Birth to 3 months

• Reacts to loud sounds, baby startles, blinks, stops sucking, cries or wakes up
• Makes soft sounds when awake
• Quiets to familiar voices or sounds

3 months to 6 months

• Turns eyes or head toward sounds
• Starts to make speech like sounds
• Reacts to a change in your tone of voice

6 months to 9 months

• Understands simple words, no, bye-bye
• Babbles
• Responds to own name and looks when called

9 months to 12 months

• Responds to both soft or loud sounds
• Repeats single words and imitates animal sounds
• Points to favorite toys or foods when a asked

12 months to 18 months

• Uses 10 or more words
• Follows simple spoken directions - get the ball
• Points to people body parts or toys when asked
• Bounces to music

18 months to 24 months

• Uses 20 or more words
• Combines 2 or more words - more juice - what's that?
• Uses many different consonant sounds
• Listen to simple stories and songs

2 years to 3 years

• Uses 2-3 word sentences
• At 2 years people can understand what the child says some of the time.
• At 3 years, people can understand what the child says most of the time
• Follows two-step instructions

If you have concerns regarding your child's hearing or speech developments, contact your child's physician or health care provider.

Back to top.