5 years describe longer, more complex sentences, developing storytelling skills, use of grammatical forms and increasingly understandable conversational speech.

This is also the stage when speech and language increasingly support early literacy.

Children start playing with rhymes, sounds, letters, books and stories.

Communication is now becoming a bridge to reading and writing.

Speech milestones are not a race

This may be the most important message in the entire article.

Developmental milestones are not a competition.

You may have one child who starts talking early and another who takes longer to become a confident speaker. Even children raised in the same home can have very different communication styles.

ASHA specifically notes that children develop uniquely and may reach individual milestones earlier or later within an age range. Milestones should therefore be used to understand development and identify possible concerns, rather than as a rigid pass-or-fail checklist.

Instead of asking:

“How many words should my child have?”

also ask:

• Is my child learning new words?
• Do they understand what I say?
• Are they trying to communicate?
• Do they use gestures?
• Do they respond to people?
• Are they making progress?

Progress is often more informative than a single number.

What about bilingual and multilingual children?

This is particularly important for families raising children in multilingual environments.

A child who hears English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil or another language at home does not need to abandon their home language in order to learn English.

ASHA recommends that parents communicate with children in the languages they are most comfortable using. It also recommends reading and talking with children in the languages they are learning.

A multilingual child’s vocabulary should be considered across the languages they use rather than assuming that only English words count.

For example, a child may use one word in Hindi and another in English depending on who they are speaking to or what they are discussing.

Multilingualism itself does not mean that a child has a speech or language delay.

How can parents encourage speech and language development?

You do not need to turn your home into a speech therapy centre.

Everyday interactions are powerful.

Talk through ordinary life

• Narrate what you are doing:
• We are cutting the apple.
• Let’s put your shoes on.
• The bus is coming.

This gives your child a rich vocabulary in context.

Read together

Books are fantastic conversation starters.

Don’t worry about finishing the story every time. Point at pictures, ask questions and allow your child to comment.

Instead of: What colour is the car?

Try: Look at that enormous red car! Where do you think it is going?

Open-ended questions encourage more language.

Follow your child’s interests

If your child is obsessed with trains, you don’t have to redirect them towards flashcards because someone said flashcards improve vocabulary.

• Talk about trains.
• That’s a long train.
• Where is the train going?
• Let’s count the carriages.

Your child’s interests are excellent opportunities for communication.

Give them time to respond

Parents often ask a question and, after approximately half a second of silence, answer it themselves.

Pause.

Give your child time to think and respond.

Communication is a two-way process.

Reduce background screen time

Screens can be useful in appropriate circumstances, but they do not replace the back-and-forth interaction children get from real people.

ASHA recommends making time for talking, reading and playing together and setting appropriate limits around screen time.

When should parents be concerned about speech development?

There is no single magic age at which every child must suddenly be referred for speech therapy.

However, certain signs deserve attention.

Talk to your paediatrician or a speech-language pathologist if:

• your child does not appear to respond to sounds or voices
• you are concerned about their hearing
• your child is not babbling or communicating through gestures as expected
• they are not using words when expected for their developmental stage
• they have difficulty understanding simple language
• their vocabulary is not expanding
• they are not combining words when expected
• their speech is consistently very difficult to understand
• they seem frustrated because they cannot communicate
• they stop using words or communication skills they previously had.

Loss of previously acquired skills is particularly important.

ASHA advises families to seek professional guidance when a child is missing several milestones, is not continuing to acquire new skills, or loses skills they had previously developed.

A hearing assessment can also be an important part of investigating speech and language concerns. A child does not have to appear completely deaf to have hearing difficulties that affect speech and language development.

Speech delay does not mean “wait and see forever”

One of the most common pieces of advice parents hear is:

“Don’t worry. My friend’s child didn’t speak until three.”

While reassuring stories can be comforting, they should not replace assessment when there is a genuine concern.

Early support does not mean that something is seriously wrong with your child.

Sometimes a child simply needs a little help with communication. Sometimes hearing needs to be checked. Sometimes there is a language delay, a speech sound difficulty or another developmental issue that can be identified and supported.

And sometimes an assessment tells you that everything is developing appropriately and gives you reassurance.

There is very little downside to understanding your child’s communication better.

Frequently Asked Questions About Speech Milestones

1. How many words should a two-year-old say?

There is considerable variation between children, so there is no single word count that determines whether a two-year-old is developing normally. ASHA’s 19–24 month milestones include understanding and using at least 50 different words and beginning to combine two or more words. However, the complete communication picture — including understanding, gestures, interaction and progress — is important.

2. When should a child start talking?

Children begin communicating from birth and often start using meaningful words around the end of the first year. Some children begin earlier and others later. Before spoken words appear, look for communication through eye contact, sounds, babbling, gestures, pointing, showing and giving objects.

3. Is it normal for a toddler to understand everything but not speak much?

It can be. Receptive language — what a child understands — and expressive language — what they can say — do not always develop at exactly the same pace. However, if expressive language seems significantly behind, it is worth discussing your concerns with your paediatrician or speech-language professional rather than relying solely on comparisons with other children.

4. Should I speak only English to my child if I want them to speak English well?

No. Parents should communicate in the language or languages in which they are most comfortable. ASHA specifically encourages families to talk, read and interact with children in the languages they use. A rich, responsive conversation is more valuable than forcing parents to speak a language in which they are uncomfortable.

The bottom line: watch the whole child, not just the word count

Speech and language development is a journey rather than a race.

From a newborn turning towards your voice to a five-year-old telling an elaborate story about something that happened at school, every stage builds on the one before it.

If you are wondering about speech milestones by age, remember to look beyond the number of words your child can say. Consider their understanding, gestures, eye contact, social interaction, ability to communicate needs, speech clarity and, most importantly, whether they are continuing to learn and make progress.

And if something doesn’t feel right, you don’t have to wait for it to become a major problem before asking for help.

A conversation with your paediatrician, hearing professional or speech-language pathologist can provide clarity — and when support is needed, starting early can make a meaningful difference.

Most importantly, keep talking.

• Talk while bathing.
• Talk while cooking.
• Talk while travelling.
• Talk while looking at the clouds.
• Talk while waiting for the chapatis to cook.

Your child does not need a perfectly structured language-development lesson. They need responsive adults who listen, respond, wait, talk, read, play and give them plenty of opportunities to communicate.

That is where speech development really begins.

About the author

Sonali Shivlani is an Internationally Certified Pregnancy and Parenting Consultant, Senior Trainer and Director of CAPPA India, and founder of Baby360degrees. With more than 22 years of experience supporting families, Sonali has worked with over 45,000 families and trained hundreds of birth professionals across India. She is the author of Prenatal Fitness 360, Parenting Mantras and SuperMoms Recipes. Her approach combines evidence-based information with practical, realistic guidance that considers the everyday needs of Indian families, helping parents navigate pregnancy, newborn care and the early years with greater confidence.