Speech and Language Development Milestones as Your Child Grows

Every child learns to speak at a different ​​pace, however, general milestones may help you decide if your child may need extra help. The speech and language experts at Boys Town National Research Hospital have compiled the following downloads for parents to use to quickly check expected milestones by age range.

Speech and Language Milestones for Children

• 2 Months
• 4 Months
• 6 Months
• 9 Months
• 1 Year
• 18 Months
• 2 Years
• 3 Years
• 4 Years
• 5 Years​​
• Kindergarten​
• First Grade
• Second Grade
• Third Grade
• Fourth Grade
• Fifth Grade

The following are age-related milestones to follow.

Speech Milestones for 3 Month Olds

By the end of 3 months your child should be able to:

• React to sounds.
• Makes cooing sounds.
• Recognizes your voice.
• Has difference cries for different needs.

Speech Milestones for 6 Month Olds

By the end of 6 months your child should be able to:

• Makes speech-like babbling sounds.
• Uses voice to express please or displeasure.
• Moves eyes in the direction of sound.
• Pays attention to music and toys that make sound.

Speech Milestones for 1 Year Olds

By the end of 1 year you child should be able to:

• Babbles in longer strings of sounds.
• Understands simple instructions.
• Recognizes common item words.
• Tries to use actions or gestures to communicate.

Speech Milestones for 18 Month Olds

By the end of 18 months your child should be able to:

• Recognizes familiar people, names and objects.
• Follows simple gestures, commands and directions.
• Says new words on a regular basis.

Speech Milestones for 2 Year Olds

By the end of 2 years your child should be able to:

• Uses simple phrases.
• Asks simple one- or two-word questions.
• Speaks well enough to be understood.

Speech Milestones for 4 Year Olds

By the end of 4 years your child should be able to:

• Answers simple questions.
• Talks about their daily activities.
• Hears sounds at the same level as others.
• Knows a word for almost everything.

Speech Milestones for 5 Year Olds

By the end of 5 years your child should be able to:

• Communicates with adults and other children easily.
• Says most sounds correctly.
• Uses sentences with details and tells stories.
• Uses rhyming words and adult grammar.

If your child has not reached these milestones and you think your child may have a speech disorder, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) can test your child’s speech.​