Speech Developmental Milestones
0-3 Months
7-12 Months
0-3 Months
- Reacts to loud sounds
- Recognizes your voice
- Coos
- Smiles when he or she sees you
- Develops different cries to meet varying needs
- Produces vowel like sounds
- Makes pleasure sound
4-6 Months
7-12 Months
0-3 Months
- Follows sounds with eyes.
- Laughs
- Notices toys that make sounds and music
- Produces a few back sound consonants (g or k)
- Recognizes changes in tone of your voice
- Babbles using more vowel sounds and more consonants (p,b or m)
- Begins to copy sounds while babbling
- Smiles when he or she sees you
- Develops different cries to meet varying needs
- Yells, squeals and growls with some pitch changes
7-12 Months
7-12 Months
- Makes repetitive long and short sounds (dada, tata, bibi)
- Produces consistent pitch changes with meaning
- Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
- Listens more attentively
- Understands common words like momma, dadda, cup, and juice.
- Responds to commands or questions (Come here, Want more?, W ant up?)
- Knows a couple of words and exclamations (oo
- Makes repetitive long and short sounds (dada, tata, bibi)
- Produces consistent pitch changes with meaning
- Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
- Listens more attentively
- Understands common words like momma, dadda, cup, and juice.
- Responds to commands or questions (Come here, Want more?, W ant up?)
- Knows a couple of words and exclamations (ooh, ahh, hi, baba, mamma, dadda, dog)
- Communicates with hand gestures (waves, lifts arms to be picked up).
- Develops different cries to meet varying needs
- Yells, squeals, growls and gurgles with some pitch changes
- Begins non-repetitive babbling (Ba-ga-de, go-do-da-di)
1-2 Years
- First words (10-15 months)
- Uses holophrastic speech (A single word expresses a complex idea – “Ball” means “I want the ball” or “Where is the ball?”)
- Uses phases (uh-oh, all gone, no no, bye-bye)
- Uses many consonant sounds at beginning of words
- Knows a few body parts
- Follows simple commands or questions (Roll the ball, walk to me, where’s your
- First words (10-15 months)
- Uses holophrastic speech (A single word expresses a complex idea – “Ball” means “I want the ball” or “Where is the ball?”)
- Uses phases (uh-oh, all gone, no no, bye-bye)
- Uses many consonant sounds at beginning of words
- Knows a few body parts
- Follows simple commands or questions (Roll the ball, walk to me, where’s your nose?)
- Enjoys hearing simple songs, stories and rhymes
- Can point to pictures in a book when asked (Where's the ball?)
- Adds new words constantly
- Uses one- or two-word sentences (Where dada? Go bye, bye, want up, no cookie, no juice)
- Begins non-repetitive babbling (ba-ga-de, go-do-da-di)
- Knows a couple of words and exclamations (ooh, ahh, hi, baba, mamma, dadda, dog)
2-3 Years
- Answers simple questions (Who?, What?, Where? and Why?)
- Talks about daily activities
- Uses sentences with four or more words
- Speaks easily without having to repeat syllables or words
- Follows simple commands or questions (roll the ball, walk to me, where’s your nose?)
- Enjoys hearing simple songs, stories and rhymes
- Can point to pictures in a book
- Answers simple questions (Who?, What?, Where? and Why?)
- Talks about daily activities
- Uses sentences with four or more words
- Speaks easily without having to repeat syllables or words
- Follows simple commands or questions (roll the ball, walk to me, where’s your nose?)
- Enjoys hearing simple songs, stories and rhymes
- Can point to pictures in a book when asked (where's the ball?)
- Adds new words constantly
- Uses one- or two-word sentences (Where dada? Go bye, bye, want up, no cookie, no juice)
- Begins non-repetitive babbling begins (Ba-ga-de, go-do-da-di)
- Knows a couple of words and exclamations (Ooh, Ahh, hi, baba, mamma, dadda, dog)
4-10 Years
- (4 years old) Can say the following sounds correctly (b,d,f,g,h,k,m,n,p,t,y)
- (4 years old) Might still make errors with (l,r,s and th)
- (4 years old) Can be understood by family members and non-family
- (4 years old) Most phonological processes should stop
- (5 years old) All phonological processes should stop
- (6 years old) Correctly produces the f
- (4 years old) Can say the following sounds correctly (b,d,f,g,h,k,m,n,p,t,y)
- (4 years old) Might still make errors with (l,r,s and th)
- (4 years old) Can be understood by family members and non-family
- (4 years old) Most phonological processes should stop
- (5 years old) All phonological processes should stop
- (6 years old) Correctly produces the following sounds (l,j,v,ch,sh)
- (6 years old) Errors can still occur commonly for sounds like (s,r,z,th) but should be decreasing
- (7 years old) 100% understandable
- (8 years old) Errors can still occur commonly for sounds like (s,r,z,th) but should be decreasing
- (9 and 10 years old) Says all sounds now including (s,r,z and th)
- (9 and 10 years old) Might have some trouble with difficult words like (Aluminum, whistle, adjective, scissors, spaghetti)
- (10 and 11 years old) There should be no speech problems by this age with the exception of the r sound which can be a lingering issue
Feeding Milestones
0-5 Months
10-12 Months
0-5 Months
- Should swallow liquids but will push most solid objects from mouth due to the following reflexes:
- Rooting reflex – baby should be able to seek out and grasp breast or bottle nipple
- Suck and swallow reflex – baby should begin suckling or sucking movements when lips are touched and his or her tongue should be moving liquid to back of the mout
- Should swallow liquids but will push most solid objects from mouth due to the following reflexes:
- Rooting reflex – baby should be able to seek out and grasp breast or bottle nipple
- Suck and swallow reflex – baby should begin suckling or sucking movements when lips are touched and his or her tongue should be moving liquid to back of the mouth for swallowing
- Tongue thrust reflex – Baby’s tongue will move out of the mouth to allow feeding from a breast or bottle, but this will inhibit taking in food from spoon or cup
- Gag reflex – Baby will quickly move an object, like a spoon or solid food, forward out of back of mouth
- Baby should have a diet that consists of breast milk and / or infant formula with iron
- Baby can close lips to seal mouth
4-6 Months
10-12 Months
0-5 Months
- Gag reflexes should diminish
- Tongue thrust and rooting reflexes should subside
- Should be able to take food into the mouth from a spoon.
- Should be able to move his or her tongue up and down
- Should be able to sit up with your help
- Should start using his or her lips to draw in food off of a spoon
- Should swallow semi-solid food like infant cereal,
- Gag reflexes should diminish
- Tongue thrust and rooting reflexes should subside
- Should be able to take food into the mouth from a spoon.
- Should be able to move his or her tongue up and down
- Should be able to sit up with your help
- Should start using his or her lips to draw in food off of a spoon
- Should swallow semi-solid food like infant cereal, strained fruit and strained vegetables
- Should start up and down munching.
- Should open his or her mouth when you hold up a spoon
- May drink from a cup with help, but expect some spilling
5-9 Months
10-12 Months
10-12 Months
- Your baby will be able to control the position of food in the mouth to position food between jaws for chewing
- Your baby will be able to munch food
- Your baby will begin to eat mashed food
- Your baby will be able to eat from a spoon very easily
- Your baby will begin to eat food with his or her hands
10-12 Months
10-12 Months
10-12 Months
- Should be able to move food from side to side in mouth
- Should begin to curve lips around the rim of a cup
- Should begin to chew in a circular manner
- Should be able to eat finely chopped food
- Should be able to eat small pieces of soft food
- Will start to use a spoon but will often opt to self feed with his or her hands
- Should be able to drink from
- Should be able to move food from side to side in mouth
- Should begin to curve lips around the rim of a cup
- Should begin to chew in a circular manner
- Should be able to eat finely chopped food
- Should be able to eat small pieces of soft food
- Will start to use a spoon but will often opt to self feed with his or her hands
- Should be able to drink from a cup with little spilling
- Diet will consist of diced soft fruit or vegetables, strained meat or poultry, cottage cheese, yogurt, soft cheese, soft bread and crackers, breast milk, iron-fortified formula or fruit juice
12-18 Months
12-18 Months
12-18 Months
- Should be able to use a spoon proficiently
- Should be able to feed him or herself quietly
- Should be able to bite through harder foods if teeth are present
- You can introduce whole milk and eggs into the diet
18-24 Months
12-18 Months
12-18 Months
- Should be able to chew and eat most foods, but you should still cut up food into small non-circular pieces that pose a choking hazard, like hot dogs
- Should be able to eat with mouth closed
- Should be able to drink from a cup proficiently without spilling too often
2-3 Years
12-18 Months
2-3 Years
- Should be able to enjoy almost all foods
- Should be able to help you cook and clean up too