Introduction

A baby's first sounds are met with joyous celebration by parents. Initial cooing progresses to babbling and then to baby's first words, usually "mama" or "dada."

Although every child learns to speak at his or her own pace, general milestones serve as a guide to normal development — and help doctors and other health professionals determine when a child may need extra help to learn to speak or use language.

By the end of 3 months, your child may:

• Smile when you appear
• Begin to babble
• Begin to imitate sounds
• Move his or her eyes toward the direction of sound

By the end of 6 months, your child may:

• Babble with inflection
• Respond to his or her own name
• Respond to sound by making sounds
• Babble chains of consonants (usually sounds for m, b, d)
• Use his or her voice to express pleasure and displeasure

By the end of 12 months, your child may:

• Try to imitate words
• Say a few words, such as "dada," "mama," "baba" and "uh-oh"
• Understand simple instructions, such as "Please drink your milk"
• Understand "no"

By the end of 18 months, your child may:

• Point to an object or picture when it's named
• Recognize names of familiar people, objects and body parts
• Follow simple directions, such as "Throw me the ball"
• Say up to 20 words

By the end of 24 months, your child may:

• Ask for common foods by name
• Use simple phrases, such as "more milk"
• Begin to use pronouns, such as "mine"
• Begin to use prepositions, such as "in" and "under"
• Ask one- to two-word questions, such as "Go bye-bye?"
• Respond to two-step verbal requests, such as "Please put the book down and bring me your shoes"
• Say up to 50 to 100 words

When to check with your child's doctor

Talk to your child's doctor if your child hasn't mastered most of the speech and language milestones for his or her age or you're concerned about your child's speech.

Speech delays occur for many reasons, including hearing loss. Depending on the circumstances, your child's doctor may refer your child to a hearing specialist (audiologist) or a speech and language specialist.

In the meantime, encourage your child's speech and language development. Read to your child. Talk to your child. Sing songs together. Teach your child signs or gestures for common items or phrases. Ask your child questions, and acknowledge your child's responses — even if he or she is hard to understand.