Milestones

In the first five years of life, your child’s brain is developing rapidly. This means that their ability to communicate in various ways is also developing rapidly. Children develop language according to specific ages and stages. As communication development occurs, your child may experience challenges. Below is a communication checklist that will help determine if your child is communicating like other children their age. It is important to note that if your child doesn’t develop one skill at their age range, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is a concern. If you notice that your child is struggling with meeting more than one communication milestone in their age range, contact a Speech Language Pathologist at Oxford Speech Plus to book an assessment today.

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Communication Milestones
Ages & Stages

0-12 Months

  • makes cooing sounds then babbles

  • cries and smiles to express needs

  • attends to sounds (toys & people)

  • plays people games (peek-a-boo)

  • responds to simple directions

  • may use 1-4 words (hi, dada)

1-2 Years

  • follows single step directions

  • responds to questions, (where's mom?)

  • new sounds: m, p, b, w

  • combines two words (more juice)

  • new vocabolary 50-100 words

  • copies during play, comments

2-3 Years

  • understand opposites & under, in, on

  • follows 2-step directions

  • new sounds, k, g, f, t, d, n, h

  • combines 2-3 words

  • asking why, & uses action words

  • takes multiple turns in play

3-4 Years

  • understand colour/shapes, beside/behind

  • understands concepts beside, behind

  • understand & asks many 'wh' questions

  • uses pronouns you, we, they, he, she

  • using plural words, combines 4 words

  • new sounds: ng, y, s, z

  • engages in make believe play

4-5 Years

  • understands first/next/then, yesterday, today, tomorrow

  • follows longer directions

  • makes sound & letter connections

  • sentences are longer (prepositions)

  • new sounds v, sh, ch, j, blends (r & th may develop up to 7 yrs)

When to make a referral to a Speech-Language Pathologist

1-2 Years

  • did not coo or babble

  • not engaging with communication partner by looking at them, copying their actions or pointing to things

  • using under 10 words

  • not making early sounds (p, b, m)

2-3 Years

  • not following simple single & 2-step directions (e.g, get your shoes)

  • limited verbal vocabolary

  • not coming two words together

  • not engaging or taking turns in play

  • not using toys appropriately

3-4 Years

  • not understanding 'wh' questions

  • not using pronouns correctly and making sentences that are grammatically incorrect

  • speech is unclear to unfamiliar listeners

  • not able to identify emotions and express and manage own emotions

  • difficulty entering & staying in play

4-5 Years

  • struggles to understand & retell stories

  • still has multiple sounds that are not pronounced correctly (not r/or/th)

  • difficulty with sound-letter connections & other phonemic awareness skills (rhyme)

  • struggles with peer interactions