Children's Speech & Language Milestones

• ✓Makes cooing sounds
• ✓Quiets if crying when hearing a voice
• ✓Localizes sound by turning head
• ✓Listens to speech and music
• ✓Notices toys that make sound
• ✓Makes speech-like babbling sounds /b/, /p/, & /m/ (3–6 mos)
• ✓Uses sound to indicate wants (3–6 mos)

• ✓Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
• ✓Understands & responds to own name
• ✓Listens to & imitates sounds
• ✓Recognizes words for common items and people like "truck", "cup", "juice", "daddy"
• ✓Uses large variety of sounds in babbling
• ✓Uses speech sounds rather than crying to get attention
• ✓Listens to songs and stories
• ✓Babbles long strings of sounds; begins to change babbling to jargon
• ✓Vocabulary of 1 to 3 words
• ✓Plays games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
• ✓Looks when you point; uses gestures like waving bye, reaching for "up", and shaking head for "no"

• ✓Uses adult-like intonation patterns
• ✓Uses echolalia and jargon
• ✓Omits some initial consonants and almost all final consonants
• ✓Produces mostly unintelligible speech
• ✓Follows simple commands
• ✓Receptively identifies 1 to 3 body parts
• ✓Shows interest in pictures
• ✓Has expressive vocabulary of 3 to 20 words
• ✓Combines gestures and vocalization
• ✓Makes requests for more of desired items

• ✓Uses words more frequently than jargon
• ✓Has expressive vocabulary of 50–75 words
• ✓Receptive vocabulary of 300 words
• ✓Starts to combine nouns & verbs
• ✓Begins to use pronouns (me, you, my)
• ✓Approximately 25–50% intelligible to strangers
• ✓Answers "What's that?" questions
• ✓Enjoys listening to stories
• ✓Knows 3–5 body parts
• ✓Accurately names familiar objects

• ✓Speech is 50–75% intelligible
• ✓Understands "one" & "all"
• ✓Requests items by name
• ✓Identifies several body parts
• ✓Follows simple commands & answers simple questions
• ✓Gives first name, holds up fingers to tell age
• ✓Enjoys listening to short stories, songs & rhymes
• ✓Asks 1–2 word questions; combines nouns and verbs ("mommy go")
• ✓Has approximately 450 word vocabulary
• ✓Uses vowels correctly; consistently uses initial consonants
• ✓Produces simple sentences ("I want book")
• ✓Forms some plurals by adding "s"
• ✓Understands simple time concepts: "last night", "tomorrow"

• ✓Understands object functions and difference in meanings
• ✓Follows 2 and 3 step commands
• ✓Asks & answers questions; uses language to express emotion
• ✓Repeats 6–13 syllable sentences accurately
• ✓Uses up to 5 word sentences
• ✓Increases vocabulary to approximately 1,000 words
• ✓Masters 50% consonants; speech is 80% intelligible
• ✓Tells two events in chronological order
• ✓Engages in conversations; uses contractions

• ✓Understands concept of numbers up to 3
• ✓Recognizes 1–4 colors; recognizes shapes
• ✓Counts to 10
• ✓Uses mostly grammatically correct sentences with 4–6 words
• ✓Answers 2-part questions; asks many "what", "where", "who", "why" questions
• ✓Enjoys rhymes & rhythms
• ✓Speech intelligible to strangers
• ✓Talks about experiences at school, friends' homes
• ✓Accurately relays long story; uses past tense correctly

• ✓Names 6 colors & at least 3 shapes
• ✓Follows 3-part commands; understands "same" and "different"
• ✓Uses past & future tense; uses conjunctions
• ✓Knows spatial relations: "on top", "behind", "far", "near"
• ✓Defines objects by their use
• ✓Sequentially names days of week; counts to 30
• ✓Exchanges information and asks questions
• ✓Sings entire song and recites nursery rhymes
• ✓Communicates easily with adults & children; uses appropriate grammar

• ✓Names letters, numbers, and currencies
• ✓Sequences numbers; understands left and right
• ✓Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
• ✓Engages in conversations with extensive vocabulary
• ✓Uses sentences with 6 or more words

What are the speech milestones for a 2-year-old?

By age 2, children should have an expressive vocabulary of 50–75 words, start combining nouns and verbs, be 25–50% intelligible to strangers, and answer simple "What's that?" questions.

When should I be concerned about my child's speech development?

If your child is not meeting the milestones for their age group, or if you notice a regression in skills, contact a speech-language pathologist. Early intervention leads to the best outcomes.

Does Coastal Pediatric Therapy Center offer speech therapy evaluations?

Yes. Our licensed speech-language pathologists provide comprehensive evaluations for children of all ages at our Jacksonville Beach and Mandarin locations. Call (904) 372-4070 to get started.