Developmental Milestones

Birth–3 Months

• Startles to loud sounds
• Quiets or smiles when spoken to
• Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying
• Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound

4–6 Months

• Moves eyes in direction of sounds
• Responds to changes in tone of your voice
• Notices toys that make sounds
• Pays attention to music

7 Months–1 Year

• Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
• Turns and looks in direction of sounds
• Listens when spoken to
• Recognizes words for common items like “cup”, “shoe”, “book”, or “juice”
• Begins to respond to requests (e.g. “Come here” or “Want more?”)

1 Year–2 Years

• Points to a few body parts when asked.
• Follows simple commands and understands simple questions (“Roll the ball,” “Kiss the baby,” “Where’s your shoe?”).
• Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes.
• Points to pictures in a book when named.

2 Years–3 Years

• Understands differences in meaning (“go-stop,” “in-on,” “big-little,” “up-down”).
• Follows two requests (“Get the book and put it on the table”).
• Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time

3 Years–4 Years

• Hears you when you call from another room.
• Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members.
• Understands words for some colors, like red, blue, and green
• Understands words for some shapes, like circle and square
• Understands words for family, like brother, grandmother, and aunt

4 Years–5 Years

• Understands words for order, like first, next, and last.
• Understands words for time, like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• Follows longer directions, like “Put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then pick out a book.”
• Follows classroom directions, like “Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat.”
• Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school.

From American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Birth–3 Months

• Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing)
• Cries differently for different needs
• Smiles when sees you

4–6 Months

• Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including p, b and m
• Chuckles and laughs
• Vocalizes excitement and displeasure
• Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and when playing with you

7 Months–1 Year

• Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds such as “tata upup bibibibi”
• Uses speech or noncrying sounds to get and keep attention
• Uses gestures to communicate (waving, holding arms to be picked up)
• Imitates different speech sounds
• Has one or two words (hi, dog, dada, mama) around first birthday, although sounds may not be clear

1 Year–2 Years

• Says more words every month.
• Uses some one- or two- word questions (“Where kitty?” “Go bye-bye?” “What’s that?”).
• Puts two words together (“more cookie,” “no juice,” “mommy book”).
• Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

2 Years–3 Years

• Has a word for almost everything.
• Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things.
• Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds.
• Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time.
• Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.
• Asks why?
• May stutter on words or sounds

3 Years–4 Years

• Talks about activities at school or at friends’ homes.
• Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time.
• People outside of the family usually understand child’s speech.
• Answers simple “who?”, “what?”, and “where?” questions.
• Asks when and how questions.
• Says rhyming words, like hat-cat
• Uses pronouns, like I, you, me, we, and they
• Uses some plural words, like toys, birds, and buses
• Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words.
• Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.

4 Years–5 Years

• Says all speech sounds in words. May make mistakes on sounds that are harder to say, like l, s, r, v, z, ch, sh, th.
• Responds to “What did you say?”
• Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time.
• Names letters and numbers.
• Uses sentences that have more than 1 action word, like jump, play, and get. May make some mistakes, like “Zach got 2 video games, but I got one.”
• Tells a short story.
• Keeps a conversation going.
• Talks in different ways depending on the listener and place. May use short sentences with younger children or talk louder outside than inside.

From American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.