Talking Tot
Your little Babba starts his/her hearing and language development before he/she is even born! Tons of exposure to language, intonation, facial expressions, gestures and all other forms of communication is the best way to stimulate your child’s speech and language development. This is done through play time, meal time, bath time, and all other daily activities. We encourage Mammas to talk, read, and sing about EVERYTHING that they are doing (working, cooking, walking, etc). We also encourage them to narrate EVERYTHING that their baby is doing as soon as he/she enters the world. You may sound a little silly at first, but it will eventually become second nature. This is especially important for Mammas and Daddas in quarantine with their babies, as they are not getting as much social interaction such as at daycare or at the park.
It is important to note that every baby develops at his/her own pace, and what is normal for one baby, may not be normal for another. We will feature many more posts on the specifics of how you can encourage growth in your baby’s life, but for now, here is a basic chart, from Stanford Children’s Health, that outlines a VERY general guideline for what you can expect from your baby in terms of speech and language development in the first 5 years of life. That being said, It is totally okay if your child does not fall into these guidelines. There are so many factors that may impact the rate in which your child develops his/her speech such as how many siblings they have, their hearing abilities, their personality, etc.
For example, though the norm is for kids to have their first meaningful word (“apple”, “no”, “yes”, etc.) by their first birthday, some kids don’t acquire their first word until 18 months, or even older, and then don’t stop talking! It is good, however, to look at your child as a whole, and to be aware of the norms, so that you can make any adjustments if need be. If you are ever concerned about your child’s speech and language development, speaking to your doctor and/or a speech pathologist can be incredibly helpful! They can really make a positive impact in the way your child communicates!
Stanford Children’s Health Speech Development Chart
Birth to 5 months
Coos
Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds differently (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses)
Makes noise when talked to
6 to 11 months
Understands "no-no"
Babbles (says "ba-ba-ba")
Says "ma-ma" or "da-da" without meaning
Tries to communicate by actions or gestures
Tries to repeat your sounds
Says first word
12 to 17 months
Answers simple questions nonverbally
Says 2 to 3 words to label a person or object (pronunciation may not be clear)
Tries to imitate simple words
Vocabulary of 4 to 6 words
18 to 23 months
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 2-word phrases
2 to 3 years
Knows some spatial concepts, such as "in" or "on"
Knows pronouns, such as "you," "me" or "her"
Knows descriptive words, such as "big" or "happy"
Uses 3-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" or "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 or clothes
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" or "car"
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 or her
Uses verbs that end in "ing," such as "walking" or "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" or "next to"
Understands complex questions
Speech is understandable, but makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words, such as "hippopotamus"
Uses some irregular past tense verbs, such as "ran" or "fell"
Describes how to do things, such as painting a picture
Lists items that belong in a category, such as animals or vehicles
Answers "why" questions
5 years
Understands time sequences (for example, what happened first, second, or third)
Carries out a series of 3 directions
Understands rhyming
Engages in conversation
Sentences can be 8 or more words in length
Uses compound and complex sentences
Describes objects
Uses imagination to create stories
