Condition

Pediatric Age-Appropriate Speech and Language Milestones

What You Need to Know

The ability to hear is essential for proper speech and language development. Hearing problems may be suspected in children who are not responding to sounds or who are not developing their language skills appropriately. The following are some age-related guidelines that may help to decide if your child is experiencing hearing problems.

It is important to remember that not every child is the same. Children reach milestones at different ages. Talk your child's healthcare provider if you are suspicious that your child is not developing speech and language skills correctly. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and other experts list the following age-appropriate speech and language milestones for babies and young children.

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What are the milestones related to speech and language for children?

Birth to 5 months

6 to 11 months

12 to 17 months

18 to 23 months

Correctly pronounces most vowels and n, m, p, h, especially in the beginning of syllables and short words; also begins to use other speech sounds
Vocabulary of 50 words, pronunciation is often unclear
Asks for common foods by name
Makes animal sounds, such as "moo"
Starting to combine words, such as "more milk"
Begins to use pronouns, such as "mine"
Uses two-word phrases

2 to 3 years

Knows some spatial concepts, such as "in, on"
Knows pronouns, such as "you, me, her"
Knows descriptive words, such as "big, happy"
Vocabulary of 250 to 900 words
Uses three word sentences
Speech is becoming more accurate but may still leave off ending sounds - strangers may not be able to understand much of what is said
Answers simple questions
Begins to use more pronouns, such as "you, I"
Uses question inflection to ask for something, such as "my ball?"
Begins to use plurals such as shoes or socks and regular past tense verbs, such as "jumped"

3 to 4 years

Groups objects, such as foods, clothes, etc.
Identifies colors
Uses most speech sounds but may distort some of the more difficult sounds, such as "l, r, s, sh, ch, y, v, z, th." These sounds may not be fully mastered until age 7 or 8
Uses consonants in the beginning, middle and ends of words - some of the more difficult consonants may be distorted, but attempts to say them
Strangers are able to understand much of what is said
Able to describe the use of objects, such as fork, car, etc.
Has fun with language - enjoys poems and recognizes language absurdities, such as "is that an elephant on your head?"
Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around him/her
Uses verbs that end in "ing," such as walking and talking
Answers simple questions such as, "What do you do when you are hungry?"
Repeats sentences

4 to 5 years

Understands spatial concepts, such as "behind, next to"
Understands complex questions
Speech is understandable but makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult or complex words, such as "hippopotamus"
Vocabulary of about 1,500 words
Uses some irregular past tense verbs, such as "ran, fell"
Describes how to do things, such as painting a picture
Defines words
Lists items that belong in a category, such as animals, vehicles, etc.
Answers "why" questions

5 years

Departments that Treat Age-Appropriate Speech and Language Milestones

young girl wearing yellow overalls speaks with a provider in a white coat in the doctor's office

Hearing and Speech Center

The Hearing and Speech Center at Children's National Hospital provides expert diagnosis and care for children with audiology and communication disorders.

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