Speech & Language Milestones

Birth - 3 months

• Quiets to a familiar voice

• Moves in response to voice

• Discriminates between angry and friendly voices

• Has a hunger cry

• Vocalizes to show pleasure

3 - 6 months

• Begins to recognize own name

• Responds to “no”

• Smiles in response to speech

• Takes turns vocalizing

6-9 months

• Responds to “no” most of the time

• Moves toward or looks for family members when named

• Responds to “Come here” (only if your child is mobile)

• Vocalizes in response to objects that move

• Shouts or vocalizes to gain attention

9-12 months

• Responds to some verbal requests such as giving objects and gesturing when asked “Want up?”

• Identifies two body parts on self

• Participates in speech routine games like “So big”

• Says “Mama” or “Dada”

• Says 1-2 words spontaneously

12-15 months

• Follows one-step commands during play

• Responds to “Give me”

• Identifies three body parts on self or doll

• Understands some prepositions such as up and down

• Shakes head yes or no

• Says 8-10 words spontaneously

• Tries to sing along with familiar songs

• Imitates new words

• Imitates three animal sounds

15-18 months

• Identifies six body parts or clothing items on a doll

• Chooses two familiar objects when asked (i.e. gets items as you name them, such as bottle, ball, shoes)

• Identifies objects by categories (i.e. able to put blocks with other blocks, balls with other balls)

• Says 15 meaningful words

• Asks for “more”

• Asks “What’s that”

• Names 5-7 objects when asked

18-21 months

• Identifies four body parts and clothing items on self

• If mobile, follows directions to “Sit down” and “Come here”

• Understands the meaning of action words

• Identifies pictures named

• Imitates two-and-three word phrases

• Requests toys or food with vocalizations and gestures

• Names some pictures

21-24 months

• Puts away toys on request

• Follows two-step related commands (i.e. “Get the diaper and bring it to me” or “Pick up the cup and take a drink”)

• Says two-word phrases frequently

• Uses 50 different words

• Says three-word phrases occasionally

• Says own name to refer to self

24-27 months

• Points to four action words in pictures

• Understands size concepts (big and small)

• Understands the concept one (i.e. “Give me one block” or “Get one cup”)

• Imitates two numbers or unrelated words

• Uses three-word phrases frequently

• Uses action words (i.e. sit, eat, cry, sleep, kick, throw, roll)

27-30 months

• Responds to simple questions

• Understands two prepositions/location phrases , such as on, in, by, under

• Names one color

• Refers to self by pronouns consistently (I, me, my)

• Uses two sentence types (declarative sentences like “Dog eat” or “Give me cookie”and asks questions like “Mommy go”

• Uses past tense regular and irregular forms

• Uses negation (no, not, don’t)

30-33 months

• Names one color

• Refers to self by pronouns consistently (I, me, my)

• Uses two sentence types (declarative sentences like “Dog eat” or “Give me cookie”and asks questions like “Mommy go”

• Uses past tense regular and irregular forms

• Uses negation (no, not, don’t)

• Answers questions with “yes” and “no”

• Uses plurals

• Uses prepositions

• States gender

• Says first and last names

33-36 months

• Follows three-step unrelated commands (i.e. “Get your ball, give baby a drink, and push the car”)

• Answers wh-questions

• Identifies parts of objects

• Uses verb form -ing

• Asks wh-questions including what, who, and where

• Talks in sentences 3-5 words in length

• Counts to 3

• Recites some nursery rhymes