Early Language Development Milestones

A: Make sure you get face-to-face and talk about things you are doing together – changing nappy, mealtime etc.

A: Help your child to listen by minimising background noise. Get face-to-face and call his name. Give them praise when they look up and make eye contact

A: Follow and comment on what they are pointing at and what is happening.

A: If your child is over 18-month-old and not making any sound or noise, go and see a speech and language therapist.

A: Repeat and expand on what they say. If the child says ‘ball’, you can say ‘big ball’, ‘yellow ball’.

A: 24-month-olds should use at least 100 words and combine 2 words together. These word combinations should be generated by the child, such as “thank you”, “bye bye”, “all gone”, or “What’s that?”.

A: Give your child plenty of time to process and respond to your questions. Support their understanding with gestures. For Yes/No questions, support with head nodding or shaking. For simple Wh questions, point to the object/person.

A: Children reach language milestones at different rates, and this is completely normal. On average, they say their first words between 7–12 months of age and are making short phrases/sentences by 2–3 years of age.

A: At age 3, children still find some word sounds difficult. Children typically master /s/ sound by 4-5 years of age. When they make a mistake, repeat the word back the correct way. There is no need to ask them to repeat.

A: Encourage them to keep the conversation going by nodding, smiling and giving responses like ‘oh really?’, ‘wow’. Avoid asking close-end questions, such as ‘’What is that?’, ‘Do you like the toy?’.