Communication Milestones
All children develop at their own pace; however, most follow a predictable pattern. Below you’ll find common age ranges matched with communication and feeing skills. By the end of each age range, most children will acquire each skill. Missing only one skill in a particular age range doesn’t indicate a problem; but you might want to seek help if your child is missing several skills.
“Birth to 5 months
• Startles at loud sounds
• Coos
• Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds differently
• Makes noise when talked to
• Hand to mouth movements begin
• Interacts with caregiver during feeding via gaze
• Touches bottle with both hands
• Consumes rice cereal or pureed baby foods”
“6 to 11 months
• Understands “no-no”
• Tries to communicate by using actions or gestures
• Babbles—“ba-ba-ba”
• Says “ma-ma” or “da-da” (without meaning)
• Tries to communicate by using actions or gestures
• Tries to repeat your sounds
• Says first word—around first birthday
• Begins straw and cup drinking
• Begins finger and spoon feeding
• Deliberately reaches for spoon
• Increases lip closure around spoon
• Chewing matures to more rotary jaw action
• Begins to consume mashed table foods
• Attempts to eat dissolvable solids—puffs, cheerios”
“12 to 17 months
• Answers simple questions nonverbally
• Follows a 1-step direction
• Tries to imitate simple words
• Says 2 to 3 words to label a person or object
• Vocabulary of 4-6 words
• Pronunciation may not be clear
• Holds cup with both hands
• Grasps spoon with both hands to self-feed
• Begins to eat finely chopped table foods
• Bites through crunchy foods—crackers, cookies
• Moves food from side to side in mouth when chewing”
“18 to 23 months
• Asks for common foods by name
• Begins to use pronouns—“mine”
• Makes animal sounds—“moo”
• Starts to use 2-word phrases
• Vocabulary of 50 words
• Often pronunciation is unclear
• Primarily self-feeds (may need some assistance)
• Chews a wide range of textures
• More precise oral motor movements”
“2 to 3 years
• Knows some spatial concepts—“in” and “on”
• Knows descriptive words—“big”and “happy”
• Answers simple questions
• Follows a 2-step direction
• Uses more pronouns—“you” and “I”
• Uses question inflection to ask for something—“my ball?”
• Starts to use plurals—“shoes” and “socks”
• Starts to use regular past tense verbs—“jumped”
• Uses 3-word sentences
• Speech is more accurate; may still leave off ending sounds
• Strangers may not be able to understand speech
• Drinks from open cup without spilling
• Consumes a wide range of liquids from straws and cups
• Uses fork
• Almost completely self-feeds
• Eats a wide range of solid foods”
“3 to 4 years
• Groups objects—food or clothes
• Identifies colors
• Describes the use of objects
• Uses verbs that end in “ing,”—“walking” or “talking”
• Answers simple questions
• Repeats sentences
• Uses most speech sounds
• May distort more difficult sounds—l, r, s, sh, ch, y, v, z, th
• Strangers are able to understand much of what is said
• Enjoys poems and understands language absurdities
• Expresses ideas and feelings”
“4 to 5 years
• Understands spatial concepts—“behind” or “next to”
• Understands complex questions
• Answers “why” questions
• Uses some irregular past tense verbs—“ran” and “fell”
• Describes how to do things—painting a picture
• Lists items that belong in a category—animals or vehicles
• Still makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words—“hippopotamus”
• Eats a wide variety of advanced textures—meats, fried foods, whole fruits”
“5 to 6 years
• Understands time sequences—“first, second, third”
• Completes a series of 3 directions
• Understands rhyming
• Describes objects
• Engages in conversation
• Sentences are 8+ words
• Uses compound and complex sentences
• Uses imagination to create stories”
“6 to 7 years
• Remembers what they hear
• Follows 2-3 step directions in a row
• Uses most parts of speech, or grammar, correctly
• Gives directions
• Tells and retells stories that make sense
• Shares ideas using complete sentences
• Stays on topic and take turns in conversation
• Starts conversations”
“7 to 8 years
• Follows 3–4 directions in a row
• Understands direction words—“here”, “there”, “over”, “next to”
• Gives directions with 3–4 steps
• Explains words and ideas
• Uses more complex sentences
• Uses words to inform, persuade, and entertain”
“8 to 9 years
• Pays attention in groups
• Understands grade-level information
• Uses words related to school subjects—“math” or “history”
• Summarizes a story
• Explains what they learned in school”
“9 to 10 years
• Forms opinions based on what they hear
• Listens for specific reasons—to learn, enjoy, or convince
• Uses language for many reasons—question, argue, joke
• Understands some figurative language
• Takes part in group discussions
• Summarizes ideas in their own words
• Organizes information so it is clear”
