Baby talk: speech guidelines for 12, 24 and 36 months
How to tell if your child's speech is developing at the right pace
You’re at the park, pre-school, church or play date and you can’t help but compare your child’s skills to the other kiddos playing. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we all do it. Can they climb as high? Can they run as fast? Most importantly, though, can they tell the other children they want to play, too?
Communication is the foundation for building relationships and the process of going back and forth between people. If you can’t play with others nicely, make and keep a friend, or understand directions from adults, it will be difficult to interact with others. Those skills begin forming very early with that beautiful smile, adorable laugh and silly babble as infants.
Every child develops communication skills at their own pace. How do you know if they are on target or if they need to see a specialist? We want to make sure your child has developed some of these skills by certain ages. Here are some guidelines on what your child should be doing by 12, 24 and 36 months of age…
Age | What You Should See and Hear ... |
12 Months |
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24 Months |
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36 Months |
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If your child isn’t doing some of these things by these ages, don’t despair! Here are a few things you can be sure to try with your growing toddler…
- Imitate your baby’s communication, even if it is just a smile or coo. Adult conversation is all about turn-taking so teach this skill as early as possible!
- Play with sounds. Blow raspberries, cluck like a chicken, make fishy faces, and have fun doing it! This will help increase their awareness and their ability to make sounds.
- Talk about everything and give things a name! When bathing, feeding, and changing their diapers, talk about what you are doing. You might feel silly, but they are definitely listening!
- When your child makes an attempt at communicating, give them big praise, repeat what they said, and then expand it to a bigger phrase. (Example: “A car? Yes! That IS a car! Good job! Hi, car! Go, car, go!”)
You may feel as though your child just isn’t getting it. You may be right. It may take a higher level of intervention to get your child’s communication skills rolling. Speak with your pediatrician about a speech and language evaluation with your friendly speech-language pathologist. We’re happy to help!
About the author
Melanie Van Noy is a speech pathologist at Cook Children's.Speech/language pathologists focus on oral motor, speech, language and communication skills to enhance development, restore function and to prevent disability from pediatric conditions, illness or injury.