Speech Milestones: What You Need to Know About Your Child’s Speech Development

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A father teaching his son how to read

Saying their first words marks a significant milestone in your child's growth and development. Learning more words and developing language skills will help them to express thoughts, feelings, and needs. At the same time, it's perfectly normal if their speech is not on par with children of the same age. Yet, you may worry whether they will catch up to their peers or feel frustrated not knowing how to help your child.


Like every child, your child is unique, and so is the pace at which they learn to speak and articulate themselves. This starter guide is intended to provide valuable insights on speech development milestones for children.


If you still have concerns, you can speak with a speech-language pathologist and find out whether your child can benefit from speech delay therapy.

What Age Should Speech Develop?

Your child should say their first word by their first birthday and steadily continue to acquire speech and language skills. However, cries, smiles, gestures, and babbles between birth to age 1 are all signs of communication and a part of speech and language development.

A girl looking at the mirror as she was talking to a speech therapist

What Are the Stages of Speech Development?

Speech generally refers to the verbal expression of language. Children develop speech and language in stages, also called milestones, and reach milestones at different ages. Various factors influence how quickly your child starts speaking (expressive language) and understanding language (receptive language ). The level of exposure to speech, sights, and sounds in their environment is key to speech development and language skills.


The following is a general age-related guideline for speech and language development milestones from birth to five years old. It's divided into the prelinguistic stage (0-5 months) and linguistic stage (6 months to 5 years) and can help you get a feel of your child's progress.

adorable baby smiling

Stage 1. Pre-Language Stage (Birth to 5 months)

  • Your child should use smiles, cries, and coos to communicate pleasure, displeasure, and distress.
  • Responds with noise when spoken to.
happy little african american girl

Stage 2. Babbling to One-Word Stage (6-12 months)

  • Should be able to repeatedly say consonant" "words," like "ma," "ba," and "da"
  • Begins to recognize your (or caregivers) voice, facial expressions, and names of objects
  • Can respond to or repeat your sounds
  • Understands "no" and simple instructions like "come"
  • Says their first one-syllable word, e.g., "no," or "go" by 12 months
daughter hugs smiling mom

Stage 3. Multi-Word Stage (12-24 months)

  • Has about 4-7 words in their vocabulary
  • Can speak in two-word sentences, e.g., "Thank you"
  • Able to answer simple questions non-verbally
  • Tries to repeat simple words you say, but words aren't entirely clear
  • Should have the ability to use 2 to 3 words to label people and objects
kid pointing with his finger

Stage 4: (2-3 years)

  • Speech is becoming clearer and more accurate
  • Uses 3-word sentences or phrases
  • Leaves out end sounds in words or words in sentences, e.g., "I see a ball," repeated as "See ball"
  • Strangers may not quite yet understand what they're saying
  • Begins to use plurals, e.g., "shoes," pronouns, e.g., "me," and prepositions, e.g., "on"
happy children playing outdoors

Stage 5: (3-4 years)

  • Can use "ing" words, e.g., "talking"
  • Able to properly use most speech sounds and consonants
  • Strangers can understand them much more
  • Able to express ideas and feelings
  • Can group objects, identify colors, and repeat simple sentences
happy child asking to speak

Stage 6: (4-5 years)

  • Most people can understand their speech
  • Understands complex and "why" questions
  • Difficulty pronouncing complex words, e.g., "hippopotamus"
  • Can use a few irregular past tense verbs, such as "ran" and "saw"

Your child may not follow the exact sequence above. Also, the rate at which your child reaches each milestone will vary from their peers. Nevertheless, the milestones guideline helps doctors and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) determine if your child is on track. If not, they may recommend therapy for speech delay as a solution.

  • What are the signs of speech delay?

    Speech delay, medically known as Alalia and Late Talking Emergence (LLE), is typically diagnosed in young children who are not verbally communicating as expected based on the milestone chart. According to American Family Physician, common signs your toddler or preschooler may have a speech or language delay include:

    • Not babbling by 12 to 15 months
    • Using only a few vowels and consonants between 12 to 24 months
    • Difficulty understanding simple commands by 18 months
    • Not talking (or using at least 25 words) by age 2
    • Unable to make sentences by age 3
    • Difficulty telling a story by age 4 or 5
    • Not learning new words or preferring gestures over speech
    • Trouble pronouncing words and using phrases in ways that others can understand

  • What is the most common cause of speech delay?

    Expressive language delay in early childhood is mostly caused by hearing loss, oral-motor problems, or speech and language disorders. Other cases may relate to developmental challenges, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), social communication disorder, or intellectual disability. Early evaluation and intervention by a speech therapist can help your child meet their expressive language development targets.

  • Is speech delay in early childhood permanent?

    Late talking is more common in children than you may think. According to Healthchildren.org, one out of five children will talk or use words later than children of the same age. Speech delay is sometimes temporary, particularly without diagnosed disabilities or developmental delays. Moreover, about 70% of children considered "late bloomers" catch up to their peers.

  • Therapy for delayed speech is an option

    There is a good chance your child will achieve the milestones on their own. If not, a certified speech-language pathologist can intervene and facilitate their progress with individualized speech therapy. Early intervention for young children with expressive language delays is intended to bring them on track with the milestone chart. Your child will be exposed to fun, creative strategies to improve their expressive and receptive language and communication skills. They will learn speech production, forming and sounding out words (articulation), building vocabulary, and how to construct sentences.

Help Your Child Achieve Their Milestones and Their Potential

If you're in Maryland and suspect your child is experiencing speech delays, we invite you to learn more about the speech delay programs at Nobles Speech Therapy, LLC.  Our programs are designed to help your child reach their full speech and language potential.

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