Childhood development is complex. Between speech and language development, and the variability between children, it’s not always easy to tell if your child’s development is considered “typical.” If you’re worried that your child’s speech development may be atypical, here is a tool for you to use. These are the developmental milestones in speech that average children meet by certain ages.
1. Between Birth and 3 months, typical development includes:
Hearing and Understanding
- Startles to loud sounds
- Turn head toward voice/sound source
- Quiets when spoken to
Talking
- Begins cooing and using different sounds
- Produces mostly vowels
- Cries for assistance; has different cries for different needs
- Smiles when spoken to, more reflexively
You may want to see a speech-pathologist or get your child’s hearing checked if they are not turning their heads to localize sounds/responding to sounds or your voice and cooing and beginning to use different sounds.
